Day 117 Way to Exmouth

Leaving the outback of Western Australia and heading back towards the coast, meaning beach & sun. It is a bit of a drive towards Exmouth past mining sites and otherwise just here and there some hills, so staying awake is the biggest challenge.

The Nanutarra Roadhouse was a more than welcome stop along the road with very clean facilities, good food on offer, a nice little shop, a lovely picnic area and just a few steps away there is a little bridge with a view over the river. Stuart enjoyed the views, but was hoping that in Exmouth the beaches will have nicer water in terms of colour. We were heading for some coffee and having a look on detailed maps over the area down to Perth we are about to visit. Everything far, far away from home...

Just before the turn-off towards Exmouth there was a sign on the highway for a turn-off for some information on the area. Stuart was very impressed about all the information boards, maps & story - we didn´t even know where to start... (the information boards were obviously stolen, so no point stopping there, but well, you cannot know before pulling over)

In Exmouth Stuart immediately discovered "The Big Prawn", so we had to stop for a quick photo. Nearby was the visitor information centre, where we stopped for some information about where & when to see turtles, whales as well as a map of the area.

For the rest of the afternoon, Stuart demanded to see finally some beach, so we were heading to the Exmouth Town Beach. On the way we discovered Exmouth Marina: newly built channels with new houses, all with access to the water for their boats, even with bridges and children playgrounds. Looked very expensive...

At Exmouth Town Beach you find Backpackers driving their vans or campers on the beach and having a sleep there (free camping is illegal in Exmouth and there aren´t enough campsites as some Campgrounds were completely closed, the ones in the National Park are only for fully self-contained campers and booked out for a while). Otherwise there are groups of locals with their dogs as dogs are not allowed in national parks. On my way along the beach, one dog put a ball to my foot and then tapped with his foot on my foot demanding that I play throw and catch with him. Well, I´m not good in throwing balls but the dog didn´t mind and was very excited somebody did the task, so kept me busy for quite a while.

For the night we only got a small bedroom without any cooking facilities (everything else ridiculous expensive or booked out - still 1 day of school holidays), so we had to go into town for some takeaway food: Stuart thought that this was the most disgusting takeaway food on the whole trip: in one olive on the pizza was something like a bug or a kind of insect... Luckily, for the other nights in Exmouth we were able to find a place with a kitchen, so we did not have to go back for food to this place. Exmouth is a pretty "young" town with only very limited supplies in terms of supermarkets (2 small IGAs with almost same groceries), restaurants (only a few), petrol (only one very expensive in town) and other facilities & shops, so otherwise we probably would have to eat at this place again....