Onslow Day 1

Today we got up early in the morning, made breakfast and got out of Exmouth as fast as we could. We drove for a few hundred km before stopping at a roadhouse to fuel up and get some fruit out of the caravan. Then we drove on to Onslow. While we drove I wrote a story on my laptop and listened to audiobooks. When we arrived in Onslow we set up the caravan and then had lunch. Then we went and drove to the visitor centre. I got the good oil on some fishing spots. Then we drove to the fishing spots to check them out.

I saw lots of baitfish but Dad wouldn't even get out the cast net to practice. He complained about getting muddy shoes but had no problem 5 minutes later in walking down the bank to look for baitfish. I found a soft plastic and some sinkers. Then we drove back to the caravan and i read a bit more of my book.

Then Dad got back from the office and we got the rods ready to do a bit of fishing. After a bit we drove to the jetty and baited up. It was nearly dark and quite peaceful except for the continuos moaning of my sister. I felt some nibbles on my rod and yanked. I had set the hook on a 20 cm Silver Bream. After releasing him I dropped my bait back down again. I felt some more nibbles on my line 5 minutes later. I set the hook on another Silver Bream and reeled it up. I released it and dropped my line back down. Then after a minute or so I felt some very light hits. I yanked the rod. My rod bent over. For a moment I thought I was snagged. Then the rood began to kick very slightly. I started reeling and my rod bent over even further. Then, without warning the thing let go. I think it was a crab but I'm not quite sure.

Then we went back to the caravan and I started writing my blog. Then we had dinner. Dinner was homemade Focaccias. They were delicious with Avocado. After that I finished writing my blog. Then we had dessert. Dessert was some vanilla slices. Then I wrote some more of my story. After that I went to bed.

Oggi siamo andati da pesca.

Ho preso due pesci.

E stato divertente.

Exmouth Day 3

Today after getting up rather later than usual we had our late Sunday breakfast of Baked Beans with Bacon and Eggs. It tasted really good. After breakfast I got stuck into some schoolwork. My sister did some schoolwork as well. dad spent the morning watching and editing the Whaleshark video from yesterday. Then, after a morning of doing schoolwork we had lunch. Lunch was some salad sandwiches.

After lunch I finished my schoolwork. Then I read a bit more of my book. Mum went into town to do a bit of shopping. When she came back the whole family just lazed around until it was time to pack up the caravan. I unpegged the guide ropes and did some other stuff. Then we rolled in the awning. After that I folded up the table and put it in the car. Then we all helped Mum wash the car. By the time we were done we were all sweating.

Eventually we retired to the caravan and started writing our blogs. Then we waited until dinner. Fro dinner we had a real treat. Homemade Pizzas! They tasted really good. After dinner we waited for my sister to finish drying the dishes. Then we had dessert. Fro dessert we had two Brumby's Muffins and some chocolate milk. Brumby's make huge muffins. One was a Triple Choc Muffin and the other one was a Blueberry Muffin. Dessert tasted great. Then I went to bed.

Oggi ho lavorato sul mio lavoro scolastico.

E stato noioso.

Oggi e stata molto noioso.

Exmouth Day 2

Today my iPod alarm woke me (and the rest of the family) up at 5:55 AM. We were booked in to go with a Whaleshark snorkelling tour on the Ningaloo Reef. The bus arrived at 7:15 AM to collect us. The company running the tour was called Ningaloo Whaleshark N Dive. The bus crew were very friendly and told us some of the history of Exmouth. Then we drove to Tantabiddi Boat Ramp and the crew from the boat came in with the tender.

We went out in separate tender loads. After two tender loads everyone was onboard and we were ready to go. We received a safety briefing and got told where the lifejacket were stowed. After a few more talks from the crew and the skipper we motored slowly away to our first snorkel site. It was probably about 500 metres from the Tantabiddi Boat Ramp. We put on our fins, our masks and snorkels and jumped in. Then we followed the instructors to the best viewing spots.

I saw lots of little fish and some annoying Parrot fish. There were also some Long Finned Bannerfish. After snorkelling a bit more we got called back to the boat. Then we motored away slowly towards a place they call North Passage. North Passage is a gap in the reef where the big charter boats drive through. Charter boats are usually around 50 to 60 feet long so the channel has to be pretty deep and wide. A thing I found funny about this boat was that it only had a fly bridge. It didn't have an indoor steering wheel. On the fly bridge you've got a great view of the surrounding sea.

