Suzanne & Nic Outback Caravan Trip 2025

 24th June: Left Exmouth with the wind still blowing strong! We drove 277 km to Nanutarra roadhouse and filled up with diesel then continued on another 182 km to Cheela Plains an indigenously owned property with a farm stay component. We booked an unpowered site. We walked up to their viewing point at dusk. We then had the fixed menu meal of beef rissoles mashed potato and salad followed by cheese cake at their Red Plains restaurant. Road to Cheela Plains (Highway 136) View over Cheela Plains

 June 23rd: The wind had been blowing day and night for days, so it was no surprise to wake up to wind on the morning of our dive trip! I had chosen a small outfit, Ningaloo Live, to go on our swim with the whale sharks trip because they only take 10 passengers rather than 20 passengers on  the 20 or so other  boats on  that work out of Tantabiddi Boat ramp on the Ningaloo reef side of North West Cape. We were picked up from the caravan park on time in a minibus and proceeded to the boat ramp where a tender took us to a nice looking small vessel. We initially motored to inside the reef. We were fitted out with snorkeling gear and had a practice dive without wetsuits to try out our fins and masks. We had 4 staff to look after us- Nick the skipper, Maddie, marine biologist,dive leader and photographer and Holly dive guide and Kate deckhand. We proceeded to the outer reef where the wind caused a large swell and stirred up the visibility. The whale sharks being spotted b...

 22nd June: We awoke to the news of US bombing 3 nuclear plants at Fordow, Natanz  and Esfahan. This concerning development kept us watching our TV screen but the extent of damage caused by the bombs and Iran’s response  remain to be seen.. We drove down the east coast of the North West Cape to reach the Charles Knife road. We passed the Charles Knife gorge and headed for the Lookout over ShotHole Canyon, a 2.8km walk from the car park, along a rocky path. The view over the canyon was certainly worth it! We returned along the same route rather than do the loop route due to time before dark limitations. The views over the Charles Knife Gorge on the road back were spectacular too. All the information about the karsts and underground caves we read at the discovery centre suddenly made sense! We then drove along the road through the floor of the Shothole canyon for the golden hour.  We had delicious gold banded snapper at the Exmouth Fisherman’s club for dinner. I

 21st June: Drove to Vlamingh Lighthouse on North West Cape, passing at lease 20 radio-telescopes at the Harold Holt Naval Communications station, turning off the Minilya Exmouth road onto Yardie Road. The point at the lighthouse was incredibly windy. We then called in at the Jurabi Turtle Centre- of course it is the wrong season to see turtles laying eggs or the young hatching! We called in at the Tantabiddi Boat ramp to see where the whale shark tours leave from. We then entered the Cape Range National Park and visited the bird observatory at Mangrove Bay. All we saw was a great Egret and we heard lots of grey mangrove fantails, managing to catch a glimpse of only one! We dropped in to the camp grounds at Mesa camp and Neds camp and then visited the Milyering Discovery centre, all the while passing through wild flat country with low hills. We returned to camp and did the washing, after which we had some fairly horrible fish and chips from Blue Lips!  Harold Holt naval commun...

 20th June: we moved our caravan this morning in order to conform to the unwritten caravan park rule of van-awning-car! It actually works well! We are still learning the rules of the caravan park game!  We oriented ourselves by driving around Exmouth- visiting the visitors centre and then the aquarium plus glimpses of the history of Exmouth from an early relationship with Americans who wanted Exmouth as a base to use for low frequency radio transmission to their military vessels. The Americans and Aussies lived happily along side each other for 20 years from early 1962 until the 80’s when Exmouth was very much an outpost. There was also an actual submersible canoe with a motor, one of a series used by a team of allies used to covertly enter Singapore harbour from Japanese occupied Malaysia and successfully attach magnet bombs to Japanese ships in 1944. There was an aquarium, an assortment of reptiles, a reconstruction of life in caves underground and video footage taken off th...

 19th June: Left Onslow for Exmouth. We stopped for a last look at the spinifex termite mounds- dark red in colour with a topknot on top! Then proceeded to the Nanutarra Roadhouse- what an experience-4WD’s caravans and road trains going in every direction, with queues in every direction too! What a great business that roadhouse runs! We filled up with diesel at a non-fast-flow pump and continued  on our way, coffee in hand! A note about the road trains we pass and who pass us constantly ! They have up to 4 carriages each with 24 wheels with an engine having another 2 wheels making 98 wheels in total!  We turned off the North Western coastal highway towards Exmouth and ran into a rain shower heading south fortunately! We arrived at Exmouth mid afternoon! We had booked into the Ningaloo caravan park, where, as usual, caravans are packed in! Our neighbour to the back decided on taken an extra meter of our space making parking difficult. But we sought the park admins advice w...