A whale of a time! (get it??)
From Aussie Travels in Exmouth, Australia on Apr 09 '08
This entry is about:
see all photos »
Well we've finally done the big one..we can come home now (well apart from the other few hundred things on our list)
After having the van fixed we headed north towards Monkey Mia to once again feed the dolphins!We left very early (see we do do taxing things sometimes0 and Ben played dodge the Kangaroos until the sun came up! We arrived there at 10:15 just in time for the last feed of the day, the weather was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain -luckily it tunrs out that dolphins don't mind water. We lined up and saw the dolphins again- it was much better than last time there were a lot more in, about 8, and they were closer. We could even see where one had recently lost a chunk to a tiger shark. This time Tori got called out to feed a dolphin too which was very exciting, but a shame we couldn't both go.Stupid dolphin spat the fish out anyway, it only comes in apparently to laugh at us, that one prefers it's fish live. Having missed out on a boat trip to see the dugongs last time we thought we'd squeeze one in this time. Sadly the weather was not in agreement. We managed to get on the boat, fit in a bit of boom-netting (basically they throw you off the back of the boat in a net and hope you hold on- they also call this fun!??) and a visit to the pearl farm before it chucked it down. it was just like home, only hot rain. The pearl farm was really interesting we were shown how they make the pearls and got to eat one that was slaughtered there and then- fresh! And we didn't feel too mean as it is just snot in a shell. Sadly we didn't come away with any of the pearls as we're too poor. More disappointing we didn't see any wildlife either through the pouring rain so returned to the campsite wet and upset. Weather cleared up (and rapily got very humid) just in time for a sunset wim though, so it's not all bad.
see all photos »
Luckily the people running the boat tour were lovely and said we could hop back on for a freeby the next day. We woke up and the sun was shining, the turtles were out to play on the jetty and we had a fabulous boat trip. We saw 2 dugongs (hippo like things that eat sea grass), a couple of rays (Tori spotted them with her eagle eyes) and a couple of sea snakes. We no longer felt cheated!
Had to get back on the road straight afterwards though so another day of sweating into baby blues seats and singing to oursevles (our radio, tape player and ipod connector are now all defunct). We hoped to get all that way to Coral Bay but nature instead of mechanics intervened this time. Apparently the recent rain is more than they have had in Ten years, and as they don't get much they don't bother to put drainage in thier roads, so they all flooded.. We were stuck in Carnarvon for a lot longer than we intended (a whole night). It's not a very nice place. The hot topic of the caravan park was when we could all get out of there- there were about 100 people stuck with us. Someone should have started taking bets- there was money to be made.
see all photos »
We woke up first thing to rumbel of road trains whizzing by (well as fast as a road train can whizz) and a voice saying 'it's open'. Quick time check told us it was 8am so we got our skates on, spread the news and planned to leave by 9am when we could stop at the shops on the way out. We spent our hour wisely and were ready to leave by 8am. Yes 8am! Apparently we can't read the time when we are still half asleep. Oh well earlier start then planned. Luckily the supermarket wakes up at this time too. We headed off to scream of 'why were we stuck here the roads aren't even wet'? from Tori. This continued for about an hour until we met a convey of traffic being led through some serious wet by rangers. About 0.4 metres of wet to be exact. Babyblue almost needed oars. You'll be pleased to hear we made it, mainly due to Ben's sailing skills (ahoy).
see all photos »
Coral Bay was almost worth the effort. Our caravan site wasn't though as we were pitched right next to Kids camp- horray! teh little buggers wake up and start being excited at 6am- horray! It was lucky we were up for trips most days of there would have been a masacre. Coral Bay is basically just a beach with a supermarket and a few camp sites. Only 150 people live here (in caravans, they're not alowed to build houses here) so it's our most isolated, small stop yet. We were dying to get in and snorkel as everyone had told us how amazing the reef was here, and right next to the shore. Sadly, we were right about the coral sporn, and swimming in coral sperm is not good- for anything! it had all collected in bay and made it murky and smally as it takes the oxygen out of the water and, not surprisingly, kills the fish! So it was a stinky, dead fish bay. Even the baby sharks that wre meant to be there had temporarily evacuated! So we stuck to land persuits initially...
