Day 90 marks the approximate half-way point for our holidays, which gives me a slight feeling of panic – we’re not even half way around Australia yet! But, looking backwards, it’s hard to even remember the start, or our old life back in New Farm in Brisbane – they’re all just distant memories.

The wind was even stronger this morning, which meant that anything involving the ocean wasn’t likely to be pleasant. We’d originally thought to drive back following the west coast of the peninsula, through the Cape Range National Park, but some local information put cold water on those plans – the roads were rough/slow, and there was a creek that could only be crossed at the bottom of low-tide (and high-tide was about an hour away…). Our minds were made up for us, we’d return the way we came.

20130811_RCH_0717 20130811_RCH_0719 20130811_RCH_0724 20130811_RCH_0726 20130811_RCH_0730As we were driving south, just before the RAAF Learmonth base, I saw a turnoff for the Cape Range National Park (the national park runs most of the way down the western-side of the peninsula). I could see the dirt trail twist its way up the range in the distance, and because it looked fun/interesting, we went for a drive. That impulse paid some pretty good dividends! The road twisted its way through the middle of two spectacular gorges, and the best thing was we didn’t even have to leave the car to enjoy it – It was all visible from the comfort of the seats in our car! I wanted to follow the road until we could see the Indian Ocean, as well as the Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range beaches. We followed one trail to a lookout, only to find that it took us to an 8km hike, and since we’d been spoilt with these amazing views without the need to work for them (and Risa wasn’t feeling great), we left like the spoilt tourists we’ve become.

The rest of the drive was rather uneventful. The same odd termite mounds – this area they are all a uniform teardrop shape, which was odd/new. A few sheep, and a pair of emus (that were quite happy waiting for us in the middle of the road. Some wildflowers growing along the sides of the road, and red sand dunes covered in clumps of green spinifex. It’s not to say that it wasn’t pretty, we were just ready for a new adventure somewhere else.

20130810_RCH_0715 20130811_RCH_0734Dinner: We received a few large pieces of super-fresh yellowfin tuna from some guys that caught a 50kg fish yesterday. We ate some of it raw last night (with just the slightest splash of soy sauce), but the rest we froze for dinner tonight. Risa was feeling creative/motivated, and this is the result – A delicious, healthy, attractive, and best of all, cheap dinner. We’re also finally on to the final season of Lost tonight – not as good as the first time I watched it, but still an awesome TV series.

祝!!!! 90日目   旅の折り返し地点。

今日は、この旅を始めて90日目。 6ヶ月の予定の旅なので、ちょうど旅の折り返し地点です。

あっと言う間の3ヶ月だったけど、まだまだまだ見るものは、たーーーくさん!

これからも健康第一、安全運転で仲良くやっていきまーす。

今日は、沢山の海のなかまたちと感動的出会いを果たせたこのEXMOUTHの町をいよいよ離れ、さらに南下を続けます。

とその前に、このEXMOUTHは、半島にある町で、この半島がなかなかすごいんです。

半島の右側は、ビーチや町が広がっていて、半島の左側は、手つかずの自然が広がっている国立公園になっています。

この半島の背骨のような真ん中は、小さな山脈になっていて、乾いた渓谷が広がっていました。

このキレイな海と、あらあらしいダイナミックな渓谷のコントラストがとってもミスマッチでかなり印象的でした。
その後は、ひたすらドライブ、ドライブ、、、途中野生のエミューをみた以外は、かなり退屈なドライブとなりました。

しかーーし、今晩の夕食は、頑張っちゃいました☆

昨日頂いた新鮮なイエローフィンマグロを、お醤油、生姜、ニンニクと麺つゆで40分程つけ、それを中がピンクになるように、フライパンでグリル。

それに白ごま、黒ごまをまぶして、サラダとおソバを添えました。

見た目も味も、バッチリのかなり美味な夕食となりました☆

ロスくんも気に入ってくれたようでよかった♡

この旅の間ケープヨーク辺りからずっと観ていたTVドラマのLOSTもついに最終章となりましたー。

どんなエンディングになるのだろー。楽しみ