Exmouth – WA

Wow, wow and wow we are soooo happy that fellow travellers recommended we not by-pass Exmouth. Exmouth is located on the North West Cape of Western Australia and offers easy access to Cape Range National Park at the northern end of the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage area. There is so much to see and do in this region. What an absolute gem of a town. We never expected it to be this good.

We stayed at the RAC Big 4 Exmouth Cape Holiday Park which is conveniently located close to town. The Park is extensive and has a good mix of sites suitable for any type of traveller. The price for two people with power and water at the time of our stay was $54 less 10% for RAC and Big 4 members. The park has large grassed sites, TV and Telstra reception, very clean amenities, kid’s playground and a great swimming pool. Oh and I mustn’t forget the very friendly Emus that casually wander through the park and town.

The town has a lovely park across the road from the shopping precinct. There’s a wonderful free water spray park for kids and also a public swimming pool. There are two IGA supermarkets right opposite each other and apparently owned by the same people. There’s also a bakery, pharmacy, newsagent, surf shop, a few boutiques and a liquor store and cafes. There are also a couple of pubs in town with restaurants.

We began our adventure visiting the wonderful very new Ningaloo Visitor Centre which is located right across the road from the caravan park. What an awesome place. Besides all the great information we received we spent approximately two hours exploring the “History Museum” in air-conditioned comfort as the heat sizzled outside. The museum is designed to be interactive and has many touch screen displays that encourage you to learn more about the history of the town and the Ningaloo Marine Park sanctuary zones. The museum has a cyclone simulation room which is not to be missed. It’s pretty awesome. We learnt that Exmouth had a catastrophic cyclone hit the town in 1999 and it made us realise why the town has a fresh open feel with so many modern buildings. There is a fee of $15 or $10 for concession card holders to enter the museum which we thought was well worth it.

It’s not all about the water in this region and driving towards the Cape Range National Park you will see something in the distance which resembles something out of the movie “War of the Worlds”. This is the Harold E Holt Naval Communication Station a joint Government venture between Australia and the USA and a strictly ‘PROHIBITED AREA’.

The drive up to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse took us to one of the best lookouts and gave us a visual appreciation of the coral fringe reef. From here we were able to sight 7 oil rigs out on the horizon. Lighthouse Bay is also known for its great fishing and diving. The wreck of the SS Mildura a cattle steamer destroyed when it clipped the reef during a cyclone in 1907 is quite visible in the bay and apparently a great area for diving.

Charles Knife Gorge is approximately 23 km south of Exmouth and well worth the drive. The sealed access road is not suitable for caravans or trailers as you follow the razor back ridges of the range. The views were breathtaking. The country was extremely dry at the time but we could imagine how it must be during a good wet season.

Again we are so glad that we took the time to visit Exmouth.

Below are a list of others places we have visited that may be of interest to you:

Cheers

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Happy Aussie Caravanning Lifestyle

Dixie and Graeme