It was quite a lonely night in the rather desolate rest area although we slept quite well as traffic noise was not too bad and the breeze kept on for a good while with it nice and cool overnight. Morning saw us take the turnoff to Exmouth some 187km north away. The number of caravans, camping trailers and the like going the other way was quite noticeable. Nothing much of interest along the way other some large red rolling dunes and then Learmonth, which doubles as an RAAF Base and a public airport. Shortly after that we got our first glimpse of the coast – something we had not seen since 40 Mile Beach.
On arrival at Exmouth we checked into a caravan park and then did the essential shopping and fuel etc. We were umming and arring whether to stay there for a couple of nights and do a day trip to Cape Range National Park on the other side of the peninsula but decided that it would be best if we stayed in the national park for a night or two as there is quite a bit to see. Dollar wise two days in the national park is about the same as one in the caravan park – just more driving with the van in tow.
Exmouth itself is quite a nice little town with quite a bit of industry focused on servicing the tourist trade to the Ningaloo Marine Park on the western side of the peninsula and most significantly the Ningaloo Reef which is part of the park. This is Whale Shark time of year which is the worlds biggest fish and harmless being a dozy plankton eater. We heard on the radio of a tour group frantically scampering back into their boat after they instead came across sharks of the meat eating variety. Guess they got an additional adrenalin rush for their money.
As a special treat Carol thought it was time Ross had a hair cut using our very expensive (not) electric clippers bought from “The Big W”. In no time at all Ross was once again looking like an escaped convict but glad to be rid of the mop that had developed since we left NZ back in February.
Prior to leaving town on Sunday morning we took ourselves off a good long early morning walk around Exmouth itself which included a jolly around the footy oval. It was in this area that we heard a faint crying type sound and low and behold there was this very young kangaroo lying beside the road. It had obviously gotten separated from its mother who was nowhere in sight, dead or alive. Oh well we couldn’t just leave it there as it was cold and would die if left to the mercy of the sun and the every present crows.
Ross tucked it into his tummy and put his hat over it to try to warm it up and keep it in a relaxed state while we made our way back to the caravan park to get the phone to then ring the number we had found for helping injured and orphaned wildlife. We gave it a drink of water and it gulped down a few mouthfuls and waited for the wildlife rescue person (Shane) to turn up. She duly arrived and was well prepared with this little woolen pouch to put the roo into. After checking her (it was a she) out she advised based on the minimal amount of fur on her that she was about five months old and a “Red” Kangaroo.
Shane asked for our email address so that once “Kiwi” (we named her) was settled with the people that would raise her we could be given updates as to her progress etc. All in all it was an excellent experience and we felt really good having been able to help this poor little roo and hopefully in time and all going well, there will be this kiwi kangaroo hopping about in Oz. Kangaroo rescue all done and dusted and after a dip in the quite cool pool we once again hit the road for the short trip to Cape Range National Park on the other side of the peninsula.
