DAY 84 – VISITING CORAL BAY

Coral Bay is definitely another one of those places that you could have stayed at for a week. Unfortunately we could only spend the day here as today is the start of the Western Australian school holidays and all three van parks here are completely booked out.  In fact over 300 caravans are expected to arrive in Coral Bay today.

Over 300 vans expected to arrive in Coral Bay today for the WA school holidays.

We did however make sure that we had left our togs out so that we could have s swim and a snorkel at Coral Bay.

It is such a beautiful spot,  the water is crystal clear, and the prettiest of colours.  There is a lovely sheltered area of the bay which is ideal for families with young children and by the time we got there, there were already several young families enjoying their time on this pristine beach. 

Steve talked to a local and found out that the best snorkelling area was on the other side of the boat ramp and down a little.  That way, if you entered near the rocks, the current drifted you back down towards the boat ramp and you didn’t need to work as hard.  

The water here was a lot deeper than that at Turquoise Bay but a lot clearer also.  Neither Kathy nor Barb had bought their flippers down, so Steve and I both towed them out a little so that you could see the amazing coral in the waters here.  

 It was way more impressive than what we had seen at Turquoise Bay although perhaps not as colourful.  The fish here also weren’t as prolific or as colourful as that back at Turquoise Bay, but there were heaps of fish and they were much larger.  We were wishing that we had remembered to bring our Go Pro to take photos, but it was locked back in the van. 

The coral here was huge, and was very much like large cabbages and mushrooms under the sea.  Truly amazing.  

We must have spent a good hour to an hour and a half out in the water and it was almost lunch time by the time we got out.  

We had parked our cars and vans in behind the main shopping centre in Coral Bay, so on our way back to our vehicles, we decided to stop off at the shopping centre and grab some pies from the Bakery. 

Best pies ever... amazing bakery

Lunch at the Coral Bay Resort Bakery

These pies were something else.  They were amazing,  honestly the best pies I have had in a long time.  I had a beef and reef pie, Steve and Kathy had a chunky beef pie, Barb had a Chicken Pie, and both Ian and John got the Rosemary and Lamb pie.  This is definitely a bakery we will remember.  Since the pies were so good, we also decided to indulge in something sweet, with most of us getting the apple strudel which again was mouth watering and very reasonable priced.    This bakery is way up there on our list of bakeries we have tried out these holidays.  

After lunch, Steve and I took a quick drive back down to where we had been swimming that morning.  Steve’s family have always called his mother Maud, so when we saw some signs for Maud’s Sanctuary at Coral Bay, we just knew we wanted to photograph it for her. 

Meanwhile the others took off and we were to meet them at Lyndon Rest Area which is where we had planned to stop for the night.  Somehow communication got muddled, and they thought that we needed to backtrack to go to Lyndon’s Rest Area, so decided that we would move on to another called Lake MacLeod instead, so Ian and Kathy waited for us on the side of the road.  

Unfortunately we didn’t realize they were waiting for us, and we were a little longer than we initially planned to be as Steve then sent a text with photos to his parents.  

When we finally did meet up with them the plans for the night had changed which was fine.  We all took off now heading for Lake MacLeod Rest Area, but unfortunately,  since the photos in the book that Kathy had showed were taken, the rest area has had a revamp and has been renamed, so we completely missed it as we were driving down the highway.  

Crossing it for the 5th time since leaving home

However we did cross the Tropic of Capricorn again,  making this the fifth time we have crossed it since leaving home. 

 

We had planned on going to the Quobba Blowholes the following day, but in the end, both Ian and Kathy, and Steve and I ended up driving into them and spending the night in a camping area there whilst John and Barb continued through to Carnarvon where they booked into the Capricorn Holiday Park.

We arrived at the Quobba Blowholes just on sun set and they were quite spectacular with the setting sun in the back ground.  

We found the camping ground, and the caretaker, and it cost us $8 per person per night to stay there.  We booked for one night only.   We were put in an area where we could remain hitched still which was good, because it meant we could get away first thing in the morning again.  

By the time we were all set up, it was dark, and none of us really felt like cooking, so it was left over pork with gravy of bread for dinner for us.  Nice and simple and very filling. 

It is hard to believe that we have almost been on the road for three months, and we still have so much more to do and see.