Carnarvon, Blowholes and Red Bluff

Monday the 28th September and it was time to move on from Ningaloo. It was sad to leave as we had a ball there with great people and a great part of the world. We had made inquiries with van parks in Coral Bay but there were no vacancies as it was school holidays. So the plan was to stay at a free camp that night and go into Coral Bay the next day for a snorkel and a look see. When we got down the road we found that the free camp was really exposed and no one was there, no company. We had been told by people who had gone there that it was really crowded with the school holidays so with all that we decided to give it a miss this time and put Coral Bay on the list of must dos when we come back in the future.

So we moved on and stayed at a suitable free camp much further on. Next day we went to Carnarvon and stayed at the Big 4. They had a deal of pay for three nights and stay four. Our friends and neighbours from home who are on the road ahead of us, Col & Di, said they stayed three nights and paid for two so we got the same deal. That afternoon we had a look around town and visited the information centre.

Next day, Wednesday the 30th, we drove up the coast a bit to the blowholes near Point Quobba. It is an amazing coast line. There are these blowholes that are smallish in size compared to others like Kiama but they roar as the water rushed through them. They are so cool and we got a couple of short videos of them.

We then drove on up to Red Bluff where there is a campsite situated at a pristine beach with a big headland. We kept it in mind as a future camp site, to tent it in but, not take the caravan, the road was a bit rough. Whilst we were there we saw two big whales coming down the coast and we drove up to rendezvous with them. They were only about 300 metres away from us and we had a great vantage point. For some reason we didn't think to video them, bugger, would have been a good video.

We then went back to the blowholes and had some lunch on the beach and had a snorkel there at what they call the aquarium. It is a small reef and the water comes in fairly shallow even at high tide. Beyond the reef the ocean is pretty rough and it is incredible how this reef provides a small paradise. You can camp there as well. We were aware we could camp there but we were only paying $25 a night average for our powered site in Carnarvon whereas the campsite would have cost us nearly the same.

Then it was up to the lighthouse for a quick look. There were whales everywhere that day, everywhere you looked, to far to catch in the camera but.

Next day we stayed in town to have a look around. We saw the big satellite dish:

We saw a bit of history at the One Mile Jetty. Carnarvon use to be a busy port and it was good to see the last used steam engine there, the jetty of course, the water tower, alot of photos and stories about the history of the place including alot about the shearers and Charles kingsford Smith who started off there driving trucks when heavy haulage by trucks had just begun.