see all photos »
We had an awesome morning hooning cross the sandunes and beach on quad biks. There was just the two of us so the guy lets us mess about a bit and rag them down the beach (70ks on a little bike is not bad). It was stunning we watched kangarros hop infront of us across the cliffs as we looked down to the ocean. Then we scooted along the beach dodging the waves before we stopped to watch the turtles have breakfast. Finally we threw ourselves, and the bikes, off the top of sand dunes for a tunny dropping thrill. We were certainly awake when we got back.
see all photos »
The sea was not calm enough for us to get a dive in here as it was too rough to get out ot the outer reef so we booked ourselves on a snorkel tour- with 12 kids (we're plagued!!). They took us away from the smelly stuff and right out. We had a great day soaking up the sun and saw some great stuff. We even snorkelled with a few turtles. Most of the children were well beahved too so we didn't have to launch any off board. We ate like kings- bbq fish lunch and lots of cake were provided on board. We worked hard for our food though as we had a huge swim out to sea to the best bits- Tori made sure there were other people in front of her at all times as that way they would meet the tiger sharks first! (this also included Ben)
see all photos »
We're in the BIG town on this cape now (it has 4 whole shops) Exmouth. The reef here is clear and beautiful. We've extended our stay here by one day so we can go diving tomorrow out on the Murion Islands (our trip today was cancelled- bonus though is that we get a full day and free lunch tomorrow on a different dive so we're not too upset. Free stuff is always good.) Speaking of food, We found another gorgeous resturant here, specialising in sea food...we had to try it...it's a long way to come back. King prawns, pan seared scollops, snapper, soft-shell crab...rest assured Mums and Dads we're eating well.
see all photos »
Best day here has to be yesturday with the whale sharks though. We were both stunned and amazed at thier size and grace. It's like nothing we've ever done before. The company were great. They wet-suit you all up (so you don't sink) and take you all for a quick snorkel over the reef to make sure everyone is competant (a few were definatly touch and go, there were lots of flapping fins and filled snorkels). The reef on it's own was pretty spectacular. Then, the rest of the day you speand chasing spotter planes to where the whale sharks are. Then it's off and on the boats like yoyos to get as look, as they are only allowed 10 people in the water at once. It's bloody knackering but really worth it. We saw and swam with 4 different sharks with the biggest being over 7 metres. They just swim along next to you sucking in plankton/krill with little fish buddies cleaning them as they go. When you get in they appear out of no-where, and much closer than you expect, in fact so close that Tori nearly sat on ones head! The last few were a bit quicker so we really had swim quick to keep up (and take a bashing fro everyone fins in front of you). The swell was getting up in the afternoon too so we were battling big waves. The water we jumped into was 53 metres deep so god knows what else we were sharing it with. Apparently, from the air, a whale shark can look a bit like a tiger shark and a few of the spotters (who lead us in) have come face to face with the wrong type on occasion. We saw some little sharks circling below us- let's hope the big ones were further off. Once again we had an amazing lunch and champagne to finish off our day, so we were well looked after. What an amazing day though- we'll remember it for ages.
see all photos »
We topped off the day with BBQ back at camp and a very early night (8pm) as the sharks had worn us out. Off for a bit of easy, drifting, snorkelling this afternoon, when it cool down- back up to 35deg here. The mozzies are back out in force too so we've gto a bit less flesh than we used to have. it's the natioanal park next and some serious hiking, so we're back on the road and on backpacker rations soon too.
Hope the snow's stopped back at home. hope you're all good. We' like to wish Ricky Cook a Happy birthday for tomorrow. Stay in touch xx
Where have you been lately?
Share your travels with friends & family
- Free Travel Blog
- Stunning maps
- Share experiences
- Automatic emails
- Unlimited photos
- Unlimited entries
Would you like to comment or ask a question?