Lap Around Australia: Exmouth

Exmouth

Much as we enjoyed our stay at Bullara Station we were glad to be heading to the coast as the heat has been really draining. It's hard to have the energy to do anything when it's forty degrees in the shade. We had a leisurely departure on Sunday morning as there was only an 86 kilometre drive to Exmouth. You do have to be on your toes the whole way to avoid sheep who graze by the unfenced roadside and who might decide to run across the road at any moment to have a word with their chums on the other side.
We drove past the turn-offs to Charles Knife Gorge and Shothole Canyon. We weren't even slightly tempted to detour down these roads, even had we not been towing the van. It was way too hot to contemplate a gorge walk. Not happening!

Arriving in Exmouth we made our first port of call to the Visitor Centre near the town centre and also, it turned out, to our caravan park at RAC Exmouth Cape Park. The Visitor Centre has a large prawn featured outside the building. It's BIG! It was kindly donated by one of the local fishing families in this area, and is certainly eye-catching. The ladies in the centre were very helpful, giving good advice about all that's on offer in the town. We loaded up with brochures and information as well as a few post cards and left to check in at the park.

We made an abortive attempt to park up in the first site we were given. The caravan kept bottoming out and we were worried we'd bend the leg supports on the van trying to get in. Back round the block to the reception who happily changed us to a better site. Apparently we weren't the first to complain about that one. We got in easily with the help of the hand held UHF radios to guide John into place (Yay! The stress reduced way to parking with John and Barb!).

We quickly set up camp and were just settling down for a cuppa when we felt something looming behind us. Er .... um .... an emu? Oh yes, and just about to help itself to the biscuits! There was another skulking nearby as well, but luckily they seem very tame. They stalk off to check out what's on offer at the next camp if you shoo them away. And they're not the only birdlife to beware of. There are lots of noisy birds in the trees around us too.

This caravan park is rather nice. Good clean amenities and a fabulous laundry. The pool and play area for kids looks very inviting too with lots of shade and tropical palm trees. Obviously they must get bus groups staying here too, as there are great facilities to cater to them with a large camp kitchen and undercover dining area. It's almost full here already, and with the school holidays commencing next weekend I imagine it will be full capacity.

 

We drove down to the town centre to do some grocery shopping. It's a pretty small precinct, but it boasts two IGA stores almost directly opposite each other! There's also a pharmacy, butcher, bakery and bottle shop and a couple of coffee shops and beach clothing stores, and not too much else. Apparently there is an industrial estate further out of town that has hardware stores etc.
There is a lovely park across the road that has an undercover waterpark area for small kiddies and an Olympic size pool as well as a lot of well-maintained barbeque areas with shaded seating. It all looked pretty new.

The town beach is not far away, so we drove down there for a look. There were hardly any people on the beach. It was a coral and shell beach rather than nice white sand, so perhaps not as appealing as Coral Bay. No-one appeared to be doing any of the water sports on offer either. Maybe because of the wind. Or the heat. It was thirty six degrees.

We drove on to take a look at the harbour, which also looks like a brand new development. There is canal residential development going on here, with lots of grand houses being built that each have their own boat jetties. Think Raby Bay or the Gold Coast.
We walked out on the harbour wall to watch the boats coming and going. There were dolphins playing in the water close to the wall and the water was so clear you could see the fish and the bottom of the sea floor. It all looked very pleasant but was surprisingly quiet. Most of the whale-watching boats were tied up. There were very few visiting yachts here. Maybe too expensive?

We are having a very quiet and lazy stay here. Re-stocking food. Washing clothes. Reading books. The heat is soporific. We don't feel like gadding about too much. We've heard from Karen and Steve that they'll be driving through from Dampier and staying at Bullara Station for a night on Monday. We'll all meet up again on Tuesday and head to North Mandu on the beachfront in the Cape Range National Park, where we'll camp with no amenities other than toilets for the next three days. I hope there's shade!