April 19-
We were sad to leave the Karijini. Although, the time we spent there was just enough. There is no fuel, no food stores, little water and rare facilities so unless you are very prepared for a long stay three days is enough to do just about everything there.
We had a long day of driving ahead of us as we were leaving fields, hills and gorges of the Karijini and entering into a landscape that would make Mad Max feel at home. The scenery changed from the pale blue, rich green and deep reds to a washed-out, lonely, desolate place. Even though we drove a very long way from Perth to the Karijini and we were usually at least 100 km from civilization, the drive northward always felt safe. Almost as soon as we left the gas station at Tom Price, for the first time it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.
We finally arrived in Exmouth at around sunset. We stayed at the Lighthouse Caravan Park which was aptly named as it was located directly at the bottom of a hill beneath a lighthouse. The campground was very busy and very crowded but it had electrical power, a water connection, toilets, showers, a store and even a swimming pool! It was a far cry from the primitive and charming conditions of the Karijini but it was nice to have some human comforts.
April 20-
Our first full day in Exmouth.
Exmouth is a holiday resort town at the north west corner of Western Australia (and by virtue all of Australia). The primary activities in Exmouth are swimming, lounging at the beaches, snorkelling, diving, fishing, boating and wildlife watching. Exmouth is located at the northern end of Ningaloo Reef. This is Australia's largest fringing coral reef (close to shore) and the second largest reef in Australia after the Great Barrier Reef. The biggest differences between Ningaloo Reef and TGBR is that the latter is much larger, however, you have to take a boat to access it while much of Ningaloo can be reached by walking into the water.
Our plan for our first day was to discover some of the world class snorkelling in Ningaloo. Fortunately, we were able to get an early start as the kids in the campsite next to us were kind enough to scream, cry, play, laugh and fight starting at around 5:30 am. We made the relatively short drive to our first snorkelling destination called Lakeside. Lakeside is one of the three main snorkelling beaches in Exmouth and was the closest to our campsite. The reef was beautiful although not particularly colourful and the fish were many. It was probably among the best snorkelling that we had done... at the time.
Nadia swimming over the coral at Lakeside.
At Lakeside we swam over the huge Stingray that buried itself in the sand. It had to be at least 6 feet long.
The conditions were a little windy and the water was a little choppy but the snorkeling was quite good. Swimming at Turquoise Bay is also really good as it's sheltered by the reef and quite shallow so the water is generally pretty calm.
A panoramic view of Turquoise Bay.
April 21-
The following day we went out to a snorkeling area known as Oyster Stacks. It's a huge clump of the reef system right off the beach with coral all over the place, shallow water and the most fish I've ever encountered. We ended up spending almost 4 hours at Oyster Stacks and it was our favorite snorkeling spot on the trip. I think I ended up taking a picture of every fish in the ocean while there.
Just a few of the fish that we photographed: A school hiding under a coral ledge at Oyster Stacks.
Zaren is pretty casual when he snorkels.
April 22-
Today was the only activity that we booked on our entire trip and it was a big one...literally.
We were picked up at our campground at 7:45 am and the bus took us out to a harbour where we took a dingy out to a larger boat. That boat was going to take us, 15 other people and 5 crew members outside the reef into the deep water to swim with the largest shark (and fish) on Earth: the Whale Shark.
Once we got out of the reef the crew first took us to do some snorkeling on the ocean side of the reef. The water was a little deeper and the fish were a little bigger.
In this photo (taken by a professional) Nadia can be seen swimming in the bottom left. She was basically chasing a White Tip Reef Shark (center right). We actually saw three of them in this little reef along with plenty of other fish.
But swimming with the little sharks was just the warm up. After we snorkeled and got accustomed to our gear we got back on the boat and waited for the planes overhead to find the big sharks. It wasn't long before the first one was spotted.
When the planes do spot a shark they radio the coordinates to the boat right away and the boat races to the scene. Once the boat crew spots the shark they position the boat about 30 meters in front of the shark and tell you to jump in the water. It is illegal to approach a Whale Shark, however, it is legal for them to approach you. So, the boat puts the swimmers in the path of the shark.
