This morning we decided to go 4 wheel driving in the sand dunes south of Coral Bay, we let our tyre pressures down and set off.  Amazing how quickly you forget the terrible roads we have been on.  Obviously after the great roads we have been on we needed an adrenalin rush.  What an adventure that was.  The track was very sandy (of course), rutted, corrugated & there were a few choices of track in places. The first high dune we stopped at & climbed (by foot) had an amazing view from the top of the bay, waves breaking over Ningaloo Reef & the Indian Ocean beyond.  The colours of the sea are stunning.  After a bit more adventure we decided to turn back, we had only gone a short way when I got bogged in the sand trying to turn around.  I immediately deflated the tyres even more, down to 15 psi, then John worked out what I had to do, such as angles of the wheels, how far forward or back to go & Sue dug the loose sand out from around the wheels by hand.  They went 4 wheel driving in the Simpson Desert so were the experienced ones in the group.  Since Tereza is the official photographer she photographed & looked out in case another crazy person like us would be coming around the corner.  After a bit of mucking around doing a five point turn I eventually was able to reverse down all the way that I had come, then get a good run up & keep on going.  I turned around a further 50m up the track & we headed back.  We explored a few more side tracks on the way back & then had to return back down them, that was fun.  Eventually we got back out & it was big smiles all round, only once bogged in this horrible loose sand.  Back at camp it was lunch then reinflate the tyres using the ARB air compressor that attaches to the battery, it is very efficient & took a short time to inflate all eight of our tyres back to road pressures.

Next we had another swim in the bay, the water was invigorating – in another word freezing.  Our appetite has been whetted for the sand dunes, we went on a 2 hour quad bike tour until sunset.  Sue rode one quad bike with John as pillion & I rode another with Tereza as pillion, it was our first rides on quad bikes.  We set off in a set of eight quad bikes back south on the same tracks as we had driven our cars on, I couldn’t believe how rough some of the tracks were.  It is amazing that we only got bogged once & that we got out.  Travelling at a slower speed on the quad bike you have more time to see the detail in the road surface.  We drove out onto the beach & ventured as far as the station boundary on a cliff face overlooking some turtle feeding grounds.  We turned back & on the way climbed & descended some very high & steep sand dunes, it was a real buzz.  On the top of one of the dunes that we had walked up in the morning we stopped & watched an absolutely exquisite sunset.  As a bonus we saw two whales jumping out of the water & breaching just out beyond the breakers.  Lights on & we headed back to Coral Bay.  It was a great afternoon, the smiles said it all.  Some people just never grow up.

I cooked dinner again tonight (two nights in a row) on the BBQ & we washed it down with a Chapel Hill red.