Suddenly one of the deckhands yelled out "Whale". Sure enough there off our bow was the unmistakable spout of water from a whales blowhole. It turns out that they get quite a lot of whales up here around this time of year, mostly Humpback Whales. We saw the whale surface a few more times. Then without warning it breached. When a whale breaches it leaps out of the water and lands on its back. A whale does this because barnacles grow on it and by smacking down on the water it'll crack the barnacles. The barnacles will fall off if they are cracked enough times.

After a while the spotter plane radioed the skipper and told the her that they had spotted a whale shark. The skipper told everyone to put on their masks, fins and snorkels and to be ready. Then the skipper opened the throttles and the boat planed of to the location that the plane had told the skipper. The boat was going really fast now. It was doing about 20 knots which is 36 km/h. By nautical standards that's practically zooming! After a 5 minute fun ride of bouncing through through the sea at tremendous speed the boat began to slow down. We received instructions on how far we were to be from the Whaleshark and how to jump from the boat.

Once the skipper had confirmed where the Whaleshark was we all got onto the Marlin board at the back of the boat. After 2 minutes of waiting the person on the fly bridge yelled out "Go go go!" In the briefing we had learned that this was the signal for us to jump of and follow the guide. I couldn't see the Whaleshark at first and then it appeared, out of the blue. A four metre Whaleshark heading straight towards me. I had never seen one up close before and seeing it 2 metres in front of me heading straight towards me nearly gave me a heart attack. I swam away faster than I had ever swum before, even with flippers on. After a minute the playful little fella had come back again. The Whaleshark was circling us.

According to the instructors young Whalesharks are quite playful and love bubbles! This Whaleshark was clearly interested in the bubbles made by the boat and by the snorkelers. The Whaleshark was breaking the Whaleshark code of conduct by coming closer than 3 metres to us. After a good 10 minutes with the Whaleshark we clambered back aboard the Aliikai (the boat) and told Mum about what she was missing out on. Then we all sat down and waited for the next instructions. After a bit we went round to the same Whaleshark and jumped in again.

It was great fun swimming alongside this big fish. The best thing about Whalesharks is that they are completely harmless as they feed on plankton and don't have any teeth. A Whaleshark is also a haven for injured fish like Cobia who have been attacked by sharks. There were also a lot of Remora (Suckerfish) clinging to the Whaleshark's belly. We swam alongside the Whaleshark for another 10 minutes before being called back onto the boat again. This time it was a while before the spotter plane found the Whaleshark for a third time and we headed over.

This time we all knew the procedure and were in the water following the Whaleshark in no time. The Whaleshark was moving it's tail ever so slightly but it was zooming through the sea. I could barley keep up with it and Dad was using his hands as well as his flippers to keep up with the Whaleshark. When the guide eventually stopped it came as a relief to me. I had only managed to see the tail of the Whaleshark but I was okay with that. Swimming up close with these 'Gentle Giants' as they are sometimes called, is great fun. You can really see the Whaleshark's colours. With it's white spots and it's grey skin it really looks quite nice.

This was our last swim and we all climbed back aboard dripping wet and hungry. I headed upstairs to the fly bridge and sat on the seats where the wind would dry me. I also got to drive the 60 foot boat for about 15 minutes as we were motoring back to the North Passage. It was great fun and easier than driving Brolga (our old boat where steering was such an exhausting task that you had to lie down after steering for about 5 km).

Then the skipper saw some more Humpback Whales and took over the steering. She was steering towards the Humpbacks when one of the deckhands came up the stairs saying that if the skipper didn't turn the bow into the swell immediately the lunch would go flying all over the back deck. After letting the wind dry me for a bit longer I headed down for some lunch. I made myself a chicken, tomato, salad, and cucumber sandwich. It tasted great! All to soon we were through North Passage and mored about 1 km from Tantabiddi Boat Ramp. After everyone had finished their lunch we all went for a last snorkel. I even saw a Loggerhead Turtle swimming past the boat. Then a guy told Dad that there were some sort of big fish lurking under the coral. I went down for a look and saw that it was some kind of Cod. 2 minutes later I went down for another look and saw that there was a big coral trout lurking down there as well.

