Hello there , a little more action today , the camera was actually used !!
After a great nights sleep , we got ready and drove up to the north toward Quobba Station . We took a short cut from town along a sandy road through the back blocks and over the Gascoyne River . There isn’t a bridge , just a causeway , no need to worry , the river is underground at the moment - no chance of getting washed off the causeway untill they have a lot of rain , more chance of getting bogged in the sand !
Continuing on , we get some corrugations , and some areas that have been wet and are rutted with tyre tracks , but generally okay , then we hit the main road in - back to the bitumen .
There is a power line that goes in to a Rio Tinto salt mine and Quobba Station , they have installed old wheel rims on the poles , so hawks and eagles etc, can make nests in them , and they have .
We crossed over the southern end of Lake Macleod - a salt lake - and came across an interesting place - a Beta Carotene production facility !! They extract it from the brine water , which is a pinky purple colour , the photos will explain .
On the road again , we could see the dunes out toward the coast , then we saw Point Quobba Lighthouse , so we drove up for a look . Extensive views up & down the coast and dunes .
From there we went down to the camping and day use area ( the shelters in the photo ) . At the parking area , we checked out the wildflowers , or what's left of them - they are a little past their best - completely in some cases !! There was one that seemed to have buds that looked like sugar coated jelly and little white flowers .
Back to the coastline , the continental shelf is extremely close to the coast and Ningaloo Reef , and there are lots of rock shelves close to the limestone coastline .
Just inside the rock shelf was an island that sheltered a lagoon from the main onslaught of the relentless surf , suitable for swimming & snorkelling .
We walked along the shell covered beach , not too much sand , mainly shell grit !!
Back to the ute , we drove down through the camping area till we were past the camping area , turned and came back again - there are lots of camping areas here - you have to be self contained or have a chemical toilet !! For $11 a head per night , you get somewhere to park about 30 - 40 m from the water , there is a little bit of shelter from the wind , as the campsites are behind the dunes . There are quite a few old fishing shacks , all in various states of repair - or lack of it !!!
We drove around to the Blowholes , yes there are more than one here , again completely different to the one at Kiama . The coastline is made up of very porous limestone , some of which has been eroded away . There are several holes in one section of rock shelf , and as the swell comes in , the air in them gets compressed and pushed out with a roar , till the water gets to the outlet hole , and comes out as a spray . It shoots out up to 20m in the air .
Some more photos of the rugged coast .
There is a really large sign on 2 posts as you get close to the blowholes saying " King waves can kill " . There is a monument near the blowholes with someones name on it , drowned while rock fishing , it brings it home to you !!!
From here we decide to have a look at the HMAS Sydney memorial , up the coast a bit further . We found it eventually , the map isn't the most accurate in the tourist information book . The have a ceremony every November to commemorate the 645 Australian Navy personnel lost when it sank after an altercation with the German Armed Raider - Kormoran on 19th November 1941 - it was only 80 klms south from here and was 30 klms off the coast.
We had lunch here before heading back to town 70klms away . Lake Macleod is a dry lake , Rio Tinto have a salt mine there - not accessible to the public though . The southern end of the lake was where we had driven in and looked like a clay pan .
Back to town and had a swim before a beer & cheese & bickies . We rang David up and organised to go round to see them and have a quiet beer or two at 5pm . We rocked up and wandered down to their van , to find Peter & Sandy down just a bit further , so the 6 off us sat & chatted & laughed for a few hours - an enjoyable evening !!
That was definitely the day done , and a good one at that !!
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