Coral Bay....such fun filled few days!

Surprisingly we were packed up and on the road by 0800hrs bound for Coral Bay.  We had booked into The Peoples Caravan Park for four nights.  Been a while since staying in a park so was looking forward to the ease that it gives with having power and water at hand.  Its the bloody earliest we have set off in a long while.   Stupidly did school in the car with the girls which nearly drove me insane! Stopped at Minilya roadhouse and was greeted by a very happy bloke behind the counter.  We purchased some cool memorabilia for sale, Marty not being able to go past the travelling pin. Was a good mornings drive, conquering the 250km with ease and arriving at Coral Bay by 11 am.

Ready to rock n roll

Main St of Coral Bay...

View from the caravan park...

Our camp set up....

We were amazed with the panoramic views of the ocean.  Coral Bay was presenting itself as a small shanty town that has a few little shops, a supermarket and caravan parks.  We were all so excited, quickly checked into the Peoples Caravan Park, which incidentally was $54pn, and hooked up to power and charged everything up.  After lunch we then headed over to the beach for the arvo.  The tide was out, and when we walked what seemed like a mile to the water, we got in and then there was a small drop off.  I was watching Meg get in the water, she got to about 1m out then we heard her squeal through her snorkel and paddled back to shore so quick.  Found out she was scarred by the half meter sized fish swimming with her!  So funny.  The snorkeling was great,  but found the  color of the coral wasn't as great as Point Quobba.  We saw heaps more variety of fish but the clarity of the water wasn't as clear either.  After an hour in the water, we lazed on the beach and warmed up.  Felt like we had found paradise.  Best bit still was that the kids had a ball playing in the sand and amused themselves that we got peace and quiet and were able to relax too.

We saw a bunch of school kids come down on the beach, so shocked to see that they were from Geraldton P.S.  Boo and Meg went up to say hi to Mr Bradley (their old PE teacher) who still remembered them which was great.  Coral Bay has minimal free activities but are infamous for the fish feeding.  There was huge spangled emperor fish which Meg got frightened again, suppose she is only small and there were heaps around splashing everywhere trying to get the fish pellets being thrown in.  That night we had some wine and met Ton and Cams mates, Sharon and Shonit, who were doing a small trip about Oz.  Had some good laughs, always great to have new people to talk to and swap stories with.

Next day l went for a run up to the boat ramp.  The 5 km run felt good and went with a slightly embarrassing moment.  Was starting my run, hitching my bloody pants up and tying them when l was passed by some fit blokes that weren't too hard on the eye.  Definitely made note to self to attend to clothing behind closed doors and not have my flesh open to public viewing, especially when adding movement into the equation. Did feel a flush to the face, and it wasn't from being too hot from the run!   It felt good running again but ankle was still giving me some grief.
In the arvo after lunch, Ton, Cam, Sharon, Shonit, Marty, the kids and l took a drive out to Oyster Bridge. Was great 4X4 driving for the boys thru sand dunes and winding dirt tracks.  Shonit was really keyed up to do some off road driving as hadn't done much on the trip and has never done beach driving before.  We let the tyres down once off the corrugated dirt track and followed the small hilly sandy track in, all the boys were excited, but only Shonit was expressing it by announcing it over the UHF!

Shonit a tad excited!!!

We got onto the Oyster Bridge beach and parked the cars on the beach.  Was nice and tranquil, we snorkeled, seeing little marine life and the kids had fun on the small sand dunes. After an hour we packed up and headed off for our drive on the beach, which led to an eventful afternoon.  Marty was leading the pack on the beach, the sand was soft and had unlevel edges.  The poor Nissan nearly tipped on its side when it veered off down the sandy ledge. Was very hairy and frightening, both Boo and l lifted up on a high tilt feeling like we were going to tip over at any moment.  Thankfully, after feeling the tyres lift up, she bounced back down on all four tyres and steadied herself. Marty got out, looking slightly white round the gills, let the tyres down and got us out thank god! Next off, Shonit got bogged in the sand.... Luckily a tour car was going past and snapped strapped him out which saved the boys turning around in the unforgiving sand and having to do it.

The three musketeers.....

Written at Oyster Bay...lol

Girls excited to get out of the car for a while...

Most frightening time of the trip so far....so close to tipping!

Obviously good on safety with tilting and Meg hanging out of the car....

Marty definitely left his mark on the beach!!!

Shonit's turn to get a hand out....

Finally we found an exit off the beach and got off the sand without further incidence and back on the hard dirt track.  We saw a few hills on the right hand side and decided to climb up.  After which, we ended up naming it 'Heartbreak Hill' due to Cam not able to drive up! Was so funny watching his determination. Sadly he failed with grunt three times and ended up calling it a day and headed back to caravan park where we all kept hanging shit on him over a quiet drink....

