Adventure in a van.: Week 27- Sunday 18th

Note: This is very important. Make sure you read the note below.

Note: This is extremely important...make sure you read the next note.

Note: Make sure you read to the bottom as there is a story you do not want to miss. You have to read to the bottom…otherwise you will be bitterly disappointed when someone else tells you what is there!

80 Mile Beach, WA

Star Rating:★★★★☆

★=Full Star ☆=Half a Star

There was no way Mum and Dad could convince me to walk from one end of the beach to the other, it would take forever! At Eighty Mile Beach we didn't do too much as swimming was not advised because there were so many people fishing that sharks were getting attracted and coming close to the shore. The thing we did for most of the time we stayed there was look for shells, we found lots of beautiful ones. On the first night there we went around and sold shell necklaces with Willow (more about that below) and on the second night we watched the sunset. It was beautiful, as was all our time at 80 Mile Beach.

We met a girl named Willow and she made and sold shell necklaces. She gave Jackson and I one each after we went around the caravan park with her one night and helped her sell them!

We collected lots of shells.

Kialrah Pool, WA

Star Rating:★★★★

★=Full Star ☆=Half a Star

We stopped at Kialrah Pool for one night on the way to Karratha and it was beautiful, there were some super cute ducklings and some fun rope swings.

The views from our camp.👇

Karratha, WA

Star Rating:★★★★

★=Full Star ☆=Half a Star

Whilst at Karratha we went to a beach covered completely in shells. We also watched the movie Red Dog and went and saw the statue of Red Dog, and we went shopping to stock up on stuff for when we go out to Ningaloo. Those were the main things we did, but we also swam in the artic pool in the caravan park and did some other things. We could have definitely stayed longer as there is lots to see and do in the but we will probably come back next year.

We went to Hearson's Cove and the whole beach was covered in shells, we found lots of beautiful shells.

We watched Red Dog (it is about a dog from the Karratha/Dampier area and it was filmed here). It was a great movie and it is on Netflix (you should watch it!).

The next day we went to see the statue of Red Dog at Dampier
There were free binoculars up on a lookout and you could position them to look out on the huge salt piles.

The massive salt piles from Dampier Salt Works (made from sea water that is left to evaporate). They look small in the distance but the are humongous!

What the salt is used for.

There was an awesome playground on the Dampier foreshore, there were some places that were super hard to get up!

Exmouth, WA

Star Rating:★★★★☆

★=Full Star ☆=Half a Star

At Exmouth we:

Watched the Grand Final.
Swam in the huge pool at the caravan park.
Saw some turtle tracks going up into the dunes and then coming back down the dunes again, the turtle had obviously layed some eggs up in the dunes.
Went to a long jetty and saw Jack Hewat and his family, we didn't even know there were going to be there! LOL!
Visited Charles Knife Canyon and it was magnificent, it literally blew us away (or maybe that was the gale force winds)!
Got sandy whilst exploring some beautiful beaches.
Strained our eyes to spot various humpback whales, we saw many of them breach!
Nearly got frozen whilst watching movies on the outdoor projector (they were on most nights because it was school holidays).
Marvelled at the sunset when we watched it up at the lighthouse.

And that is the end of what we did at Exmouth.

I found two big shells at Town Beach in Exmouth, they were lovely but I had to put the back (as I have so many already).

The amazing turtle tracks!👆

When we went to the lighthouse on the first full day.

There were over 600 species of wild flowers at Charles Knife Canyon we saw about five different ones, still a lot to go!

Charles Knife Canyon!👆

The sunset up at the lighthouse.👇

And now for what you have been waiting for..........

The scary story of the frightening dust pit (where we camped for the night on our way from Karratha to Exmouth)

When we had finish our dinner at the "dust pit" we all sat down, watched the stars and tried to spot approaching cars and trucks (you could see their headlights even when they were really far away). Mum got us out an ice-cream each, but they were not fully frozen so when we opened them the sticks came out, so she had to get a headtorch so we could see what we were doing, lucky she did as we would need it in due course............I had just stepped up near an old fire place when I felt something moving underneath my foot and I heard a hissing sound, so obviously I stepped back. I hurried behind Mum's chair but all of a sudden Mum made a noise and kicked her foot up in the air! I stepped back even further, and it was a good thing I did, as a big (about 1.5 meters long) snake slithered quickly over where I had just been standing! Forgetting everything I had ever learnt about snakes I jumped, ran out of the way and kneeled on top of my chair with my legs up. I didn't even put my legs down for another ten minutes, even when Dad was watching the snake about a hundred meters away from us! In the morning we searched on the internet and found out that it was a venomous Western brown snake!

THE END OF THE SCARY STORY OF THE FRIGHTENING DUST PIT!!!!!

Western Brown snake fact file:

Note: I did not know any of this until I looked it up on Google.

Scientific name: It is super hard to pronounce but the scientific name for them is Pseudonaja aspidorhyncha, mengdeni, nuchalis, (how did someone come up with such a horrid name!)

Alternative names: They are otherwise known as a Gwardar or a Collared Brown Snake.

Habitat: They can be found in lots of habitats including grasslands, shrublands, savannah woodlands and dry forests.

Diet: Western Brown Snakes are not picky eaters as they pretty much eat anything. Their prey includes lizards (geckos, skinks and even goannas), other snakes, birds (they usually get them when they are small), and small mammals like mice (ugh) and rats (double ugh).

Danger to humans: The snake’s fangs are super short (only 2-3 mm), but the venom is very poisonous. A bite from them is life-threatening and medical attention should be found very quickly otherwise you might DIE (I am glad I didn't know all this when it was coming for me, as we were at least 3 hours from the nearest town).