Thursday April 24

Here we are at the most northerly destination of our trip – Exmouth, all ready to pick Kate and Derek up from nearby Learmonth airport tomorrow. The weather is very hot, with lovely warm evenings so Murray is thriving and I vacillate between dripping and just hot. Happily the beaches are beautiful and the water is a gloriously pleasant temperature.

Tough times!

We followed the expected path here – two nights in Geraldton where the car was duly serviced and we took the opportunity to visit the ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition at the WA Museum.  It was absolutely stunning – every photo was superb and we couldn’t believe our luck at visiting whilst this was on. The Photograph of the Year, called ‘Near Miss’ by David Rennie is unbelievable and in fact there was some controversy about whether he had somehow ‘staged’ the shot when he was named the winner. This exhibition, which is owned by the SA Museum, is travelling next to Kalgoorlie and then to Tasmania, but I can’t find a date or place. The 2012 venue was Launceston. If you ever get a chance to see it make sure you don’t miss out. In the meantime you could check out the winning photo and the People’s Choice winner on the SA Museum website: http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/explore/exhibitions/the-australian-geographic-anzang-nature-photographer-of-the-year-2013

Unfortunately they don’t have the 2013 photos up, but I have discovered some or all (not sure) of the 2012 and earlier photos, so if you are into photography they are wonderful. This is the address:

http://www.anzang.samuseum.sa.gov.au/index.php?blog/show/2013-Overall-Winner.html

Next stop was Kalbarri, a very attractive spot where the Murchison River meets the sea. As it was school holidays and Easter, the town was very busy and the caravan park was chock-a-block with families and busy kids.

The Murchison meets the ocean wrapping around two headlands with a
wonderful crash of waves

South to the coastal part of Kalbarri National Park

Whilst we didn’t feel the need to rush around and re-visit all the attractions of the magnificent Kalbarri National Park (the beach was much too appealing), we did go out to Ross Graham Lookout on the eastern side of the park which we did not visit in 2012. From here it is a relatively short walk down to the Murchison River, which winds its way through the gorges of the park. It is a beautiful spot, so I am able to regale you with some photos of the waterholes of the river and the amazing Tumblagooda Sandstone cliffs, incised by the river over many millions of years. The colours in the sandstone/siltstone are incredible and once again entranced us.

Down into the Murchison Gorge from Ross Graham Lookout

Yours truly en route to the river

Getting closer!

At the river, looking up at the cliffs

The river was not flowing, but these waterholes were
very appealing

The colours in the banded siltstone are amazing and who
knows the origins of the holes!

Looking along the cliffs

The Murchison heading west from Hawks Head lookout

East from the same spot

The drive to Carnarvon was the longest we have undertaken since we arrived in Esperance – some 430 kilometres, but we managed very well!  We used our time in Carnarvon to visit some of the plantations along the Gascoigne River (the water of which is now well secreted away under the sand but still available for irrigation) and stock up on some of the lovely produce grown in the area – bananas, pawpaw, avocados, melons, custard apples tomatoes and frozen mango. The van looks a bit like a hawkers van now, but it smells delightful!

One more bird to add to the collection Squires – some beautiful little Peaceful Doves were wandering around the van one morning.

We arrived here in Exmouth on Monday, as always enjoying the changing landscapes as we travelled along. Since then we have lolled on the beach, found a local fisherman at the marina and bought some lovely fresh Crimson Snapper and caught up on the reading. The trip out to the marina brought some unexpected excitement – a pair of Osprey perched on adjacent light poles.

Unfortunately I could only fit one in the photo!

I am now going to expand the scope of the blog and recommend some books we have read over the last few weeks and thoroughly enjoyed!

·         ‘Flight Behaviour’ and ‘Prodigal Summer’ by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is just magical and evocative. We read ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ last trip and it is also brilliant. Helps that, as a biologist and scientist, her novels are intertwined with important environmental themes and messages.

·         ‘The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry’ by Rachel Joyce. A moving and charming book and as the author is also a playwright, she manages to create characters and places so vividly you feel as if you are there.

·         ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey, an Australian author. Another moving and touching book, with writing that is so clever and full of lovely comic moments created through clever use of language. A good one for you Py!

·         ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simsion. If you haven’t read this one yet you should – it is fantastic. Funny but also a real ‘feel good’ book. We both loved it.

·         ‘Dog Days’ by Ross Garnaut. In the face of our current political situation it was a little comforting to read a guide to our future by an economist who sees more than just the dollars and cents of economic and social policy.

So, there you are – more than just a travelogue! 

Murray enjoying Jasper Jones. I have taken a small liberty above saying that
we both really like it, but he is thus far and I know he will continue to do so!

Here endeth another post. Hopefully we will be able to share some wonderful photos of Whale Sharks and Manta Rays by the end of next week.  We bring Kate and Derek back here to Exmouth on Friday May 2, so the next update will be after that sometime.