We got up early and Mike told me about his adventure in the night. Heading out in the dark hours around 2AM to the gents there were three kangaroos lurking on the path. They followed him there and back - who knows for what purpose? The weirdest part of the experience was hearing their "thump thump thump" as they move. It's a little un-nerving when you hear it for the first time in the pitch dark.
We went back out to Cape Range National Park for a little more cozy beach time. Liberally slathered in sunscreen we wandered a bit on Mauritius Beach and took one more dip in the blue water. On the way back we stopped in Exmouth to visit the shopping center and buy the one souvenir of our trip then hit the road again to Coral Bay.
On the road to Coral Bay we stopped at the information stand about the termite nests and saw one of the coolest things I've seen in Australia so far - a red dust devil (aka: willy-willy). I guess they are pretty common but coming from tornado country in the states I found it both beautiful and alarming! We saw it forming from way off and watched it grow and then finally dissipate. I loved it!
Coral Bay is a pretty yet remote place. Driving in off the main road one can be forgiven for thinking it's not a garden spot - all low arid scrub land. The town sort of springs up on you out of no where. It seems like the entire center of town is made up of a couple of big caravan parks, some little shops, and a few cafes all hugging the shoreline. It's extremely family friendly as the beach slopes very gently out from a protected crescent beach. Perfect for the little kiddies to paddle around in and close enough to Ningaloo Reef that you can snorkel right off shore. The campground was very busy and it appeared folks had pretty much settled there for the duration of winter.
We got set up in camp then went out to explore. Found a restaurant billed as the best in town so we made a booking (it indeed did prove to be an excellent dinner - the freshest of fish and one of Mike's favorite desserts as a birthday treat - sticky date pudding). A wedding reception tent was setting up in a beach side park - we got to enjoy the music as we dined later that evening. We made it down to the beach for the 3PM fish feeding which was fun, and watched the wedding ceremony taking place in the distance. With no particular agenda we took a swim and then hung out to watch the sunset.
Fish Feeding at 3PM daily
Sunset - Coral Bay
Delicious treats sent to us by my lovely cousin Beth :-) We had saved this box of fudge for several months and finally broke it out on this trip, mostly so we wouldn't have to share with anyone else!
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