Carnarvon to Monkey Mia

From Coral Bay we drove to Carnarvon. We were planning on calling in at a place called Point Quobba for a couple of nights before we got to Carnarvon but we had discovered a broken shock absorber and needed to get that looked at if we wanted to go off road. Repco fixed it very promptly and at a reasonable cost for WA so would recommend them if you ever need a mechanic in Carnarvon. We stayed at a Big 4 Caravan Park which had a jumping castle. It kept the kids entertained all afternoon so we were very happy. Really friendly people running the caravan park for a change so I would also recommend this as a place to stay. The McCloskeys arrived later that afternoon after spending an extremely windy night at Point Quobba. They left the next day to go to Monkey Mia but we thought we would stay another night in Carnarvon and have a look around. Carnarvon is well known for it's produce so we went to a farm called Bumbaks and had mango smoothies and chocolate dipped mango icy poles. We picked up some strawberries and other fruit and veg from the Coral Coast Strawberry Farm. We also got some whiting and red snapper to eat from the fish shop.

On our way out of Carnarvon the next day we stopped at the One Mile Jetty for a look. Unfortunately it had been burnt a few weeks earlier by some disgruntled fisherman who had their illegal catch confiscated but it was still worth a look.







We also stopped at a place called Pelican Point to let the hermit crabs go. The boys had cared for them really well but we were worried about taking them too much further south. Plenty of tears as they said goodbye but the promise of a chocolate covered banana ice cream cheered them all up!

The drive to Monkey Mia was long and very very boring. Took about 4 hours or so. We made one stop on the way in at Hamelin Pool where you can see the stromalites. For those like me who didn't have a clue what they are I will do my best to explain. They are the earliest form of life that occurred on the planet many billions of years ago. They are these algae rock like things that produce oxygen, hence the beginnings of life on earth. They thrive in Hamelin Pool due to the high salt levels. Very hard for the kids to get their heads around. Here are some pictures.












They are extremely slow growing, only 0.4mm a year so these ones are very old. I think Tom was more impressed by the old shell quarry that we saw at Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station. They dug the compacted shell out and used it to build a church and houses many years ago.













We finally made it to Monkey Mia and checked in at the Dolphin Resort. Looked like a great place and we were really looking forward to meeting a few dolphins the next morning.