The town of Exmouth was built as an American communications site in 1967. We spoke to a guy who visited back then & it was called Yankee Town, the place was full of Yanks & Cadillacs.
The entry sign was pretty cool - most towns have the plain old standard name sign or something decorative but conservative.
These are the low frequency radio communications towers at the Harold Holt US Naval Communications Base. The centre one is higher than the Eiffel Tower. They are held upright by long cables anchored to the ground about 500 mts from the tower.
The Internet download time here is abysmally slow despite 4 Telstra bars. The towers would want to work a lot quicker or the place could be invaded & taken over by the time anyone got a message through. Apparently they will become obsolete in favour of satellites.
There is a lot of new development happening in the town, new canal subdivisions & marinas & town beautification. Like Broome the houses are corro, this one was a bit interesting - the front was like a container, & the back section small irregularly placed square windows.
The arch above is a footbridge linking land divided by canals. A few nice boats in the canals & there is plenty of water to explore as Exmouth is situated on the point of a peninsular, Exmouth Gulf to the east & the Indian Ocean to the west. The town is only small at this stage but with the infrastructure going in it looks destined for quick growth. At this stage you can easily park at any of the miles & miles of beaches - guess time will gradually change that!
The Cape Range extends to the sea along the peninsular & there were a few gorges to explore from above & below. The old Prado took the rocky roads in its stride & Tones 4 wheel driving skills gained in his days with the govt in the Northern Rivers NSW are not forgotten.
The terrain is very harsh & supports little growth, except of course spinifex, but the rock formations are interesting & there are some great views.
Mandu Mandu Gorge was a grade 4 walk (climb).Thank god for hiking boots. Clambering up the rocks after the walk through the dry creek bed (above photo) I made it to the top despite my reservations - well more like complaints - on continuing. However I had the husband gently urging me encouragingly (COME ON) to continue & I made it - but of course "what goes up must come down". Luckily there was a gale force wind blowing keeping us against the gorge wall as we descended. At one stage my foot stuck between rocks as I took a step, so for a minute I leaped, jumped & pirouetted ever downwards, my thinking quickly trying to decide which direction was best to fall, the jagged rocks, a large patch of spinifex or a a 30000mt drop - well the drop is a bit exaggerated - anyway the sure footed thing that I am, I managed to stay upright much to my relief. "Good Save" was a call from some young backpackers behind us.
A much more leisurely trip was a paddle up Yardie Creek Gorge. Only a short waterway but the water was crystal clear & the gorge quite pretty.
A couple of Osprey have nests on a ledge up in the gorge walls. Some white cockatoos were hanging around but looks like mum was guarding her nest well.
The old lighthouse at the top of the peninsular affords some spectacular views & is a popular spot for watching the sunset. During the war it was used as a lookout & sandbags erected as a gun turret. They still remain however the bags are long rotted & the sand has now formed into stones the shape of the original bags.
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| Another spectacular sunset |
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