Day 167
We had only planned on staying a couple of nights but a week later it is time to pack up and bid a fond farewell to Ned’s campground. Head into Exmouth for a brief stop to do some shopping and hit the road south. A long 200KM later and we arrive in the picturesque town of Coral bay with its 2 campsites, a pub, a shop and a beautiful beach.
Coral bay lies on the southern end of the Ningaloo marine park and so shares the same reef as we have been snorkelling on for the past week. After setting up it’s time to put some washing on and try as we might (We didn’t try too hard) the washing machine will not take our money but proceeded to wash our clothes anyway (Bonus!).
With our new found wealth ($3) we decide to blow it all on a beer at the pub and as we all know the best tasting beer is the free stuff!
Straight into ‘Coral bay Eco tours’ and book our places on a boat for tomorrow to go swimming with the manta rays. Coral bay is one of the few lucky places in the world where the manta rays come to breed so you are almost guaranteed to see them and we are both excited at the prospect.
High with anticipation we decide to fulfil another dream and head next door for a Fish and chip supper, only to have those dreams shattered with a tiny piece of fish and overcooked chips (it was still pretty nice).
Day 168
Up and out early for our ship sails at 8.30am, well it was supposed to but by the time we have all been kitted out with our gear and the bus has arrived and taken us all to the jetty it must be gone 10 o’clock by the time we hoist anchor and set sail (it wasn’t a sailing boat BTW).
First stop is an introductory snorkel on the outer reef and the first thing that strikes us as we dive off the boat is the huge range of different coral, lots more types than we have seen before, truly a coral garden.
As we paddle around amazed by the diversity of the living coral beneath us Carmen spots a turtle swimming around and so we do our best to follow him for a while before he gets bored of us and motors off into the deep blue.
Back aboard and after a warming cup of tea it’s time to find the manta rays. You would think we would just sail about for a while in the hope of seeing one but oh no this is more like a military operation. The spotter plane soars overhead and we get the coordinates of at least one ray and so (with the aid of GPS) set off. It’s not long and we have found him and then it’s all hands on deck and we are all getting back into our gear as quickly as possible and are in the water before you know it.
We swim along beside him (her actually) and you get pretty close to them and can duck dive down even closer. It’s a size as well, probably 3 or 4 metres across and it is amazing to see it gently flapping its wings.
As with the turtles they don’t mind or else they would be off and we all take it in turns to swim about with her and after a while another one comes along which is apparently a male (longer tail) and is probably hoping for some mating action! She is having none of it though and the male swims off.
After a spot of lunch it’s off tour third snorkelling site back over the reef and another chance to be amazed by the range of different corals and fish.
It all seems to be over far too quickly and we are motoring back to the shore before we know it, cold, tired and hungry but amazed at what we have seen today and money well spent.
Day 169
After a bit of a sleep in (tiring all this snorkelling) time for some more washing and this time not only is it free but the last person to use it has left their 3 dollars in the machine so we are actually getting paid for doing our washing now!
Head down and set up for a day on the beach and some more snorkelling. The coral is just as impressive and even though the wind gets up in the afternoon to near cyclone proportions (maybe) we have a lovely, relaxing day and even bump into some of our neighbours from Ned’s.
Day 170
Time to pack up and move on and a couple of hours drive south we leave the highway and head back to the coast to see the blowholes. This is where the sea forces itself up through holes in the rock and shoots up into the air. The wind certainly hasn’t died down and if anything is stronger than before and the coastline here is rugged and a bit scary and there is even a sign telling you that ‘king waves kill’ (certainly not getting the surfboard out here then).
Just around the corner however is the sheltered ‘blowholes beach’ and a (basic) campsite which resembles a deserted fishing village with lots of little rundown shacks (apparently privately owned as holiday homes). We pay our camping fees ($5.50) and park up right on the edge of the dunes before taking a stroll along the beach to Point Quobba and an area known as ‘the aquarium’.
I don the snorkel and mask and as soon as you are in you can see where it gets its name from. Hundreds of fish swim around in the rocks and the shore is littered with more clam shells than we have ever seen in one place.
Back at the van and whilst Carmen has a snooze I decide to take a stroll up the hill to have a look at the lighthouse. I say ‘stroll’ but by the time I am up there it has turned into more of a route march through the wind and soft sand.
It’s a pretty good lighthouse though and from this vantage point you can see miles along the coast and back down to the point we were at earlier.
Thankfully the return journey is much easier and we settle in for a windy night in the van (so windy that we end up sleeping with the pop top down!).
Day 171
A short drive away is the home of the ‘lunchbox banana’, Carnarvon. Something like (and don’t quote me here) 70% of the winter fresh fruit and vegetables in Western Australia come from this region and so we both thought that this might be the place to do a bit of casual work and earn ourselves a bit of pocket money. We have a good look around town only to find it’s not quite harvest time and there isn’t really any work available and in fact all of the notices we saw were people advertising that they were available for work. Cutting our losses (it was actually a relief as we are not quite ready for work yet) we do some shopping and head off towards the Shark bay world heritage and monkey Mia.
Not wanting to drive too far we decide to stop short of our next town and pull in for our fist station stay at Hamelin station for the night. For the European readers out there (I know there are one or two) a station is basically a big farm and this one is in fact half a million acres and is home to 60,000 head (plus the bodies) of sheep! Now I thought this was pretty big but apparently this is a small one and the neighbouring station is three times the size!
As if to prove it is a working station not long after we set up we hear the sound of pounding hooves and a herd of cows run past being mustered by rugged looking men on motorbikes.
The set up here is great though with a brand new amenities block and a full kitchen complete with pots, pans and cutlery (and an oven) at your disposal and we can’ t believe we haven’t stayed at one before (there have been plenty of opportunities). We make full use of the kitchen and cook a beautiful lamb curry for dinner and vow to stop by here again on our way back past.
Great pix again!
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