Due to the bad road in, we decided to make an early start from 3 mile camp on our way to Coral Bay….and the much anticipated swim with the whale sharks. We had been lucky to get the last 8 places on the whale shark tour and Leanne and Joe were flying in to join us.

We left at 645 after a prayer for safety to get us back out on the main road….in daylight the road looked worse but some parts had been freshly graded so made the journey easier. The Ram was going OK until Kerry thought she heard a rattling noise in the van…quick check and no issue identified. Just a bit further along the rattle became very loud under the Ram….the nudge bar had fallen off and was only hanging on by the light bar cord! The metal had fractured…..no fault of anyone…just a cheap metal….Branch was reassured. Trev thought it was symbolic of the Sharkies going down!!

Two friendly road workers stopped to check if we were OK…they were working on the road to Gnaraloo….so of course the guys had a long chat to them and after removing the nudge bar totally we were on our way.

We saw plenty of wild goats and birds along the road. We reached the tarmac at Quobba turnoff without further incident and stopped to inflate our tyres and look at the Quobba  blowholes.

There were multiple blowholes which were spectacular with a large hole through which the waves sucked back – very treacherous – a tourist trying to get the ultimate photo had recently gone right down next to the hole and a king wave sucked him in never to be seen again…what a tragedy 😓

Large pools of salt had collected near the holes..Gordo wanted to bring some back for his fish and chips.

As we came into reception our phones went ballistic with multiple messages and notifications after being off the grid for 3 days…most were from Leanne who had thought we’d been abducted by aliens….we sent her a reassuring message and organised to meet that afternoon in Coral Bay.

Back on the main road we travelled through more arid areas and stopped at Minilya Roadhouse for Dave and Gordon to get some fuel. We had a quick drink in the shade and a huge 5th wheeler pulled in….Gordie had “van envy” …we left quickly before the guys could get caught up in a conversation with the owners.

The landscape on the way to Coral Bay was a bit greener and termite mounds rose out of the ground like red monoliths.

Arriving at Coral Bay we set up in 35 degree heat…and the Ram had another issue…it was running rough and Gordo thought maybe dirty fuel from the last stop or a chip issue….Branch checked it out…no help but again injected some positive thoughts for us all hahaha…

We caught up with Joe and Leanne,  went and did the paperwork for our whale shark swim tomorrow,  and had dinner at the local restaurant at our caravan park.