When I said (last post) that Coronation Beach was popular with windsurfers – here’s a pic of a not very windy day.

Definitely not my thing.

I also forgot to mention the Pink Lake we passed on the way south. Depending on the conditions, an algae produces a vibrant pink bloom containing Beta Carotene which is harvested for the vitamin supplement market.

We stopped in at Geraldton to vote. Right nearby was the Western Australian Museum where we saw some great displays about the history of the region. They also had a section on HMAS Sydney and the story of finding the wreck. We’ve been absorbed in the shipwreck history and early Dutch exploration of this coast, and the museum had a great collection of relics from that era.

The rest of our time in Geraldton was spent at the major banks sorting out fraudulent activity on our accounts, and the odd bit of identity theft. All fixed now, but we were impressed with the banks’ staff and screening practices that identified the problem. So next time they ask you a dozen security questions over the phone, be glad they keep their guard up!

Somewhere north of Geraldton, around about Northampton, the land suddenly becomes viable for cropping. It seems to happen so fast, switching from the arid, marginal pastures to healthy green fields of lupins, canola and other grains. They don’t call it the wheatbelt for nothing.

We continued south through Dongara and Greenhead, and camped at the pretty town of Jurien Bay. There’s a great bike path alongside the shore, so John and Ferg went exploring, although they only found the marina.

We meet lots of nice people when we stay in the caravan parks. There’s always a good yarn to be had on the roads we’ve travelled and the places we’ve visited. Besides the fellow travellers, there’s also the ‘stay put’ people. These are almost exclusively Nomads, which I suppose is a contradiction, because they don’t actually go anywhere. Perhaps I’ll dub them the Grey Migrators. They go north for the winter – just like all the Victorians do when they head to Queensland, and stay in the one place for up to six months.

We met Stan in the Lighthouse Caravan Park in Exmouth, right next door to our site. He’s been camping right there each winter for 45 years. Now that’s a pretty good effort, since Exmouth only started to exist in the 60s. Stan has seen them come and go. I bet he can remember most of the neighbours he’s had on Site 72, including the permanents that were there for 18 years. He’s over 80, and on his own now. But he still comes to Exmouth from Perth every year. He says he’s trying to spend his childrens’ inheritance. Might take a while if he just stays in Exmouth and goes fishing every year. Unless of course he buys expensive bait. With just two weeks till he was due to head south again, he hadn’t caught any fish this year. That’s a pretty lean 4 months of fishing. He had a bit of a moan about having to buy meat from the supermarket at $25/kg. That wasn’t in his budget.

Stan keeps up with his reading. He chewed John’s ear for a good while over the latest gadgets he’d seen in the 4WD magazines. He’s been reading these mags for 25 years, and he reckons they just start to repeat the stories after a while. No kidding Sherlock. Try reading a mountain bike magazine.

Best of all was his car rego. And check out the ‘family’ sticker on his back window – it’s just him and his fishing rod! You’ve got to love him – Grumpy or not.

John did his usual surf check – by bike today, and reported back with a negative. Time to move on. Jakes was not going to perform today. So we ate and packed and did some ‘town jobs’. Then on our way out of town, we had to take a quick look at Jakes. The locals were out there. That means it’s okay to go. So, just one more surf.

When I say ‘locals’, I don’t just mean the human kind.

Come on, you have to agree, this is better than seeing dolphins being hand fed at Monkey Mia.

Now the funny thing is, the locals (I mean surfers this time) all left the water, leaving the sacred Jakes all to just John. So where were you Anthony?

I have to put these next photos up, just because it’s Jakes. Then Roy can text me and say it was really only 3-4 ft, and John was just dreaming.

Eddie would probably have caught this one, and not fallen over the lip

That’s it for surfing till we get to Margaret River. Keep watching Anthony.

By now we only had a half a day left, and we found ourselves camping at Coronation Beach which, along with other parts of the WA coast all the way to Lancelin, is windsurfing heaven. I would just call it ‘bad hair weather’. Sorry to all the windsurfers.

With the wind blowing the surf out today, we decided to do a coastal walk just south of town. Starting at Natural Bridge (just like our London Bridge near the 12 Apostles, only not fallen down) and ending 8km away at Eagle Gorge. We left John’s bike there so he could go back for the car. None of us was keen on walking another 8km! That’s why we brought John along.

The track is perched right on the cliff top all the way. It was really windy, and I was grateful it was blowing us onto the coast and not off the cliff top. This section of cliffs is sandstone, with a high iron content giving it a red colour. Most of the rest of the coastal cliffs from Perth to Steep Point are all limestone.

From Red Bluff lookout, you can see the aforementioned Jakes surf break – currently not going off.

Kalbarri township at the Murchison River mouth in the background, Jakes in the foreground

You can see how you can get such great shots of the surf – you can stand on the huge rock ledge right next to the break.

When there’s no surf, there’s family fun to be had! So on an overcast, windy old day, we went to the Rainbow Jungle Parrot Breeding Centre. They have over 50 varieties of parrots, lorikeets, budgies, rosellas – just about anything that’s brightly coloured.

The place is a masterpiece. It was hand built over a period of 17 years by a dedicated couple who have now sold and retired. They breed the birds, including many of the rare and endangered species.

Here’s just a few of the great photos I took there.

And today’s wildflowers come to you from the cliff track near Kalbarri.

Geraldton Wax

Dense Smokebush

PIC 5431 and 40

This is Jakes. What’s there to think about? Just get out there. The dolphins are stealing all the good waves.

John disappeared with the boys (photographer duties – no surfing) and the car and my purse. So I had a quiet morning, just me and the Nomads. Here’s a few photos Ferg took of John surfing Jakes.

By 11am, the wind had changed, and we got John back.

Not deterred by the fact that there is a big yellow ‘Road Closed’ sign on the road to the National Park, John spent time scanning Google Earth for another way to get to the river and the gorges. We drove out to investigate, and despite some genuine determination to beat Parks at their own game, we were finally thwarted in our quest. With our tail between our legs, we went back in to town and fed the local fish the bait that we bought.