Totally loving the vibe of Coral Bay, is leaving me with feelings of total happiness. We went to check out the sand dunes around near the marina, which were nothing too thrilling and there were no areas to swim or snorkel.  With the kids whinging in the back, we decided to head back into town for a pie.  We had been informed by other travellers to call into the local bakery and try their pies, which were totally mouth watering, best pie in a long time.  Whilst salivating over our pies we were reminiscing about Cams defeat from yesterday and decided to go and give it another crack.

Cuddles with dad with a full belly after the pie....

Hysterically, he still couldn't make it up 'Heartbreak Hill'.  So we took the 'chicken track' up which lead to 360o panoramic views of Coral Bay.  The kids had a blast on the sand dunes as did the adults.

'Heart Break Hill'

Anticipation is killing us....

got the run up....

but still couldn't do it.....

Then we came across some steep, tall sand dunes.....now we thought we had had fun on the last ones!  The  kids waited eagerly on top as the adults took position down the bottom with the cameras.  All went down with screams and with no grace, tumbling, sand in mouths.  Boo hit hard into the sand after spinning around and rolling, poor thing winded and mouth full of sand.  Meg did similar thing but not as bad.  Boo's first remark "stupid sand dune, never doing it again!".  Decided should finish up before any major crashes, kids had had a blast though.

View from the top of the sandunes looking out to sea...

Think she's a little terrified...

The start of the major sand dune incident..

Now Meg's turn for her spill...not as
bad as Boo's....

Went back into town beach and met up with Sharon and Shonit for a swim and snorkel.  Loving the big fish and huge coral, almost looking like big overgrown cabbages.  After we had all got the sand out of our crevices from the previous sand dunning we headed back to the marina to try and spot the infamous huge local groper fish "Merv".  We were walking the jetty when we spotted this huge shadow in the water, it was him.  He's estimated to be 1.8m long, bloody huge. Story goes that a tourist was trying to feed him one day and ended up getting his arm degloved by Merv.  Therefore,"No feeding Merv" was instructed to the kids.  I was pretty nervy on the jetty as kids were excited and rushing around trying to get a good view and it had no railings, so scared they would fall in and get gobbled up by this huge fish!  What a day...... totally exhausted as we headed back to the park for another session of quiet drinks.

'Merv' appears....

That' Tonia's foot and Merv!!!

Ton and Cam had gotten a gig at the foreshore doing their temporary tattoos for UV party run by the locals.  They headed over to set up next morning while l headed off for yet another run.  Bloody hills and head wind! I survived but was so bloody thirsty when l got back had to skull a bottle of water before tipping over from the worst dizzy spell.  The gig for the Hard Firms wasn't due to start until 4pm so we headed over to the town beach for the day.  Snorkeling was ok, we walked up to the end of the beach and l drifted down with Meg.  She is getting so good at the snorkeling thing now.  Afterwards l took the kayak out and paddled up to Skeleton Bay to see if any reef sharks were around in the 'shark nursery'.  Very dreary out there by my own, far from shore.  I saw a reef shark lurking around the shallows then all of a sudden darted off out to sea.  They are so quick.  Enjoyed my peaceful paddle, felt like l was gone for a while, so headed back so Marty wouldn't worry.
When l arrived back to shore, found out that Rylee and Boo had entered themselves in a sandcastle competition up the beach.  Went up to check it out and saw a beach wedding was also in progress, so stopped off for a sticky beak.  Boo and Rylie had done a fabulous job and made a little town out of sand, reminded me of the "Flinstones". Ended up in the top 3, all participants got a prize. Kids loved the survivor pack valued at $25, and had binoculars, compass, water bottle, etc.
Headed back to shower and get ready for the night gig across the road from the park.  Ton and Cam were left busy with all the holiday makers splurging and getting their fake tatts.  Riley and Meg had a great time dancing it up on the dance floor.  Riley was strutting his stuff and teaching Meg some moves, so sweet.  As the sun set, which was amazing by the way, a fire-show was down on the beach.  Cool seeing these wire sculptures of whales, turtles and shells being lit up.  A fire twirler performed in the shallows of the beach, twirling these glow ropes, looked so cool.  Kids totally loved it.  Was a late night, still getting cold as soon as the sun disappears, so after a little while we went home to bed.

Sooooo cute!

Dancing up a storm...

Our four nights at the Peoples Caravan Park in Coral Bay was fantastic.  Felt overwhelming happiness and bliss, such a great easy going paradise, people all happy.  Great swimming, snorkeling and sand dunning.  Good to have met Sharon and Shonit, who might meet up with us again in Exmouth?  We loved our time so much in Coral Bay that we did contemplate moving to another caravan park for a few more nights but decided it was time to move on and had experienced everything we wanted.  However, was hard to leave a place that has made us feels so happy having such good times with great mates.  Next stop, Exmouth for a night to stock up for our few weeks in Cape Range National Park.....

Bell  Xxx