When you jump off the boat into what is deep, dark, open water it is a little surreal and unnerving. You're floating in an unending darkness in the direct path of a huge shark eagerly awaiting for it to arrive. This is the kind of thing most people generally try to avoid. Even though these are the largest sharks in the world they are harmless. They eat krill, plankton and, the reason they come to Ningaloo, coral blooms (corals releasing their eggs during the full moon). Once you're in the water you can't really seen anything except for the people beside you, the blackness below you and the streaks of sunlight filtering into the abyss. Then, all of a sudden, a giant animal is right beside you. You don't really see it coming because of the lack of visibility. It's just there before you know it. The first shark we saw actually came up almost from directly beneath us and we didn't see it until we were very close to it. We expected it to swim by in front of us but apparently it didn't get the memo. We actually had to get out of it's way. This first shark was actually very fast and we couldn't keep up with him.
This is the first Whale Shark we spotted as it came up from directly below where we were waiting.
We continued to try to swim with this monster for a little while but he was apparently in a hurry to be somewhere else so we moved on to the next spotted giant. This one was a little more casual in his manner and was much easier to keep up with.
Cyrus giving the thumbs up in front of the shark.
Keva swimming next to the shark.
Me and the shark.
In total we spent about 5 hours chasing these sharks around the ocean. It was exhausting and exhilarating and certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
April 23-
We left Exmouth and made the 1.5 hour drive south to Coral Bay. We arrived in the morning, had lunch and went snorkeling. There weren't a lot of fish but there was a great deal of coral. The beach was great too. Unfortunately, the campground was a little like a refugee camp for hippies and bogans.
One of the draws of Coral Bay is that it's a nursing ground for some species of young sharks. Unfortunately, when we were there it was out of season so we didn't see any sharks. But we did spot several rays very close to the beach.
Swimming among the coral in Coral Bay.
One of the many rays we spotted.
April 24-
At 8:30 am we departed Coral Bay and made our way to the town of Denham in the World Heritage listed area of Shark Bay. The evening before it rained for the first time on our trip. It never rains at this time of year but the clouds were locked in. We were driving in the desert under a flat, grey sky. It washes out the red and green and makes the landscape seem more bleak, stark and desolate.
Between Coral Bay and Denham is what's called the "World Heritage Drive". It's a guided tour of the world listed region.
The first stop on the World Heritage Drive is to see the Stromatolites. While these clumps in the water look like rocks they are actually complex colonies of bacteria which is the oldest form of life on the planet: 3 billion years old!
We also stopped at a lookout called "Eagle Bluff" which is an elevated area over a sheltered bay. What is special about this particular bay is that it is shelter for many different kinds of animals including dolphins, turtles, sharks and dugongs. On this particular day we saw the Dugong (a cousin to the Manatee or Sea Cow) pictured above along with many little sharks.
April 25-
We left bright and early (7:30 am) to visit the world famous dolphins at Monkey Mia. This is an area where since the 1960's a pod of dolphins have been coming into the shore to get breakfast and do a little socializing. This particular morning was cold and wet. IT NEVER RAINS HERE! Literally, it can go 18 months without rain in this part of the world but not on the day we were there. Even so, it was a pretty cool experience.
Keva was one of the lucky people to get to hand feed a dolphin. We also saw a turtle hanging out close by.
One of the dolphins sneaking a peak at us as we're watching her.
Our plan was to book a boat tour that afternoon where we could go wildlife watching, go out for dinner, pack up and leave the next morning. However, the weather was so miserable (relatively speaking) we decided to leave that day. We went for an artesan spa (natural hot spring), packed up and drove for home. We managed to arrive at 8:30 that night. One of the dangers of driving in Western Australia is that the Kangaroos (and some other wildlife) come out primarily at night and there are lots of them that get killed on the roads. Fortunately, we didn't have any issues with the roos. When we arrived home we were tired and needed to unpack the trailer as quickly as possible. As a result, we ended up breaking the trailer. It did manage to get fixed though and we and it were none the worse for wear.
This was very likely our last big trip in Australia. Since we've been to the Karijini we don't feel the need to go to the Kimberly (and the crocs). Trying to get to Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a real chore and expensive. We still haven't been to Sydney but we may make a weekend trip out of it. Otherwise, this was our last real Australian excursion and it's safe to say we went out on a high note. It was a totally unique, totally unforgettable trip and it may be hard to top...but we'll keep trying.
No comments:
Post a Comment