Finally we’re off to Exmouth. Everyone had told us to visit this place so we were super excited to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately we only had 3 nights here given it was the middle of school holidays and you’ve got to book nearly a year in advance.
Exmouth is a relatively new town, built in 1963 as a settlement for the Naval communication station nearby. It’s also famous for being situated on the Ningaloo Reef, with some of the best snorkeling in Australia.
Friday, JUN 30TH – (DAY 85)
The day we had been waiting for – Exmouth! Fortunately it was only a 90 minute drive, so nice and easy compared to what we’re used to on this trip.
This caravan park were real strict that people left at 10am. It looked like they had SS soldiers walking around making sure you’d left, so we didn’t play games.
We got to Exmouth just before lunch and were pleasantly surprised by the awesome spot they had given us under the shade. After setting up, we explored the park and then went for a walk into the town about 10 minutes away.
It was a nice little town with some good bakeries and a pretty nice IGA supermarket, and a nice little restaurant called Bamboo-Sushi where we ate lunch.
Rather than head back to the park, we thought we’d go for a little drive to the ritzy end of town and have a look around. It was like a little Mandurah with man made canals and right on a little beach.
When we got back, we decided to go back for another walk into the town and went to the local brewery and played some games. We got the Battleship card games after enjoying it at Jamie’s house. But this place started filling up with loud kids and adults talking real loud, so we didn’t last too much longer.
The rest of the night was spent back at the park, enjoying some nice weather and playing some online games again.
Saturday, Jul 1st – (DAY 86)
Most of this morning was spent at the caravan park and catching up on work. Linnie had about 5 jobs in her queue so it was a good chance to catch up this morning.
After lunch we decided to do a little drive, which ended up turning into a 2+ hour drive and some snorkeling. First stop was Bundegi Beach, but about half way there we realised our fuel was empty, so we had to turn back. Doh!
Take two, now we’d gotten to Bundegi Beach and had a little look around. Next stop was the Mildura Wreck, which was an old ship that sank in 1906 and is still visible. The ship wrecked led to a lighthouse being built, which was to be our next stop!
The Vlamingh Head Lighthouse was a good stop with awesome views around the reef. We really loved the water, it was that light blue, clear aqua colour and looked stunning. In fact, it was so nice we decided to stop here for some lunch – chip and dip, plus an apple cinnamon scroll.
We tossed up going back to the park, or continuing our exploring, as we also had tomorrow to explore as well. We opted to continue, visiting Jurabi Beach next. This place had amazing sand dunes and we had a lot of fun exploring.
In the end we decided to keep driving through to Turquoise Bay, the place we read that had the best snorkeling in Exmouth area.
They were right, this place was incredible and we spent the next hour and a half here enjoying the reef and reading in the sun. The water was pretty cool, but was much warmer than Coral Bay and there was definitely more fish.
Now it was time to head back, which was about a 50 minute drive. The rest of the evening was spent back at the park with Linnie catching up on some work. We listened to the end of the Essendon vs Port Adelaide match on the radio, with the Bombers losing after the siren, so that added some excitement.
Start of the Ningaloo Coast 
The stunning Turquoise Bay 
Great snorkeling here
Sunday, JUL 2nd – (DAY 87)
Our plan today was much the same as yesterday. Do the coast tour back to Turquoise Bay and do more snorkeling. The guy in the caravan next to us recommended we visit Oyster Stacks, which was a few minutes up and apparently much nicer for snorkeling.
But before heading off, Adam had another piano lesson until 11:30am. This lesson was learning The Simpson’s theme so it was a fun one. We also went to visit a Farmers Market earlier in the morning and also got ourselves some lunch for the beach later in the day.
Midday was here and we set off on our journey! Today we went straight through to Oyster Stacks which turned out to be an awesome spot.
We ate our lunch, unfortunately next to a group of families with kids who were super loud. But unusually, it was the adults who were more annoying than the kids for once.
Oyster Stacks beach 
Snorkeling area before the tide went out
After lunch we went snorkeling and this place was absolutely sublime. It was a shame the tide was heading out and it cut our time there given it was too shallow. So we got back in the car and headed back to Turquoise Bay.
What a difference a day makes. Today was much, much, much nicer than yesterday and the snorkeling was next level. There were fish everywhere you looked and even the coral was colourful in some parts.
We stayed here for the rest of the afternoon and got back to the park after 5pm. For tea we got a burrito from the Mexican van that was at the park. It was super nice, but was only small, but saved having to cook tea and do dishes.
Later in the evening we played some more Ticket To Ride, Love Letter, Catan and Azul with Rach and Jamie and that brought a close to an awesome few days in Exmouth. Definitely an awesome spot!