After a memorable last snorkel we all climbed aboard Aliikai once more. Then we motored the 500 metres to the mooring and the first group got ferried back by the tender. While I was inside the cabin helping Mum pack the backpack a big splash came from outside. After we had packed the bags we walked out onto the deck just in time to see the skipper climb out of the water dripping wet. Mik, who was one of the crew was smiling broadly. The skipper was now laughing and called Mik something that I can't repeat or rewrite for that matter. The skipper chased Mik up the deck. at the end of the deck Mik was waiting and as the skipper ran at him he simply picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. Mik then ran towards the stern and made a fake attempt to throw the skipper overboard.

Mik pretended to pitch her into the sea once more before putting her down and simply saying "Sorry boss" in a mocking voice. Then the tender arrived to take the next and last group back to shore. The ride back to shore was funny. It was funny because the tender dipped down after a large wave and soaked my sister's bum completely. She was wearing her dry pants to add to the fun. When we arrived back at the shore we all piled into the bus and we got dropped off at our caravan parks. We also got some souvenirs. Everyone got a drink bottle, a certificate to show that we have swum with the biggest fish in the sea, and stickers to put on our cars. We were told that we could have a free sticker if we successfully put one of the stickers on the opposition company's buses. The stickers read : Ningaloo Whaleshark N Dive. When we arrived at the caravan park we walked back to the caravan and I read some more of my book.

After a while Mum came back from shopping and started cooking dinner. Dinner was stir fried dumplings for me and spinach gnochi for the rest of the family. After dinner I started writing my blog. I was interrupted when we had dessert. Dessert was five german wafer slices for me and chocolate for my sister. Then I finished writing my blog and went to bed.

Oggi siamo andati snorkeling.

Abbiamo nuotato con squali balena.

E stato divertente.

Exmouth Day 1

Today I was awoken in the early hours of the morning when Dad turned the radio on. After a bit of persuasion I got up and made some breakfast for my sister and myself. Then we hitched up the caravan. We were driving the 46 km back to Exmouth by 9:00 AM. When we arrived we checked into a caravan park and set up the caravan. Then we ate some fruit while Mum did the laundry. When she came back she, Dad and my sister went shopping.

While they were gone I did some schoolwork. When I finished it I read my book. Mum has recently acquired Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix and it is a very god book. I read until 3:00 PM and then decided that it was time for a spot of lunch. So I went inside and got some lunch ready. After lunch I kept reading. Then the rest got back. Dad had finally bought a cast net licence for our cast net. He decided that he had better practice on dry land first. The first cast was rubbish and the net didn't even unfurl. Then a guy from a nearby caravan told Dad how to hold the net properly and after a few more casts Dad finally got the hang of holding the net. Casting the net is harder than it looks and it takes practice. Eventually Dad got the net to unfurl and learned to hold it right.

After that we went back to that caravan and got the fishing stuff ready. Then we set off for the jetty. When we arrived we saw that there were all these fish down in the water. We went and fetched our rods, baited up and waited. Dad hooked the first fish of the day. It was a small 5 cm Puffer Fish. Then my sister started catching loads of Puffer Fish. I was waiting for the pesky fish din there to gulp my bait down. Then it happened. The fish took of bending my rod double and taking line of my drag as if it was set really light. I had in fact tightened the drag yesterday after Dad told me that all the fish over here were stronger and would one day take me around a snag.

The fish was still peeling line off the reel. I tightened my drag even more and after a two minute fight got the fish out from under the jetty. The fish tried to take of again and as I started winding again the hook ripped out of the fish's mouth. I was pretty mad with this fish. But I rebated and dropped my line down again. This time all the puffer fish were around my line. One puffer fish was hanging onto the bait and wouldn't let go until I had lifted it about 30 cm out of the water.

I let my bait down again and felt the nibbles. Then I felt a good hard tug and struck. The fish took off again and tried to take me under the jetty. I wound and wound. Then the fish came out from under the jetty and just as it was about to be lifted out of the water it spat the hook on me like the previous fish. I was disappointed that I had not landed the fish so I hoped to catch another one soon.

