Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Exmouth, Australia. Excursion: Majestic Yardie Creek Gorge.

Tendering into the harbour

After 2 days at sea it was good to see land again, get off the ship and explore. Exmouth is a tender port - the fishing village boasts a small harbour but certainly not big enough for a cruise ship. The town was originally used during WWII as a military base.

I joined my tour group (Majestic Yardie Creek Gorge) in the tender across to shore-side and got off onto the floating jetty. It was floating all right! As we walked along it towards solid ground, the jetty moved beneath us in response to the current and undulating water. It was quite strange - the feeling of not really having your legs do the straight walking. Drunk on sea water?? ;-)

Communication masts

Once in the mini bus we were soon heading out of the harbour, out of town and on our way to Cape Range National Park. Part way out of town we saw an emu, bold as a brass, walking along the pavement alongside the road! First of the ‘brownie points’ gained for the tour…

Yardie Creek Gorge

It was a good half hour to the National Park and as we drove towards the park we could see in the distance low frequency radio communication masts – communications to United States Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships and submarines in the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean. These form a hexagonal shape which can be seen clearly from the air. From the park’s entrance gate to Yardie Creek it was another half hour’s driving. The drive was mainly coastal so we passed by bush on the one side of the road and bush and sand dunes on the other side. There were plenty of termite mounds around, dotting the landscape. The coastal waters were a beautiful clear blue colour. From the car park we had a bit of a walk to the creek and we had a bit of a wait for the cruise boat because it was still out. We had a joke that the small boats anchored in the creek were the tenders to the cruise boat, even if we had to swim for them to fetch them!

Rock wallaby

The under-cover flat bottomed boat arrived and docked on the tiny creek pier, letting off a group of visitors before we got on. We were in for a treat. Our boat guide and navigator, Boxy, seemed to love his job and was certainly passionate about the surrounding environment and nature. He knew what to look for and pointed out rock wallabies, kingfishers, egrets, osprey, flying foxes in a tree, and much more as he navigated up the creek through the gorge. The vertical beautiful red gorge walls are limestone with a big cave system within, popular for spelaeology or caving enthusiasts. We got as far up the creek as we could before having to turn around and slowly head back to the landing pier to our waiting minibus.

On the drive back I saw bird of prey dropping out of the sky like a stone, homing in on its prey. I didn’t get to see whether it was successful or not because it moved out of my vision as the bus headed along the track.

We were making good time back to port so driver, Kate, made a short detour so that we could see the outside of Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. Nearby there was a viewpoint with information about the lighthouse and also the surrounding coastline.

Emu and his chicks. I only got 3 chicks in the picture rather than all 4.

Guests asked Kate if she could take us on a very quick tour around Exmouth before she took us back to the harbour. With the rest of the guests blessing, Kate was happy to do the brief detour. Just as well she did – she spotted an emu with his 4 chicks walking down one of the streets. Quick as a flash, she carefully turned into the road and stopped the minibus in a car park. It was the right spot because the emu headed across the road towards the car park and guided his chicks to a grassy area. Kate allowed us to get off the minibus to take photographs - you don’t miss an opportunity like that! Guests were thrilled at the impromptu sighting of the emu. Eventually we were back on the road through town to the harbour. The town is small; so much so that, as the saying goes, blink and you will miss it.

Some of the guests headed back into Exmouth, taking a shuttle bus. I decided to head back to the ship. I had had quite enough for one day.

Our route to Fremantle, Perth

Time is marching on and I can hear the ship's horn blowing. Once the last tender has been hitched up on board we will be making our way to Fremantle, Perth, 2 days sailing.

PHOTOGRAPHS