21/10/21 Galena bridge

     Leaving Mothpit after a quiet night , we head south toward another of our favourites Galena Bridge . The wildflowers have been very absent in places and we're wondering what it will be like in Kalbarri ? But that all changed further down the road , flowers started to appear and then there were lots . Stopping at a Nerren Nerren rest area we wandered around the place and found these . 

  Seedpods from previous flowering .

 These are seedpods as well , but look like they should be flowers - very colourful .

   These brilliant little beauties appeared .

  More seedpods - these are striped .

    Flowers were everywhere

    And one of the locals 

    Back on the road and after about another half an hour we stopped again and went for a walk , very colourful now .

    This one looks like it has flowered and this is what remains , but maybe it's the flower ???

     Then there was this little orange beauty .

    And this is it's bush .

 Smokebush is coming out everywhere .

    And these little balls were on their last legs .

    But for each flower finishing , there were plenty to take it's place .

    This is a cone flower, after flowering it is left with a small cone - smaller than a golf ball .

   We arrived at Galena Bridge and went to the south side where it is bitumen , found ourselves a spot and set up . There's been some rain recently , so we didn't want to trust seven & a half tonnes of ute & van on the dirt !

   Going for a wander around revealed more flowers & plenty of grass - signs of a wetter than usual winter & spring . This is a Desert Rose - there are many varieties and colours - deep purple through to cream .

   The banks of the river were covered in yellow flowers , each flower about the size of a 5 cent piece .

    This tiny moth was helping itself to the pollen .

    A couple of black swans were swimming around with their 6 cygnets .

    Clumps of grass were out in seed , this one being watched over by another lizard .

 

    We had a lot of other people camping there overnight , and it was much cooler - seems we've left the hot weather behind - not overly happy with that . That's it for today .

20/10/21 Mothpit

    Heading further south due to our change in plans , we decided to have another night on the side of the highway , at a spot we haven't stopped at before . This one has the wonderful name of Mothpit !!!

   It's beside the highway just north of Shark Bay turnoff . The roads are just a little bit straight ! This is looking south .

    This is looking north .

    We found a spot just off the track beside the boundary fence , and had it all to ourselves for the night .

    See , here we are again !

    The afternoon soon disappeared and sunset was upon us .

 And there you have it , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1JzBmGNwvMtK3I_goHIrA6BmMBfKZH0xK&usp=sharing

 

18/10/21 Carnarvon

 

     We left Bruboodjoo after another beach walk , and headed back out to the road and headed south . It was an uneventful drive down to Yalabia Rest Area in amongst the red sand dunes . We found a good spot and set up for the night , gradually others arrived to do the same thing . 

    After a good nights sleep we gradually got organised and headed in to Carnarvon . Now our plans were to have a few days in town , wash , shop and do what was required before we headed out to Quobba Blow Holes - yes the same one that's in the news about Cleo being abducted .  Our plans have been cancelled , we don't need to be here while all this is going on .

    During our stay , we headed out to Rocky Pool on the Gascoyne River , it's been about 6 years since we were here last . There was still plenty of water in the rocky area , stretching a few hundred metres down the river .

   Time for some aerial views .

   This is the sandy area where the water flows in - when it actually runs over the surface . You can see where someone got bogged in the darker section mid left - that'll teach them to be a bit more careful - maybe !

    We headed back toward Carnarvon, but stopped a few kilometres down the road near a waterhole - time for some more aerial shots .

    The waterhole looks very different from above .

    There are several other claypans nearby as well , the patterns in this one caught my eye .

    Colours are all different . You can also see fence lines & tracks that go off into the distance - that's a long straight track & fence !

    Back in town , we had some lunch , then headed out to the Northern Plantations for a look . 

Stopping at the end of one road , we found a succulent ground cover that was all buds and some flowers , but no leaves ???

    They grow a lot of produce up here , table grapes are just one of the crops .

     Going over the Gascoyne River , we stopped at Rotary Park where there are plenty of good sized River Gums .

    Time for some more aerial shots of the very geometric patterns of the orchards .

     There's still bit of water in the river .

    With the hint of a sunset , we headed into town and out near the fishing harbour to watch . We got some different results due to the cloud cover 

    The sun had gone for the day , but the clouds started to glow , it was worth waiting for .

The Fascine has been made into a very user friendly area with walkways , small jetties for boats to tie up to , or people to fish off . It has really tidied up an area that wasn't really great before .

    And thats it for Carnarvon this trip , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1s_J1XFIv_-kGEZuEdVFrA5FKjZA6e6pS&usp=sharing

14/10/21 Bruboodjoo - 9 Mile Camp part 2

 

   Okay , here we are at Coral Bay , and as you can see it's busy - not Bondi standards busy , but you can't get a spot in either of the 2 caravan parks ! Around the point to the left is where I headed into the water to check out the coral gardens .

    The water was rather cool , but I soon forgot about that when you see all the coral . It's been 5 years since we were here last and I was surprised by the amount of stag horn coral - it's taking over from the big leafy type which was dominant .

    Up close shows the colours .

    You can't see the sand under the coral , it's that thick!

     There are other types of coral , you just have to swim around to find them . There's coral everywhere and that probably makes this a more unique place , in that you just walk in off the beach and 10m later you're in amongst it all !!

     The cooler water was starting to tell me it was time to get out , so I did , standing in the sun and warming up just like a lizard on a rock .

    Heading down the beach for a walk , we found this school of small fish - there were thousands , and they were all swimming in about 100mm of water .

     After some lunch , we fuelled up the ute and went around to the boat ramp . The colour of the water here is stunning !!

     Time for an aerial view of this - here's the boat ramp , all the dark areas are coral , you can see the darker water beyond the reef edge , with the waves breaking on the edge of the reef .

    This view is looking back to the village of Coral Bay , the darker green trees are the back of the caravan parks and you can see all of the village - it's not that big !!

    Check out the colours .

    After we couldn't take any more of the views , we headed off toward Brooboodjoo , but went via the main rd this time . It gave me the opportunity to stop and get some photos of the mulla mulla again .

     Next day we headed north on the track that leads all the way to Yardie Creek in Cape Range NP . More great scenery .

   Further up we found a large limestone shelf , some of which had cracked and fallen onto the sand . It gets eroded away by wind and waves and gradually breaks off .

     Some more flowers around the place .

     We only went up about 12klms , then came back for lunch . After lunch we went for a walk around the point , this was looking back to the beach we're parked behind .

    After walking around the point , we found a spot where we could have a swim - it was very windy , so we were ducking wind swell , but the water was beautiful . On a walk along the beach before the swim , I managed to see a small Leopard Ray , and a large Sting Ray , Oh yeah , then there was the reef shark that was about 1.5m long !!

     We headed back to the van for a quiet beer and a relax , then I looked out the window and saw this - I've always wanted to get a photo of the suns rays shooting out , and there it was - I raced out of the van and up the sand dune to get this photo .

    An Osprey flew past , being escorted off the site by a couple of Silver Terns that weren't real happy to see it .

   The sun disappeared behind the cloud , then gradually reappeared as it set over the horizon .

   Well , what a cracker of a stop this place has been , unfortunately we leave tomorrow , but it's another day and another adventure .