Boating at Last

Since Grammie and Papa towed the boat to Karratha from Perth for us, we have been desperate to take it out. Unfortunately, the weather has not been very cooperative! Even though most weekends have been warm and sunny, the wind has been too strong and the ocean too rough. Clinton finally took the boat out with some friends to go spear fishing a couple of weeks ago. Then this Saturday the ocean was  predicted to be fairly calm in the afternoon. So on Saturday morning, Tam and I got pedicures (note to self: not such a wise decision to take freshly painted toe nails on a boat!) then in the afternoon we took the boat to Marney Bay. There are lots of little islands off the coast of Karratha with beautiful (usually secluded) beaches. Marney Bay has pure, white sand and crystal blue water. It didn't take us too long to get there on the boat (about 20 mins). Sienna was a little bit unhappy about how rough it was and subsequently snuggled into Aunty the whole way there. Alissa on the other hand was unfazed and had a little nap!

 

All ready to go! How cute is Alissa's little straw hat from Aunty Bindi.

 Arriving at Marney Bay

 The water was a bit deep so Clinton swam and pulled us in on a rubber dingy.

 The kids enjoyed the ride until a wave caught them and pushed them into shore a little too fast! Tam said that Sienna looked terrified.

Harrison digging in the sand. It was so white and clean!

 Sienna collected lots of bits and pieces to show Aunty.

 Alissa managed to get a slight tan on her already tanned cheeks.

 

So many gorgeous desert peas.

 Dipping Alissa's toes in the water - she loved it.

 I really like this photo of father and son.

 Harrison making "sand" angels.

 Love this photo - even though Sienna is naked!!

 Exploring the beach

We had a lovely day and on the way home in the boat, both Sienna and Alissa fell asleep on Aunty. Harrison wore his pirate hat (and just happened to have a pirate temporary tattoo on) as we docked the boat - a man watching said "I feel like I'm in pirates of the Caribbean!" Haha!

We hope to get out on the boat again soon. It was good timing having the weather right and Tammy staying with us, so glad we could take her out on the boat!!



Meeting Red Dog

We have loved having Tam staying with us...the last few days have flown by. On Thursday Tam and I had a chill out/stay at home day then on Friday after Harrison went to school, we drove up to Dampier to see the famous "red dog" statue. Red dog won't mean much to you unless you're familiar with the story or you've watched the film. Tam has seen the film so she was excited to get some photos with the statue. Sienna is still wary of getting too close to the statue...just in case it turns to life and suddenly becomes a real dog!

 

Sienna posing in the sun (it was very bright).

 We then drove into the town and stopped at a little café called 'Hullabaloo' and got some take away lunch and iced chocolate (very yum). Sienna had a 'babyccino' just frothed milk with a dash of chocolate and a marshmallow. We drove to 'the palms' and sat in the sun enjoying our food. The weather was perfect!

Bubby loves Aunty!



Alissa with palm tree hair under the palm trees!

 



This one is for Grammie - Sienna's first bindi!

 On Friday night we went to Harrison's Little Athletics competition night. Harrison beat all his PB's from the previous competition night in shot put, 100 meter sprint, discus, 60 meter hurdles and 70 meter sprints. Harrison came first in his 100 meter race which was very exciting! He was so proud of himself.

 



Staircase to the Moon

We have been trying to see a 'staircase to the moon' in Karratha for a while now. Its a natural phenomenon that occurs in the north west of Australia between March and October. It is caused by the rising of the full moon reflecting off the exposed mudflats at extremely low tide - creating an optical illusion of stairs reaching to the moon. We heard there would be one occurring on Wednesday night at Hearson's Cove just after 6.30pm (according to Karratha visitors centre). So we packed a picnic and headed to Hearson's Cove at about 5.30pm. By the time we got there, cars were already lined up along the beach. Cars continued to come after we arrived too. We took some photos together as the sun was setting, the sky had the most amazing colours.

 

 Clinton and Harrison could walk for meters and meters in the low tide. Harry loved it!

The reflection on the water was amazing.

 

 Lots of muddy sand for Sienna to dig in, that girl loves getting dirty!

Clinton took these stunning photos of Aunty and Alissa - the colours are so beautiful.

 

 Tam took these photos of our family, I love how Sienna is off doing her own thing (as usual).

Our full reflection in the water is so cool. 

 Oh how I wish I'd brought a hair clip for Alissa's hair....lovely photos anyway.

So the sun set and it got to 6.40pm and no moon! We ate dinner and waited and waited. When it got to 7pm Clinton looked up the times on my phone and it said the 'staircase to the moon' had changed to 7.35pm. We figured we might as well wait another half an hour...even though it was getting pretty cold. Tam and I joked that next time we'd bring doonas, pillows and more food! haha! More cars kept coming and by the time the moon was rising the beach was packed. Our wait was worth it, the staircase to the moon was stunning! It's very hard to capture it properly with a camera because either the moon or the 'staircase' reflection is out of focus. Clinton did a good job though and this photo is amazing. I'm sure we'll be taking more photos of it over the time we're up here in Karratha.