Day 17 Yardie Creek and Torquoise Bay

The power charging station at camp, phones, cameras, batteries.

Cape Range NP - Yardie Creek Inlet.

Beautiful Torquoise Bay.

Emus at our campsite.

Monday, September 26^th.

This morning was a lazy and slow morning. It seems everyone is tired. I was up early and ready to go but had to wait for the others. Eventually we got underway and since it was still windy and cool Damien decided to take us on a short hike instead of snorkelling. We began to drive but about twenty minutes out Damien cursed and I heard him say the temperature of the truck was going up. He stopped and told everyone to go for a walk while he asked me to help him move all his stuff in the cab so that he could open the cab which folds forward to get to the engine. He put some oil in and then had to put about 10 litres of water in the radiator. We put the truck back together and it was all good. We'll have to keep an eye on it.

We drove for about a half hour down to Yardie Creek and hiked a trail that led parallel to it to another gorge. From the rocky edge we could see a rock wallaby with a joey just across the gap. On the way out I saw some pied cormorants and a couple of other sea birds.

When we got back to the truck we drove back towards camp and stopped at Sandy Bay for a peak at the beautiful turquoise water and white sand. The sun was very hot but the wind was cool. Then we drove Turquoise Bay to do some snorkelling. The water was cool but beautiful and clear. There was a current that ran parallel to the beach and between the beach and the reef. Therefore you walked up the beach a bit and got in and the current carried you back to your starting point. The reef looked very healthy with a coral that resembled green grapes and a large variety of fish including some large ones.

After that we loaded up again and went back to camp for lunch. When we arrived there we saw four emus at the water hole beside our camping area. After lunch we loaded up the truck and drove to Exmouth, where Damien had to do some grocery shopping and refuel. Then we began another journey to Coral Bay. The drive was about two hours through mostly flat, featureless, land full of termite mounds. I was sitting up front and Damien said he was tired of playing DJ, so he told me to pick some tunes from his iPod or use mine. Well alright! I played about 20 cuts picking ones that I thought the other passengers might enjoy. No one complained so I guess that was good.

We arrived at Coral Bay and the Ningaloo Club Backpackers just at dark, 6:30. We were assigned our rooms: 10 to a room! So much for my private accommodations. Once we got settled we went down to the main floor and the lounge, eating, bar games, area and had hamburgers that the staff there cooked for us. Damien gave us some ice cream and TimTams for dessert.

We had a beer and Damien and I played ping pong, which I lost badly. I went to bed shortly after that.