Sunrise over Coronation Beach this morning was spectacular!

Dave appeared early and filled us in with the events at Geraldton Hospital overnight… yes Rosie did have a reaction to the cocktail of drugs…. Too many Nurofen added to the Celebrex the chemist in Geraldton gave her did not mix well with her antihypertensives… and she threw in some antibiotics for good measure that then created the perfect storm for a very red and itchy whole body experience….. not the way you want to spend the evening however 2 shots of adrenaline later and she was so much better…. Dave was on his way back in to pick her up first thing…. They were planning to get the prescriptions the doctor at ED had written for her for effective (and suitable to take with her other meds!!) pain relief and as Rose was feeling a little better they decided to drive on to our next destination as soon as she had the scripts…

The rest of us packed up and got ready to leave…. Branch noticing that the Wells were absent after going to do a check…..he was very upset that he could not locate them despite multiple knocks on the door…

He decided to do a bit of a sneaky and check out Rose’s meds…. And nearly disappeared in the pile but did a thorough spring clean and threw out anything that may cause further issues – as always very helpful in a crisis!

We left Coronation Beach and no sooner than we were up the hill, Rose called me and let me know she was feeling great… but they had decided to stay in Geraldton as she now had made an appointment at 330pm with a local dentist to get her tooth looked at… she and  Dave were back at Coro Park and were going to get some sleep before the appointment… Tracey was kind enough to allow them to stay another night and they would see us in Denham tomorrow…

A stop for coffee and fuel at Billabong Roadhouse and to stretch our legs on our way to Denham was necessary….

At the Roadhouse they had a wall covered in all different notes and coins from around the world…always something unique in the outback roadhouses!!

As we continued on the red dirt was becoming more prevalent, lots of big farming equipment around, and feral goats and random loose sheep were seen by the roadside….

We turned off to Shark Bay and then Rosie called again with a further update…. She had managed to get hold of her own dentist in Sydney who advised her not to go and see the dentist in Geraldton… just take the painkillers and antibiotic the ED doctor had prescribed and it should settle – and he will sort out the impacted wisdom tooth when they arrive home in July…. So she had cancelled the emergency dentist in Geraldton…..

Along the road to Denham was a short turnoff to Shell Beach so we drove in for a look as Klaus, Beryl, Matt and Sharon had not been there before. The salinity of the water there is extreme – almost twice as salty as the open ocean. This salinity allows one particular species to flourish in the millions – the Fragum Cockle… this tiny white shell makes up the majority if the sand on Shell Beach… hence the name! The salinity is caused by a living barrier made up of sand and seagrass called the Faure Sill.

The shell “dunes” were very firm to walk over – a really unique environment!

We then had a call with yet another Rosie update!!! She and Dave had jumped in the car and decided to do the 4hr drive to Denham to catch us up this afternoon…. ETA about 7PM…. As they had not had much sleep we were a little concerned about fatigue and encouraged them to take plenty of breaks…

The Shark Bay area is very arid with red dirt, low scrubby saltbush and plenty of clay pans… no trees in sight as we drove from Shell Beach toward Denham.

We arrived at Denham Seaside Caravan Park and set up on our allocated sites – we were not all together as they were very busy with a big week-long fishing tournament in progress – but our sites were great and fairly close by…..and we had a great view over Shark Bay from our spot….

The sunset from the viewing platform near our van was spectacular and increased in beauty well after the sun had gone below the horizon!

After dinner the Wells arrived – everyone was really pleased to see Rose fully recovered and cheery – an answer to prayer…