I was therefor really happy when I felt a third good hit and struck. This fish took me for a run up and down the jetty. It fought hard but in the end I got it up out of the water. I thought that it was a Happy Moment. A Happy Moment is a sarcastically named fish that (If it spikes you) can cause series injury. I saw the sign to look out for them on the One Mile Jetty in Carnarvon. Anyway I wasn't to keen to touch it as you can understand. Mum caught one as well and it had changed colour. Mine began to change colour as well. I went and got the pliers and released the fish. Meanwhile Dad went to get the pliers

After that Mum caught a legal size Bream and Dad went to bleed it. After that I caught what I think was a Luderick but I don't even know if Luderick exist up here. I just checked the fish book and found that Luderick don't exist up here. So I'm back to square one still not knowing what that fish is. It was good sized but as Dad didn't know what it was we didn't keep it. After that I didn't catch anything anymore. On the way back we stopped at a fish cleaning table. The mozzies were swarming around Mum and Dad. Good thing that my sister and I were safely in the car. When Mum and Dad returned my sister's hat was bloodstained from whacking the 8,000 mozzies that were around the fish cleaning table.

Then we drove back to the caravan. When we arrived I went inside and started writing the blog. I also did some fish identification to find out whether the fish were Happy moments or not. Then we had dinner. Dinner was toasted Tuna sandwiches and sliced tomatoes. It sounds disgusting, I know, but it tastes surprisingly good. Then I did some more fish identifying and wrote half my blog. After that we had dessert. Dessert was a chocolate Eclair from Brumby's for me, a Vanilla Slice for Dad, a Hedgehog Slice for my sister and a Blueberry Danish for Mum. After dessert I finished writing my blog. Then Dad and I went and had a proper shower. When we got back I went to bed.

Oggi siamo andati de pesca.

Io presi un momento felice.

E stato divertente.

Yardie Creek Day 3

Today I woke up and lay in bed reading till 10:00 AM. When I finally got up I made me some breakfast. Then we went snorkelling. First we drove to Turquoise Bay where we did some drift snorkelling. The current was pretty strong and my feet were soon hurting from swimming against the current. I decided to stay where I could reach the shore easily if my feet hurt again. At one point my feet were hurting so badly that I couldn't even move my flippers.

In the shallows there were schools of Common Darts feeding on the tiny particles that were stirred up by people walking. It was quite amusing to watch all these fish crowd around your feet hoping that you'll take another step and stir up more sand. I just sort of jogged on the spot and stirred up some sand. All the Common Dart were milling around my feet gulping down all the little crabs and whatnots that were hiding in the sand. I saw also that there were 2 small, 30 cm Trevalley being very greedy and gulping down the best bits first. After a few hours Mum told us to get out of the water. When we arrived at the car we all piled in and drove to Milyering Visitor Centre. Mum went and bought some lunch.

She bought some Sausage Rolls, a Beef Pie and a Cornish Pastie. After a quick but surprisingly good lunch we got our snorkelling stuff. We walked down to the beach and found the reef. Then we put on our flippers and snorkelled out to the reef. There were lots of Parrot Fish snapping off the coral and being a nuisance. All these little fish were darting around the coral. I saw a lot of little Zebra Fish and some Moon Wrasses. Then my feet started hurting again and I had to swim into the shallow sand flats. This by no means meant I was missing out on anything.

I saw about 30 Garfish and what looked like a Spangled Emperor. Then I just swam up and down the beach looking for shells and other interesting bits and pieces. After 2 hours Mum said that we had better get going. When we arrived back at the car we drove back to the caravan. By the time we arrived at the caravan it was nearly 5:00 PM. We packed up the caravan and then had dinner. After dinner we watched the sunset. Then we packed up the mat out the front of the caravan and went inside. After that we had dessert. For dessert we had ice-cream and chocolate. Then I wrote the blog and went to bed.

Oggi siamo andati snorkeling.

E' stato divertente.

Ho visto un sacco di pesci.

The Storm from Hell

Today we woke up to a very humid morning. I got up and made some breakfast for my sister and myself. After breakfast we just lazed around a bit. Then a brewing storm could be seen out at sea. Dad said that we had better take the awning down. But we didn't move. It was so humid that we were sweating even though we were sitting still. Mum said that she could see the black clouds on the horizon and Dad went for a look. He said that we had better get that awning packed up. The clouds were coming in fast and they were turning blacker by the minute.

