Turning off the main road into Charles Knife Rd , we started to climb up the mountain , from sea level ,we got up to 350m !! The mountain tops were Karst limestone , something we have seen before at Chillagoe in Queensland , Windjana & Geikie Gorge in WA . It is very porous limestone rock , that is synonymous with caves , today was starting to get interesting !! The road up wound it's way beside canyons with steep drops either side of the road , there were many areas totally unfenced , the hairs on the back of your neck rise as you approach the edge !!
Arriving at the turn off to the lookout , we turn off and immediately slow down as the track is extremely rocky - it was only a kilometre to the parking area , but it took nearly 10 mins ! There were many wildflowers blooming , here is a selection .
There was one plant that was growing - we are still not sure how , when you see it's split trunk you will understand . It was almost like a ribbon cable used in computers .
The walk took us up a hill , then down into the valley below where the gorge / canyon started . We had covered the 860m to the sign , where you decide whether you will go the shorter way -1.8 klms , or the longer way 2.4 klms , to get to the lookout . After a short walk along the longer track which took you beside the gorge , we decided to head back , it was getting hotter , there was a wind blowing , but it was 33 degrees when we got back to the ute , fortunately we had taken sufficient water with us. The signs to the lookout could be a lot clearer , not a lot of information about the distance you have to walk to get to it !!
Making our way back out , we stopped several times for photos of the gorge and Exmouth Gulf .
It was 11:30 , so we thought we'd go into Shothole Gorge , to the picnic area and have lunch there . Well , it was 5 klms back up the road toward Exmouth , and turned off again . The road was gravel , and lead us into the canyon . We drove through the dry creek bed many times as we criss crossed the canyon floor . Views were quite spectacular .
We had lunch and checked out the lookout , we even saw some people up on the lookout we were walking to earlier . In the above photo , they were on the top of the flat area above the ute . The temperature was now up to 34 degrees , so it was back in the ute and turn the aircon up full blast !!
The road out was covered either side with tiny yellow flowers .
Just when we thought the day was nearly done , we called in to Pebble Beach for a look at the gulf . Walking down to the beach we spotted some whales having a bit of a play - it was a mother & calf , we watched for a while before they swam further north . There was also a school of fish that randomly jumped out of the water 3 times in a row , they would have been around 300mm long and about 40 of them !!
We decide to head further up to see where the whales would appear next . There is an industrial area south of Exmouth , so we turned in there and found some access to the beach , and walked down . To our surprise , there were another pair of whales just north of us , and some dolphins as well !!
Walking around at the edge of the crystal clear water , I discovered some clam shells about 150mm across , then some fossils of coral , then the realisation that the rock shelves we were sitting on were all fossilised coral and shells .
It was still hot , so we headed back to go for a swim and cool off . It certainly did that , the water was refreshing !!
Back to the RV and chatted to a young guy beside us for a while , then there was 3 planes come past and parachuters were coming out the back of them , must be on some sort of army / navy / air force training exercise !! There was an army communications setup on the road that we went up earlier - must be all a part of this . As I am writing this we are being circled by jets , must also be part of the exercise , hopefully they will stop soon !!!
The other event for the day , there are resident emus in Exmouth , you have to give way to them when you are driving . We had 5 of them in the park today , here's one .
It's a bit funny , we haven't seen any emus for quite a while , now he we are and there is a family or two living here !!!
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