Days 54-57, Wednesday 4 – Saturday 7 August
Leaving the Pilbara, we had a relatively uneventful drive ( less broken windscreen 🙄) to in Exmouth mid-afternoon on Wednesday. It is peak season and the town was full to the gills… there was even overflow camping occurring on the town’s sports oval. But Exmouth is less about the town and more about the natural wonders around it – most specifically the Cape Range National Park and the adjacent World Heritage listed Ningaloo reef ( apparently the world’s largest fringing reef). The area has a long human history too. We acknowledge the traditional owners , the Jinigudera people and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. European contact with the area began with the Dutch around the 1600s.
As well as being physically beautiful, the marine park and coast is teeming with life . We saw more Humpback Whales than you could count ( the WA migration population is now estimated at around 45,000 , up from around 500 when commercial whaling in WA ended). We also saw bird life , sea turtles ( including one nesting) and more tropical fish on the reef than you could take in.
We (sadly) left Exmouth on Saturday and drove via Coral Bay ( for a look) to Carnarvon. Today (Sunday) we are heading up the coast to Gnaraloo for a few days.
Ness’ and Mark’s Wandering 