Once we were outside the wind started. It was practically howling and then there was the rain. It started bucketing down 2 minutes into the operation. To make matters worse a pole was bent and because of this we spent a good fifteen minutes trying unsuccessfully to get the awning down. Dad eventually got the pole out and after a hurried bit of metalwork by Dad it worked. By the time we got the awning down it was sunny and you wouldn't have any idea that a storm had just passed. Mum, Dad and I were soaked through to the skin and Mum was shivering a lot. My sister had got towels ready for us while we were outside holding down the awning. After drying ourselves I made Mum a cup of tea. I was pretty cold as well as I had been wearing my sleeveless shirt and shorts. Dad who was in soaked shorts and a drenched short sleeved T-shirt was actually still warm.

After a bit we had lunch. After lunch we all piled in the car and drove to different bays. The weather was a bit windy so we didn't snorkel. Instead we drove back to the caravan and Dad and I went fishing. On the way back to the caravan we came across a 2 metre Black Headed Python. We stopped and took some photos and then drove on to the caravan. When we arrived at the caravan Dad and I walked to the spot where we were fishing yesterday. I saw all the little Spanish Flag down in the water. I dropped down a baited hook and caught a small 15 cm Spanish Flag. After that we didn't catch anything except another small Spanish Flag. Then we headed back to the caravan.

Mum started cooking dinner. I started writing the blog. I got interrupted when we had dinner. For dinner we had Spaghetti Bolognese with Noodles. After dinner I finished my blog. After dinner we had dessert. Dessert was some more german wafers. After that I went to bed.

Oggi abbiamo avuto una tempesta.

Era molto ventoso.

e Bagnato.

Yardie Creek Day 1

Today we got up early in the morning and I made breakfast for my sister an myself. Then we packed up the caravan, hooked on the car and were driving by 9:00 AM. We drove out to the station and this time we were admitted through. after driving for half an hour we reached the campsite. We would have been there sooner but the speed limit in Cape Range national park is 80 km/h. When we arrived we unhooked the caravan and set up the awning. Dad rolled it out and I pegged in the guide ropes. That was hard work seeing as the ground was very hard and dry. We have no water here except for the water tanks on the caravan so we have to be very water conservative. After we had set up Dad and I started planning the fishing. We tied some thick leaders on some of the soft plastics because the fish kept inhaling theft plastics and biting through the line.

After tying the leaders onto the soft plas

tics we had lunch. After lunch we all headed down to the beach to do a spot of fishing. I saw a small stingray make it's way hastily out to sea but that was all the marine life we saw. After a bit we still hadn't caught anything and Dad cast a small spinner. We though it was snagged in some floating weed but when the weed let go at the sight of Dad he thought it was a small squid. He cast a couple more times and each time the squid followed it. Dad went to get the squid jigs from the caravan. While he was gone I cast a small spinner. After three casts a fish decided to grab the spinner and took off.

I set the hook and started reeling. The fish ran for the snags a fair few times and fought hard. After about three quarters of a minute I saw the fish just under the surface about 4 metres in front of me. The fish saw me and took off again in a last attempt to get away. Then it tired and I tightened the drag. I reeled the fish up and dragged it onto the beach. I stared at it in amazement. It was a fish that I had never seen before. It had snout that protruded out over the top of the mouth and four threads like a Thread Fin Salmon. I still don't know what it was. After some quick photos the fish was returned to the water. After some encouragement it swam away as fast as it could.

After that Dad came back and Mum and my sister walked back to the caravan. Then Dad and I did some more fishing but didn't catch anything. After an hour we packed up and headed back to the caravan. Then Dad walked down to Yardie creek to check out what the fishing was like. After three quarters of an hour he came back and we walked down to Yardie creek to do some sunset fishing. Dad cast a soft plastic and but didn't hook anything. Then he tried a small silver vibe. A 20 cm Trevalley hammered it and took off. Dad's drag was set rather loosely but he tightened it and landed the fish.

After that I put Dad's Garfish rig on and hooked some of the fish that were swimming around the rocks. Then I couldn't catch anything else because Dad decided to go back to that caravan as the sandflies were coming on and starting to bite. When we arrived at the caravan Dad went and talked to our new neighbours while Mum started cooking dinner. For dinner we had fried sausages and fried potatoes. After dinner we had dessert. Dessert was chocolate milk with some more german lebkuchen biscuits. After dessert I finished writing the blog and went to bed.

Oggi siamo andate de pesca.

Io presi i piccolo pesci.

Erano molto piccoli.