Exmouth and Cape Range NP 22nd to 27th August

Kids with the BIG PRAWN at Exmouth

Hannah being eaten by the BIG WHALE SHARK

At the entrance to Cape Range NP

At the entrance to our camp ground in Cape Range NP

Looking into the campground from the hill. Those that know our camper can you spot it?

Looking back onto the campground from where we had drinks each night.

Sunset from the dunes

Sunset

Kids with their sunset pose

Beach at Kurrajong

Jacob trying his luck with the fishing

Louise trying her luck with the fishing

Jacob's access sign along the Cape Range NP

Night sky at Kurrajong

Eagle with it's nest on a communication tower

Waiting patiently on the glass bottom boat for some action

Louise ready to snorkel from the glass bottom boat

Jacob ready to snorkel from the glass bottom boat

Hannah ready to snorkel from the glass bottom boat

The VERY large Queensland Groper

Turtle (I was very excited to see this)

Lighthouse at the tip of Cape Range

View from the lighthouse

Getting ready to drift snorkel at Sandy Bay. This was when we saw the stingray.

Well we were finally heading north again (albeit 370km) but it is surprising how much the weather warmed up going that little bit further north than where we were. We did stop at Coral Bay on our way for lunch. This was also a lovely spot with some nice coloured water and beaches. The kids paddled their feet before we kept moving on towards Exmouth.
Exmouth was some where we used as an overnight stop to allow us to get into Cape Range the next day at a reasonable time, we even left the car hooked up to the trailer. We were lucky we were only staying here one night as at $79 a night it would've put a huge hole in the old finances.
We paid a visit to the Visitor Centre to see about some of the different tours and things to do in the area. Apart from doing some washing and the kids watching Finding Nemo at the parks outdoor cinema we really didn't do much once we were set up.
Hannah was excited about visiting Exmouth as they had a BIG AUSSIE ICON in the BIG WHALE SHARK. So you can only imagine the response when she also found the BIG PRAWN. She did decide in the end they were being greedy in having 2 BIG AUSSIE ICONS. (Hannah has decided when she is older she is going to tour Australia finding and rating the different BIG AUSSIE ICONS.)
Saturday morning saw us head out to the Cape Range NP just after 10. We stayed at Kurrajong campground, which was just over half way down the Cape. When we arrived we met the nicest camp hosts. We had drinks each night with the different campers and it was great chatting to the different people finding out where they were from and the different adventures they had been doing.
Once we set up the kids very quickly got into the snorkeling and adapted to using the snorkel very well (Jacob didn't like having to share with Strick, so was glad when we decided to buy our own the next morning). They were excited with what they had seen just in the small amount of time they were in the water. Although in saying that they were still in the water at sunset. They were seeing plenty of different fish of all shapes, sizes and colours. There was the different coral that they were finding too, both in size, shape and colour.
Our first full day at Kurrajong was spent with the kids snorkeling in the area and playing on the sand and more snorkeling. Strick and I used today to really just sit and do not much ourselves. Strick enjoyed getting back into the snorkeling with the kids (He hadn't done this since visiting Brampton Island on our honeymoon in 2001). He tried out the fishing rod the first morning and his only excitement was seeing a turtle, otherwise he had no success. Although his excitement enticed Jacob and Louise the second morning and then all 3 kids the third morning (although Hannah didn't last long at all). Unfortunately I didn't get to use the lemon I had bought on the fresh fish they caught.
The Monday (our second full day at Kurrajong) we had booked to do a glass bottom boat tour that included some snorkeling further out on the reef. This was a 2.5 hour tour on the boat and was one of the best valued tours we have done so far on our trip at $200 for the 5 of us and this included the boat tour, snorkeling gear and some great tour guides. Hannah and Louise hit it off with one of the tour guides and she was very accommodating with the girls. We saw some fantastic sights including blue coral, a big Queensland Groper, a Turtle and heaps and heaps of different fish. The kids loved it and it was great to have an opportunity to explore the reefs further out from the beach and hear a little bit about it's history. After the boat trip we followed the tour bus to the Turtle sanctuary on Cape Range, where we were able to find out about the different turtle's and their behaviors. We continued to follow the bus and visited the lighthouse and had some magnificent views including spotting some more whales. When we left the tour we went into Exmouth to have a look around and purchase some postcards and souvenirs. This is one place we all enjoyed (although both Strick and I could give or take Exmouth itself, but loved Kurrajong and Cape Range NP). We of course got back to camp in time for drinks on the Dunes. This was a lovely spot to view the sunset and again do some whale spotting and enjoy catching up with everyone's daily adventures. The kids tonight just played in the sand dunes and needless to say were covered and ended up in bed with sand EVERYWHERE!! That is one thing with the sand it seems to be a lot more coarse than what we are used to, although it seems to stick to you a lot easier also.
The Tuesday which was our last day saw us venture to the Visitor Centre in the National Park for Jacob to purchase his souvenirs that were of Cape Range and Ningaloo Reef rather than Exmouth. On our way back to camp we visited some of the other camping areas and some snorkeling areas. We completed some drift snorkeling where you swim out before the reef and you just float allowing the current to take you along while you relax and enjoy the view. It took Hannah a little while to grasp the concept and gain the confidence, but once she relaxed and went with it we struggled to get her out. This was where we saw a rather large stingray. Today had been another great day snorkeling and enjoying the sights along the Ningaloo Reef. We eventually headed back to Kurrajong for some lunch and of course to spend our last afternoon at the reef near camp. It was a disappointment when we did return as the area was covered in jelly fish with Louise being stung a couple of times. It did put a bit of a dampener on the end of our time here, although the kids still made the comment that they didn't want to leave. This is again one place we will return. We enjoyed our last night of drinks on the Dunes watching the sunset and chatting to the other campers. Tomorrow we were heading towards Denham and Monkey Mia with the plan to stop in a roadside camp somewhere near Carnarvon.