The Endeavour 30 September 2011

We first spotted the Endeavour in Darwin. Since then it has followed us or we have followed it down the WA coastline. Finally we decided to board the famous replica when it was moored in Geraldton.

The Endeavour.

The Tour was well organised with a volunteer at each post giving a description of life on the Endeavour. Just on the right you can see a part hole called the 'seat of ease ' that was used by the crew to do their 'number twos'. A real down to earth start to the tour.

The mess hall. The rope ends were for wiping their hands after eating the greasy food.

Chloe and Andrew touching the only part of the ship actually from the original  Endeavour.

Captain Cook's desk in his cabin.

Hands on Deck

Ian and Jodie getting in on the act.

Kalbarri 25 to 29 September 2011



Natures Window

The four of us sitting in Natures Window.

The views down into the gorges were wonderful.

The gorges here are more open than Karijini.

The kids enjoying the view at the Z Bend lookout.

Kalbarri National Park extends from the inland to the the coast so it has a diverse array of landscapes.

At Natural Bridge we saw a large pod of dolphins.

Some more spectacular coastal cliffs where we were able to watch whales at play.

Monkey Mia Shark Bay 23, 24 Sept 2011

Dolphin interaction at Monkey Mia is very popular. This is the first of up to three feeding sessions each day.

You stand knee deep in the water only a couple of metres from the dolphins.

They also enjoy looking at us while we look at them!

Chloe and Andrew having fun on a paddle boat.

Eagle Bluff Shark Bay 22-23 Sept 2011

The view from the boardwalk on top of Eagle Bluff.

The water is crystal clear and shallow so we could see sharks swimming below. The dark patch beyond the light blue is the start of 120 000 square km of sea grass...the largest beds in the world.

Our first campsite with a hang glider enjoying the view.

A walk on the 'beach' also means walking through very thick sea grass.

Andrew caught this Flathead with a soft plastic and on his first cast!

Shell Beach Shark Bay 22 Sept 2011

Chloe enjoying Shell Beach

The whole beach is made of shells up to 10 metres deep and stretches for 120 km

This unique beach is one of the reasons why this region is listed World Heritage .

Even the wildflowers get a look in here...amazing!

Point Quobba, Blow Holes - 17 Sept 2011

The main blowhole...spectacular.

It was impressive watching the water suck back into the rock.

Mesmerised!

The rugged coastline was beautiful.

Darwin 28 July to 3 Aug 2011

Our first Darwin experience was Doctors Gully where the children fed the fish as they were standing in the water. They nibbled on their toes adding to the thrill.

The  DSO  ( Darwin Symphony Orchestra ) played a 'Rock Symphony' at Darwin  Botanical Gardens. It was a great night out.

Waiting for the concert to start.

Waiting for the concert to start.....with refreshments.

The concert was colourful in more ways than one with the conductor riding in on a Harley at the start and a whole group of bikies riding in during the Queen song 'We Will Rock You".
It was a unique and entertaining night.

We lucked out to be in Darwin for the Darwin Cup so Danny and Ian headed in for the day.
It was hot and very crowded...good beer drinking weather.
They backed a few winners and had a great day.

No dress code for how to dress up for the day.

This guy's suit was made out of coconut skins!

We visited Darwin Waterfront. It is a modern and trendy new addition to Darwin.

Danny ( Jodie's cousin), Jodie, Chloe and Andrew on Mindel Beach during sunset. We visited the markets and had dinner on the beach.

After sunset from Mindel Beach.

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  The HMAS Darwin was in for the weekend so we went aboard. In the background we saw a demonstration of a helcopter rescue...it made waiting in the sun and queues worth it.

Tom Price Mine Tour - 10 Sept 2011

Tom Price was close to Karijini so we thought we would drop in and have a look. We found the local library and picked up some second hand books and spent an hour or so reading or catching up on emails. We decided to go on the mine tour the following day. Some mind blowing stats...

We all had to wear a hard hat and safety glasses when we were off the bus...cool!

Part of the open cut mine we were shown.

One of these truck tyres weighs three and a half tonnes....that's more than our van fully loaded!

Had to pay to get dressed up.

All the machinery was huge...the kids have grown despite the picture.

The tour went for over an hour and a half. We were shown many of the workings of the mine and were lucky enough to see many trucks doing their thing dumping ore into the crushers and on to the stock piles. The ore is then railed to the coast on trains with 240 carriages.