This will focus on our time in and around Exmouth, and like the posts before this, will be largely pictorial. I really need to sort out a way to type onto the tablets so I can at least record nightly. Still, this is better than nothing and hopefully enough to keep Future Matt happy and any other readers of the blog entertained along the way.
Now Exmouth... what to say about this place... Hmm...
The caravan park (RAC one if you are interested) was servicable and did what it needed to do. But I feel for the money they were asking, wasn't even close to being up to par with other places in our journey. I mean really, is it that hard to get a decent tiler?
I think I touched on it in the previous post that I'll remember Exmouth for the people, the stunning landscapes and the amazing amount of fauna and flora we saw. I won't look back on the townscape of Exmouth itself with great fondness...
But onto the pics...
The boys and I getting ready to go for a fish, after spending the morning getting some new gear. James was particularly chuffed with his new rod which he paid for with his own money. Here we are talking to our neighbour (whose name escapes me) but really the boys are lingering going... "C'mon Dad... let's go!"
We'd originally planned to head up to the North of Exmouth to the top of the 'cape' where B could chase some waves. But alas, the weather brought in, on the wind, some pretty choppy stuff so the board remained on the roof of the truck. And then, to our disappointment we realised we'd also picked low tide, which up this way make fishing nigh on impossible. We've now learnt to check tide times... Still, this on our trip we found the wreck of the Mildura which the boys thought looked like a stranded submarine.
Sam not impressed when I mentioned that we wouldn't be even able to clear the rocks with the rods...
Evie cares little for fishing... and I don't blame her with her imagination. Why fish when you can look through your pretend binoculars at some exotic world over the ocean?
Sam trying his luck to persuade Mum to let him walk into the rocks and fish after I said it was a bit to strong and rough. As you can see from the distance between them, he wasn't having much luck. Still... lovely spot!
Back at the truck, and yep... another world literally a few metres away.
The next morning we awoke to the kids telling us the galahs were going through the recycled bin. We looked out to spy these two... and what a site. One of the funniest things I've seen. The literally were sitting there trying to find the dregs of drinks in cans. I think they had a penchant for Emu Bitter but they didn't look too fussy. Doubt the could fly straight later on that day...
We took a drive out to the Charles Knife Gorge trail to check it out. Not planning a big walk as it was a solid 8km round trip or similar. But we were met with phenomenal views on the Eastern side of Cape Range. This was the view towards Learmonth Airport.
And this is Charles Knife Gorge... Pretty freakin' amazing.
This was the view from the start of the bushwalking trail. You'd never know you were on a peninsula between two awesome bits of sea, with gorges of epic proportions just nearby.
Back that afternoon and treated the truck to a long overdue wash... She was grateful.
One of the things I realise I miss out on when at work is moments like this. It turns out James loves making things out of boxes and so when we do a 'big shop' he loves getting to work with scissors, sticky tape and glue. Here he is making a home for his pet dog "Ruffy". Given nowhere in Exmouth sells items with plastic bags, which I love incidentally, he had plenty of cardboard boxes to work with. Seeing moments like this make me realise that this trip is such a cool thing to do.
After lunch we headed out to Pebble Beach for a look, and despite low tide again, a fish. Was a pretty cool spot where we spent some time exploring what the coast had to offer.
I particularly likes the way the stone at this point, like the beach itself, was made up with small pebbles. It seems the name was very apt.
A quick solo run down the beach revealed... more pebbles...
I told Sam he'd need to head out a fair chunk to get into deep enough water to fish... He didn't seem to care. I took this shot in knee deep water a solid 50m from 'dry land'.
Meanwhile Evie, James and B were making birthday messages for Sion (cousin/nephew) to send to Wales.
Much to Sam's chargrin, I was the only one to catch anything and that's literally because I jagged this small trevally through the guts! Still, it counts!
Back in the Wonderful World of Evie, she and B (James had joined Sam and I in the water) started their own crab/snail racing ring. Not sure if it was certified or if they had a licence, but the trails left by the creatures as they tried to run from the Evie -shaped giant was pretty cool.
That evening we walked into town and treated ourselves to some fish and chips. Reasonable, but nothing to get too excited about. But the walk was great and watching the kids scoot around was excellent.
Following day was Whale Shark Day.... so let's jump ahead.
Day after was 'haircut' day. Not quite as cool... The only redeeming feature of the cuts the boys and I got were the fact that the girl cutting them (sorry, should that read 'young lady'?) was actually from Shepparton, VIC and was in a couple of my Mum's textiles classes!
Yeah.. not one of the best.
I don't mind James' as much. He can rock the real short hair...
That afternoon I think B picked up on a vibe that I was a little 'over it' and took the kids back into town for a scoot and a play in the splash park. I incidentally kicked back, updated a few spreadsheets and busted out some blog posts whilst having a few beers. It was pretty nice.
Then I hear there was nudie runs in the middle of town!! Public indecency!
See... Sam's hair's not that bad... is it? Good to see he's stacking on the weight too...
And just like that, Exmouth was done and dusted. I packed up outside the van, as I try to do the night before we leave and put the LED strip light onto the car to try and draw the bugs. It did to an extent, however, it also lit up the side of the white van, like, well a big white van. But in the end, I quite like the shot and a different way to view the Big Green Lizard.
So we leave Exmouth to move around the corner to Cape Range.
Exmouth is like a few stops we've had, where we need both a washing machine and reception to plug back into the world momentarily. It's great being off-grid but you do feel a little bit out of it. Could I live permanently offline? Unlikely. But we're finding a balance I think and as we begin the 'middle third' of our trip, I think we're starting to come to understand what we need from the places we stay.
It's fascinating to see how we as a unit develop and change on this adventure, and how the kids and big kids alike adapt to it. Does it feel normal? No, and I doubt it will. But I think we're now not thinking about it as a novelty, but more as a way of life, or perhaps a style of living. Putting aside the touristy adventure parts and focusing on the actual 'living' aspect, every place is unique and throws up a different set of living circumstances.
I think we're coping pretty well with it all all things considering. School is still the biggest hurdle, but even then, when James' comes out with comments like "check out that mountain range over there" instead of "big hills" or Evie or Sam talk to random campers around a campfire about their adventures, I know they're learning so much indirectly.
It's all pretty good really.
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