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With the intrastate travel restrictions in WA now gone, it getting a bit cold in the south and with school holidays looming in two weeks, It's time to shoot through to somewhere warm before it turns into a zoo.
So, at sparrow's tomorrow I'm heading north on WA's Coral Coast for nearly two weeks.
Intuitively, most people would probably think of the Coral Coast as the stretch of coast near World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, between Coral Bay and Exmouth. Guide to Ningaloo Reef - Tourism Australia
It is, however, an 1100 km stretch from Cervantes, about 200 km N of Perth, to Exmouth.
www.australiascoralcoast.com
This part of the Australian coast has unique attributes, so some background for anyone interested:
For a continental coast, the west coast of Australia is unusual. Typically west coasts have cold currents flowing from the poles. In the southern hemisphere this leads to extremely arid land areas in places like Namibia and Chile.
Australia is no exception to that general global circulation rule, with the cold West Australian current flowing north. However, an anomalous warm flow from the north, the Leeuwin Current, dominates the ocean flows, leading to unique effects in the ocean and on land.
en.wikipedia.org
It is the key driver of the very much higher winter rainfall in SW Australia than occurs in similar latitudes in Chile and SW Africa (although it has been in sharp decline since the mid-1970s). It is the key reason why wide-scale rain-fed agriculture is possible in the SW, with the region producing around 50% of the nation's wheat.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Bluntly put, we'd be stuffed without the Leeuwin Current - for agriculture, fisheries (eg. Western Rock Lobster) and the southernmost coral in the Indian Ocean at the Abrolhos Islands (Houtman Abrolhos - Wikipedia). (And I wouldn't be able to swim year-round at Perth in just my budgie smugglers...
).
Here's the plan:
First leg tomorrow: home to Billabong Roadhouse, 650 km.
Tuesday: on to Exmouth, 600 km.
Five nights at Exmouth then move to Coral Bay, 150 km, for four nights.
Head home Thursday 2 July, probably stopping overnight in Geraldton, 700 km.
On to home Friday 3 July, 400 km.
So, at sparrow's tomorrow I'm heading north on WA's Coral Coast for nearly two weeks.
Intuitively, most people would probably think of the Coral Coast as the stretch of coast near World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, between Coral Bay and Exmouth. Guide to Ningaloo Reef - Tourism Australia
It is, however, an 1100 km stretch from Cervantes, about 200 km N of Perth, to Exmouth.
Australia's Coral Coast: The Official Travel & Tourism Website
Western Australia's Coral Coast is a marine wonderland with open skies & otherworldly landscapes tied together by the Coral Coast Highway. Start exploring »
www.australiascoralcoast.com
This part of the Australian coast has unique attributes, so some background for anyone interested:
For a continental coast, the west coast of Australia is unusual. Typically west coasts have cold currents flowing from the poles. In the southern hemisphere this leads to extremely arid land areas in places like Namibia and Chile.
Australia is no exception to that general global circulation rule, with the cold West Australian current flowing north. However, an anomalous warm flow from the north, the Leeuwin Current, dominates the ocean flows, leading to unique effects in the ocean and on land.
Leeuwin Current - Wikipedia
It is the key driver of the very much higher winter rainfall in SW Australia than occurs in similar latitudes in Chile and SW Africa (although it has been in sharp decline since the mid-1970s). It is the key reason why wide-scale rain-fed agriculture is possible in the SW, with the region producing around 50% of the nation's wheat.
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Bluntly put, we'd be stuffed without the Leeuwin Current - for agriculture, fisheries (eg. Western Rock Lobster) and the southernmost coral in the Indian Ocean at the Abrolhos Islands (Houtman Abrolhos - Wikipedia). (And I wouldn't be able to swim year-round at Perth in just my budgie smugglers...
).Here's the plan:
First leg tomorrow: home to Billabong Roadhouse, 650 km.
Tuesday: on to Exmouth, 600 km.
Five nights at Exmouth then move to Coral Bay, 150 km, for four nights.
Head home Thursday 2 July, probably stopping overnight in Geraldton, 700 km.
On to home Friday 3 July, 400 km.
Last edited:
. Anyway, spoiler, I may have been planning to do it on the way back...
