Shark Bay and Ningaloo Reef-a birthday wish come true

Indo-Pacific Bottle-nosed dolphins at Monkey Mia, Shark Bay
see all photos »

We travelled further north to explore some of WA's amazing coastline.

Shark Bay 's a World Heritage site where we fed wild dolphins and had a memorable boat excursion from Monkey Mia, spotting lots of dolphins, loggerhead turtles and an elusive dugong.

We crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn to Ningaloo Reef, where we hoped Chris would fulfil his birthday wish and swim with a whale shark, the largest fish on the planet. He put in lots of practise snorkelling off the pristine beaches at Turquoise Bay and Coral Bay, marvelling at the huge variety of marine life and preparing for the swim of his life! Our first boat trip was brilliant, we saw minke whales, green turtles, dolphins, manta rays, leopard shark and amazing flying fish but no whale shark. We were invited to join the crew again 2 days later and patiently trawled the ocean while overhead a spotter plane searched for the elusive creature. We were delighted when finally we heard over the radio .." we have a whale shark!" Chris was lucky enough to have 3 swimming encounters with the shark, an unforgettable experience.

Shell Beach, Shark Bay
see all photos »

The 400 miles from Shark Bay to Ningaloo Reef is a drive through an empty, arid, desert landscape, where kangaroos , emus and huge wedge-tailed eagles are a common sight, a little too close for comfort at times!

After a memorable week in this remote, unspoiled area of WA it's time to head south towards Perth.