Out determination for the month of September has been to do kitesurfing on some of WA's most pristine, turquoise coloured and sandy beaches. We expected the steady seabreezes of the summer to start up North at the Ningaloo Reef. As we left Perth a month ago, there was a strong wind from a cold front and subsequent massive high-pressure system across the continent with gale-force gusts blowing offshore.
At first, our goal was to escape that cold front by heading North of Geraldton. After a night break, the clouds caught us again and we experienced our first torrential downpour after 4 months crossing the continent in our cherished Toyota Prado. We actually had to speed up our morning packing of the roof top tent and kitchen to record time. We had stayed on the top of a hill with 360 degree views over the immense arid plain. I recall how I was nicely seating in my armchair, with the girls asking for more brekkie and getting sticky with some honey everywhere but not on their bread, while watching now and there the big grey cloud getting bigger and bigger. Then I said to Laetitia and Oceane: ”look at the beautiful rainbow, it's moving fast … it’s getting right onto us………… Paaaaaaaaaaaaadouuu, everything into the car, NOW!!!" We drove away with a free 1 hour carwash all the way into Carnarvon where we were to refill our supplies.
The subsequent strong Easterly winds tested our nerves over the following week as we visited Coral Bay and Cape Range National Park. We tried different campgrounds with different expositions, but there was no way to escape that wind nobody wanted. It blew every night from six PM to lunchtime the following day. At least, the lull after nidday gave us all a nice break with quiet water to get out safely in/on the water for snorkelling and canoeing, but soon after sunset we had to hurry into our fragile canvas home on top of the car and try to sleep through the night with the bad feeling that the tent would be too weak and would break at a stronger gust.
The bits and parts we discovered along the coast between Exmouth and Waroora Station the last three weeks were totally beyond expectation. All the wonders that the Ninglaloo Reef has to offer, above and under water, were worth it to endure the extreme outdoor conditions with cloudless, extreme-UV skies, cold windy nights, no showers and little drinking water. The perfection happened as the long awaited SW seabreezes typical for the afternoon started to kick in on a daily basis and we then spent day after day doing our kite sessions until sunset.
Now that the windy season has started and that we got to know some of the finest playgrounds for kitesurfing and developed a relaxing routine with our little family, it seems that we could stay in the same area forever. Even after we decided to head South, we were forced one more time to drive into Exmouth for kite repair purposes (as there's no other kiting shop before Geraldton). It seems like an endless loop.
We believe, the West Coast has much more to offer and therefore we'll take the opportunity to discover more of it on the way back to Perth, now heading down to the next destination Shark Bay.
In the meantime, check our latest pictures of the area around Ningaloo Reef on Flickr via this link!
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