we have stayed in and around exmouth for a while now and there is a good reason for this. of all the amazing places in australia this part has always been one of my absolute favourites. exmouth is located near the tip of a peninsula, with the exmouth gulf on one side and ningaloo on the other, and the cape range running along it, almost as a spine.
we’ve already written a bit about ningaloo and will hopefully be able to write a bit more in coming days, as soon as we get a little break in the wind and better under-water visibility.
the cape range does not look like much for afar, the typical ancient, worn-down line of hills so often found throughout australia.
there are also the typical remnants of farming history.
and as always a closer look reveals much more. the cape range has a few surprises. who would have expected a series of deep canyons? i am not sure how often water runs through here; apparently exmouth had not seen rain for a year before the rather wet night when we arrived here.
and who would have expected a thriving population of rock wallabies here? they are very hard to spot, their colour and the fact that they don’t move much makes them almost invisible.
and who would expect them up a sheer cliff face? can you see the wallaby? it’s right there! no idea how they get up there with no hands and ropes.
better? they are really cute with their black & white stripes across their faces and bodies.
the rocks are mostly very sharp and not quite as red as in karijini.
this rock could easily take your skin off, it’s like a grater.
exmouth is only about 50 years old. initially there was this: a military outpost on the tip of the peninsula, established during world war 2. what looks like rocks in the photo above are actually historic sand bags, placed here to secure the radar installation and ant-aircraft guns.
the antennae just visible here are a remnant of the cold war. built by the americans this array is still used for very low frequency communications with submarines. there used to be a big base here but that’s long gone. there is only a small force left and the town is now dependent on tourism rather than the base.
the eastern side of the cape range is if anything even more deeply carved up.
zippy may or may not have undertaken a few flights over the area and kris will no doubt later publish her own photos. below footage from charles knife canyon.
we’ll be staying a few more days and hope to capture more underwater pictures.