It’s a Long Lonely Highway

[Noel Mugavin]

My plan for the week was a bit of laying on the beach, some kayaking, bit of surface snorkeling and weather permitting a bit of snorkeling a bit further out as well as getting some photography in.
Week out, temperatures were 25 - 27 range, unfortunately forecasts for my week showed a lower temperature, rain and cloud. As a result my 5 days followed familiar formula - up early for photos of the sunrise, bit of a wander around, back to the unit for breakfast and to warm up, stroll to the bakery for something sugary and the paper, head to the beach late morning, back to the unit mid-later afternoon for a coffee and get some sun on the balcony, photos of the sunset, bit of dinner, then some tv.
Monday - really windy, 21ish, cloud cover in the afternoon, water freezing cold
Tuesday - rain,19ish, retreated into the unit for the day
Wednesday - heavy cloud, 20, got in the water, not great viewing conditions
Thursday - windy, 20ish, heavy cloud in the morning, cleared in the afternoon'
Friday - windy, got to 21 in the afternoon, clear skies, best seeing day, water was beautiful
The week after I left - currently in the 24 - 26 range and clear blue skies

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Bakery Review

Best part of country towns are their bakeries, so it was only fair that I gave the Coral Bay Bakery as many chances as possible to show off their wares.

Multi Grain bread - 10/10 - sensational
Monday - Vanilla Slice - 7.5/10 solid without being spectacular
Tuesday - Apple custard cinnamon scroll - 9/10 - coconut on the icing, moving towards being sickly sweet towards the end, but i plowed on
Wednesday - Beef pepper pie - 7/10 taste okay, no chunks of beef though
Apple mango cream turnover - 6/10 heavy pastry and mango cream didn't work for me
Thursday - Wagon Wheel - 8.5/10 - wagon wheels are my favourite biscuit, extra .5 for the size, perhaps with most oversized food tends to lose a bit of flavour. Prefer the mass produced biscuits



Friday and doubled up - Jam and cream donut for the am - 10/10, never had a bad one
Banana cake for the pm - 9/10 - moist, banana not overbearing



For dinners, planned to BBQ sausages a couple of times, too cold to go out to the BBQ's though, so on the stove top. Worked great until I set the smoke alarms off.
Reef cafe next to the Bayview reception, Scallopini Marsala. Big serve, nice mashed potato, bit heavy



Had a steak at Bills Bar, the new pub in town, pepper sauce and able to watch the footy on the big screen

Takeaway fish and chips from the reef cafe, $15, small amount of chips, but the fish - sensational, 2 thick pieces, non oily batter, well worth the wait. Very popular spot on a Friday night

 

[kermatu]

The week after I left - currently in the 24 - 26 range and clear blue skies

Always the way.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Took a few photos with my waterproof camera, unfortunately as mentioned not great seeing conditions throughout the week

 

[Noel Mugavin]

 

[Noel Mugavin]

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Few shots from my balcony

Sunrise on the Monday morning



Wet weather Tuesday





Clear skies Friday morning





Woke this fella from a snooze Friday morning, he was quite happy to sit there for another 20 minutes or so

 

[Noel Mugavin]

As you drive into town there is a little hill with a pet cemetery at it's peak. Headed up there Monday afternoon to get some shots of the sunset.



Looking back inland

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Headed back up the hill next morning to get the sunrise. Even tried to get a bit artistic.















Started raining while I was up there so scurried to the closest shelter, which fortuitously happened to be the bakery

 

[Noel Mugavin]

West end of the beach there is a lookout, took the opportunity to get a sunrise from there on Wednesday and Friday mornings.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Not many people up and about early in the mornings, it was quite cold, but nice and serene wandering around
Little hire hut






Some sand sculptures from the evening prior






Out the front of the bar of the Ningaloo Reef Resort

 

[Noel Mugavin]

More early morning wandering

 

[Noel Mugavin]

A boat launch ramp had been constructed a couple of kilometres south of the township at Monk's Head, and my first morning was a walk to get out and about and also to have a look at the ramp. Prior to construction of the ramp, boats were launched on the main beach, bit of a hazard for swimmers and not much good for the coral either.
First a wander to the entrance to the town


Road to the right of the sign and entering Coral Bay



And entrance to the town, backpackers on the right



On the road to the boat ramp, a few joggers around, and a couple of wind turbines along the way



And to the ramp





Decided to take a walk along the trail



Just me and a stray sheep around. Very peaceful, but also on alert for snakes. Not much help around if you get bitten, and some very dangerous buggers around. When back in Perth was a story on the news about a little girl who got bitten in the Bayview Playground while I was there. Had to get airlifted to Perth, spent time in intensive care and was lucky to come out of the ordeal alive. Coral Bay only has a nursing post and doesn't stock anti-venom due cost and expiry times due to the relative rarity of bites, and the difficulty in being able to identify the different types of snakes.
Anyway, I'm here, so they left me alone.
A few snaps from the walk.





`

 

[suze2000]

Loved Coral Bay when we were there. Take a boat snorkeling tour if you can - worth it for the photos the guide took of us swimming alongside a turtle (which was not an advertised feature of the tour).

ETA: Our cat sliced open his paw once. The only way to get the bandage to stay on and prevent him from getting it off was to have it run right up the leg over the knee, if that helps.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Five Finger Reef is situated around the headland at the top of the photo, there is a walking trail to it, or a 4wd track



Looking back towards the boat ramp



Nice little beach directly behind the ramp



The ramp itself





Walking back to the town, convoy of 4wd's letting air out of their tyres

 

[Noel Mugavin]

My last evening, headed back tot he ramp to get some sunset shots

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Random shots from throughout the week

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Final sunrise on the Saturday morning back up to the pet cemetery

Down to the bakery, ham and cheese croissant and an iced coffee for the road

Some final shots of the bay, then in the car and off by about 7.30





Quick stop at the Coral Bay road turnoff





About 90km on the Exmouth-Minilya Road until getting on to West Coast Highway. Last 30km or so stuck behind an Exmouth plated ute with a trailer and sprint car on the back. He was quite erratic and couple of times I went to pass he veered across the road a bit, so just stuck it out until I hit the wider highway. Also saw the only roos of the trip while driving, 3 of them about 100 metres in front bounding across the road



Minilya Roadhouse is quite close to the turnoff and also has a bit of a camping/caravan stop on the opposite side of the road



Banana plantations as approaching Carnarvon



Over the Gascoyne River and the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum comes into view



Fueled up, stop at an IGA for some sugar, and then a visit to the museum

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Did a quick visit inside the museum, there is a capsule of some sort that you can ride in, I wasn't keen on waiting around to have a ride in it. Did have a go at the space shuttle simulator, 2 attempts for 2 failures at landing it. Bit of a walk around outside, climbed up the dish to a viewing platform. Insider tip, it costs nothing to have a look around the outside of the museum, and toilets are located outside. Little bit disappointing that I didn't spend more time there, museum, not the toilet, however still had a bit of a drive left today.