Exmouth and Ningaloo Station

Exmouth

After our days at Cape Range NP, we went back to Exmouth for a couple of nights to buy supplies, do some washing and visit the new boutique brewery before we headed to Ningaloo Station.

Whalebone Brewery came highly recommended by the locals, so we stopped by on Friday night. Their pizzas lived up to their reputation and the beers weren't too bad either. It was definitely a "locals" place, although some tourists were there but we were well outnumbered by locals.  Alexis and Jayne actually got to wear dresses, and we all cleaned our thongs.

They were dog friendly

Two very good lookin' chicks

Ningaloo Station

The road in was as it always is - rough and slow, buy we managed to get here without any breakages.

The main event when we arrived was to go fishing and make sure our boat and motor had survived the journey from the east-coast. After washing off the red dust and giving the motor the once over it all worked well.

Alexis getting her rig setup, under Bailey's watchful eye

... and the first major catch was by Alexis, a very rare Three Fined Maori Wrasse

A Ningaloo Sunset, complete with an ironing board - talk about iron with a view!

Of course we had wind here, so Alexis and Bailey are having a nap trying to hide behind the table

Maybe it runs in the family?

Jayne made fresh scones with jam and cream for morning tea while we got water from the well

The water from the wells is exceptional this year and has no taste to it that we could detect. We double filter it, once going into our water bladders and again when we pump it into the van. We still have drinking water from Broome, so we don't need to drink it, although I'm sure it would be ok treated the way we do it.

We use it for washing and everything else, and so far Jayne's done 5 loads of washing while we've been here. Certainly better than having to drive back to Exmouth and use the Laundromat.

Alexis climbed to the top of a sand dune as part of her workout after the scones. Just like she did when she was a kid.

Chasing turtles

Some of the coral just out from our campsite

There's that bloody ironing board again

The sunsets just keep on keepin' on - as does the ironing board!

The ironing board in the photos is a common sight here.  They're used for filleting fish and easy to have set up near the waters edge.

After 2 weeks it was time to drive Alexis back to Exmouth airport for her flight home. We loved having her, and it was really great to be able to show her our special spot over here on the west coast of Australia. Also, the weather was very good and she left with a new appreciation on just how many beautiful places there are in Australia.

We had 5 days R&R before Chuck and Sue, Luke and Megan, Osric and Shacklock join us tomorrow. A peaceful time for catching more fish and doing the washing.

We hope the weather holds for their visit, as when its windy here it's not pleasant at all.

Most of the permanents here that come for the winter season have headed home during the last few days. It's been a mass exodus and amazing to watch.  They have incredible setups which take them days to disassemble.

Last night our neighbours invited us over for dinner to eat fresh caught Spangled Emperor and homemade chips. Their camp consists of a caravan, two gazebos and the whole outside area carpeted. It was lovely to walk on and you'd never guess it was all sand underneath. And here we were thinking we camped in luxury - these guys have taken camping to another level. They make the so-called expensive Glamping tents look like bush camping. 

With these permanents leaving, the nightly evening announcements and weather broadcast over the UHF radio by Gypsy, followed by Wing-nut's words of wisdom have finished.  This is a real shame as it demonstrated to us what a real community they have up here. Quite something so we felt very special being invited to the neighbours for dinner.