Coral Bay to Denham via Carnarvon and Point Quobba

For those of you wishing we would stop having fun, you have your wish but we managed to get some beautiful experiences in anyway.

We had heard about the Fremantle Doctor, but no-one told us about the Cape Range Surgeon, the Coral Bay Neurosurgeon, the Carnarvon GP, or the Point Quobba ER Specialist! Wind, wind, and windier! We left Cape Range to get out of the wind. Made it to Coral Bay and enjoyed probably more than we should have, with a ride on the Quad Trek to Oyster Bridge and the Lagoon for some snorkelling. The Oyster Bridge was amazing, and the kids loved the quad bikes ("faster Mum!" and "faster Dad!") So after spending Australia's monthly Exports amount on the Quads, the boys and I went fishing, while Ruby and Annie went on a Mantaray boat trip for some swimming with a mantaray and some amazing snorkelling further out on the reef. Moses caught 3 small flathead, Banjo 2 dart and I was fishless again.
Had one final snorkel (Annie and Banjo did anyway) before setting off for Carnarvon. Fresh fruit and vegies were beckoning and a restock before our sojourn to Point Quobba. The kids were very keen for a bit of Harry Potter audio book, so we asked Banjo to do most of his times tables. He managed to get through his 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's, 7's, 10's and 11's. I think we found his mathematical achilles heel!
We arrived and setup the Jayco behind one of the many shacks around (we weren't really sure if this was kosha but did so anyway) and used the verandah for our "annex" as it was a little bit windy when we arrived.
We spent the night in relative calm as the wind swirled past the shack. We awoke to a stiff breeze and decided to head up to Quobba Homestead and beyond. With hopes high the wind would abate, we set off, marvelling at the cliffs and seascapes, and were treated to a delightful display of breaching by a humpback whale about 70 metres off shore. Continued on to the cairn for the HMAS Sydney and then tried to find the "best rock fishing ledge on the coast". I swear I just wanted to look .... well ... anyway, the signposting wasn't too flash (ok, so we had no idea where we were really) and we had a lovely saunter through the sand hills along a beautifully paved goat track (glad we had the 4WD!). We eventually found the rough area the ledge was supposed to be in, but by this stage we were all getting a bit fed up of being in the car so headed back to camp via the blowholes. They were ok but not fantastic at the time.
I was not to be denied my attempt at fishing, so Annie dropped me off, went back with the kids and got some afternoon tea and warmer clothes for everyone not fishing, then returned to a despondent fisherman. The wind was starting to pick up more and more as it got closer to dark. We ate dinner, another sumptuous meal whipped up by Annie and Ruby, and then the wind started to come in harder. Our little Jayco fought bravely all night, the kids were pretty brave too. Annie wanted to pack up by 11:00 pm as it was roaring outside and had shifted and we were in the line of fire. Neither adult got much sleep, so at first light we were up and trying to get everything packed.
We eventually headed out at 7:30 am, a new packing up and leaving record time! This seems to be important to the kids when you are in the car and heading out. They did realise quickly we were keen to get going and helped out.
We drove in to Carnarvon after 2 days of being windswept and without a swim or a shower. We decided the car and the Jayco needed one first so we headed to the car wash. ("Oh yeah, the Jayco is white, not red!")
We continued on and made it here to Denham, near Monkey Mia, and guess what, there is a Denham Doctor too! Oh well. We have all enjoyed a fairly easy afternoon going to the visitor's centre, the pier and then dinner and a most welcome hot shower in non-salty water!
Tomorrow (Saturday) the plan is to get up early and go to see the dolphins, and hopefully catch some fish!

WF's