11^th August: Exmouth

Well, our excitement for the day was an emu and a large number of whales! An odd day but a day of fun!

It was a rest day and so Gail and I both washed. A bird pooped on my sheet and I had to wash it again. Then we went to the Information Centre and booked a tour out to Ningaloo Reef. Because the season for whale sharks is finished, we paid a lot less. If they spot them with a plane above, Gail might have a swim with them but neither Glen nor I can swim well enough to do so. I just want to go out on the reef!

We went shopping (medication) and Gail bought a pearl bracelet. We came home for lunch and an emu nonchalantly strutted regally through the caravan park I wasn't quick enough to get a photo but Glen did.

Nearby here, there is a shipwreck site with the ship, in a decayed state, still firmly stuck on the rocks. The SS Mildura, carrying cattle, floundered on this reef in 1907. I was amazed at how much is still there.

As a result of this accident, a lighthouse was built on the headland,Vlamingh Head. Gail and I sat on the very pretty and almost peopleless beach while Glen photographed baby sharks (about two inches long.) The wreck is apparently the nursery of sharks.

We decided to have drinkies up on the headland so that we could watch the sunset. So, we packed up chairs, whisky, gingerale and nibbles and joined dozens of others who had also come to watch the sun set over the water. It was spectacular and not a cloud in the sky! Then,30 minutes later the full moon rose, big and red. Unfortunately, it wasn't over water but we will try for that tomorrow. But the unexpected bonus was the sighting of Humpback whales. For half an hour before the sun set, a large pod of whales frolicked in the water just off the headland, tail smacking, breaching and, of course, spouting up water.

All very exciting!!

A bit shakey!!  This was later!

This was an interesting place. The US had a submarine base in Exmouth Gulf in W11 and Air force planes stationed here. So they needed spotters and a radar site. This was built on the Headland and covered with netting. The sandbags and the platform for the radar are still there (although this platform was blown down in a cyclone and then rebuilt) after Exmouth was bombed in 1943.

The Americans felt they had a hole in their defences during the Cold War and so the Harold E Holt Communication system was built for early warning surveillance of the Russians. I saw US Air Force personnel in town today and so the relationship is still in place. From the Headland, the very tall towers are very obvious, all lit up at night. The tallest one is still the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. The construction of these is amazing – tons of concrete under each one.

We are off to Ningaloo tomorrow. That will be exciting too!