Western Australia continues to give and today it gave us Quobba Blowholes and Aquarium Bay. Every time we find a place like this we think it just can't get any better but invariably we find another gem. The 70km drive from Carnarvon to Quobba probably puts a lot of people off visiting this area as it is "out of the way". Not us. This, my friends, is why you have to stay a few days in each place.
The drive to Quobba took us past Lake Mackenzie that is home to another Salt Mine owned by Rio Tinto. It is big business here in Western Australia and until we came here I did not realise there were so many uses for salt. It is all bitumen to Quobba but once you go past Quobba it is a gravelly sandy road really only best for four wheel drive cars and camper trailers. This road would take you all the way to Coral Bay if you were feeling adventurous. At Quobba there is a camping area near Aquarium Bay. It is very small and is packed to capacity during the peak season and in particular the school holidays. Although I absolutely loved Quobba I don't think you would want to spend too many days here.
Of course the Blowholes are what visitors come to see and the huge waves along this section of coastline give you some quite spectacular blowholes. You can't get too close to the blowholes themselves, unlike Kiama in NSW, but you can get close enough to hear the sound that it makes. It is quite thunderous and the power of the ocean leaves you feeling dizzy. You have to visit here between low and high tides. At high tide the blowholes are completely submerged and we timed it perfectly. Standing and watching the massive waves roll in is scary and the sign as you enter the blowholes that says "King Waves Kill" is a bit of a reality check. Surprisingly (or not) this is the only place along the coastline that we have not seen anyone fishing.
After we had filmed the blowholes we drove the short distance to Aquarium Bay. This place is amazing and you would almost think that you have changed planets as you arrive here. From the thunderous waves around the corner, literally, you have this serenely calm shallow water bay. There are a lot of people snorkelling in the water and it has a reputation of being a learners snorkelling place because of the abundance of coral and fish so close to the shore in relatively shallow water. We couldn't wait to don our snorkels and hit the water. The water was cold (for Philip sans wet suit) but for me it was perfect with my wetsuit on. The water is crystal clear and is better than anything we have snorkelled in so far, even better than Coral Bay. It is not a large area and if you swim out to far there is quite a strong current, but fortunately the best coral and fish viewing is close to the shore.
We snorkelled until it just got too cold for my hubby. By this time it was almost one o'clock and the wind was starting to blow quite strong from the south, and, we were getting a little hungry. We had packed a picnic lunch because we were told there was no food available. But we were surprised to find a food van parked up at the Blowholes. He only comes during peak season and he sells Locally Caught Fish and Chips amongst other things. We almost decided to ditch our lunch but then we both remembered that fried food doesn't do us any favours!
Lunch was eaten faster than it should have been but we were very hungry and we wanted to do one last thing while we were here at Quobba and that was to drive up the steep rocky four wheel drive track to the lighthouse. I'm so pleased that we did this because up here there was an abundance of wildflowers. Gosh there are hardy plants to survive on the side of a hill in very windy conditions. The most prevalent of the wildflowers was the Acorn Banksia.
It was a fantastic day. The sun was shining and the temperature was a comfortable twenty degrees. The wind didn't get up until midday and that just made the blowholes even more spectacular. This is an area of Western Australia that I would return to. The whole Carnarvon-Ningaloo Coast is a truly beautiful area and I'm so pleased we have taken almost three weeks to explore this area.
Aaannndddd......another GoPro of our day at Quobba......
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