Exmouth

Coral Bay – Exmouth:  6 July [153 km]

We were up pretty early to get a good start for our drive to Exmouth:  it was a bit sad to leave such a lovely spot but we have other things to do, so we must move on.  One interesting feature of this leg is the enormous termite mounds. 

Not only are they tall but, in contrast to those elsewhere, they are round: the whole effect looks like a cluster of early Anglo-Saxon round houses.  The striking feature of coming into Exmouth is the sight of the enormous towers of the Harold E Holt Naval Communication Station.  This joint Australian-USA facility dates from the late 1960s and led to Exmouth becoming more of the town it is today.  As it only a short leg to Exmouth, we arrived in time for morning tea. 

After checking into 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive to confirm our arrangements for tomorrow, we drove to town beach – which is not all that spectacular, and to Bundegi Beach (How do you pronounce this one;  we’ll have to find out?  It is bun-dee-gee.) about 20 km to the north, where we had lunch looking out over the sparkling Exmouth Gulf.

Then it was off to Vlamingh Head Lighthouse – which is located on a prominent headland providing superb views over the northern part of North West Cape. 

Ningaloo Reef stretched off to the south and there were oil and gas rigs on the horizon and a line of beaches along the western side of the Cape.  We headed back into town, calling into Surfers Beach (pretty small surf if you really want to know) and the northern-most point of the Cape to see the rusting remains of the wreck of the SS Mildura just offshore.

Once we had booked in to our cabin, we did some shopping and then made sure we had all we needed for our sea trip tomorrow.  At this point, we are praying that conditions will be largely as they today as this would make for a great day.

Summary of our trip so far

We have been on the road for just over three weeks and we have survived very well!  We have spent a fair bit of time together in Chaunticleer and we have covered an amazingly varied countryside through the regions we have travelled to date.  Australia is such an enormous and varied country and it simply beckons one to see it in all its variety.  Our journey up the west coast of Western Australia has been fabulous:  many lovely small seaside towns, amazing coastline and wonderful seafood.  We had an excellent trip across the Nullarbor Plain, including whale watching at the Head of the Bight.  While it is hard to say that one experience is better than another, there is no doubt that Coral Bay is an absolutely delightful spot.  It is isolated, it is located in the midst of very uninviting scrub and yet it has superb beaches and an incredible location so close to Ningaloo Reef. 

Exmouth:  7 July

WHALE SHARK DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED – and what a day it turned out to be!!!  The start to our day was less that favourable, however, as it was raining.  Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time we were picked up soon after 7.00 am by the 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive bus and then it was off on a 30 minute drive to the Tantabiddi boat ramp on the west of the Cape.

Once on board our boat, we met our crew:  skipper Josh, photographer Meg (aka ‘Megapixel’), Alex, Nat and Todd.  They were an extremely friendly and knowledgeable group and they made our day so enjoyable. 

As the clouds disappeared, we all got our gear organised and we cruised inside Ningaloo Reef to a lovely spot where we snorkelled over a bombora:  there were multitudes of different coloured fish of all shapes and sizes.  Being inside the Reef meant that there was virtually no swell, so this enabled us to come to grips properly with snorkelling. 

With our spotter plane overhead, we soon heard that there were at least three whale sharks just outside the Reef and so we headed through the south passage and out into the swell of the Indian Ocean.  Our crew explained the carefully regulated approach to swimming with whale sharks as we neared where they were cruising.  A particular highlight of this time was the extra-ordinary puppet show by Alex and Todd in explaining the approach to swimming with whale sharks!

Once the boat was in the best location, we jumped into the water and put our heads down – and can you imagine immediately seeing a whale shark coming straight at you!  What a sight as it slowly slid past within a metre or two.  We swam around, following the instructions from the spotter plane, to keep the whale sharks in sight. 

The amazing thing was that the three whale sharks we were near kept swimming in circles and so we had continual brilliant views of these magnificent fish.  After a while, it was evident that there were more whale sharks near us as they seemed to be everywhere.  We were very close to the whale shark.

It was the most incredible experience to be in the ocean (the depth was about 40 metres where we were) and to be able to use your snorkel to view these creatures so clearly.  They kept right near the surface as they pursued krill and this made it easy for us to keep in touch with them.  (Question:  What does a whale shark eat?)  We continued to swim with them on and off for a couple of hours until we reached the limit of the time we could spend with them.  Tim also enjoyed sitting on the bow as we returned to our mooring.

While all this activity was going on, a large mob (is that the right word?) of humpback whales entered our vicinity.  As we enjoyed lunch, we stooged around watching six, eight, ten whales – it was hard to be accurate – playing near our boat.  As if the whale sharks were not enough, we now had humpback whales to continue our marine show.

 

There is a good view of the west side of the Cape Range in the background.

By this stage, we were nearing the end of our day.  What a truly fantastic day we had.  In particular for Kerryn and Tim, as we were really rank amateurs in snorkelling, the crew enabled us to gain an unbelievable experience:  Alex was marvellous as he literally took us by the hand to enable us to get such a close up sense of the whale sharks.  The extra-ordinary thing was that it almost seemed as if they couldn’t care less about us nor about the noise of the boat’s engine:  they simply swam around and we followed.  We repeat:  what a day!!!  Swimming with the whale sharks should be on everyone’s list:  age is no barrier. 

We cannot speak highly enough of the way in which 3 Islands managed our day.  Our crew was most professional, friendly, funny and helpful and all 20 of we marine tourists thoroughly enjoyed our day with them.  Well done, 3 Islands’ crew – and special thanks to Alex. 
Note:  The photos taken of the whale shark boat, inside the Reef and of people swimming with the whale sharks were taken by our fabulous 3 Island photographer, Meg Green.
Back in our cabin, we relaxed after one of the most fabulous and exhilarating days in our lives.

Exmouth:  8 – 10 July

Perhaps not surprisingly, the day after our whale shark trip was a bit of a let-down after the extra-ordinary experience of swimming with the whale sharks.  We walked to the 3 Islands’ office and met Brittney who had made all our bookings so many months ago.  We collected our DVD of our whale shark trip and then walked to the shopping centre to stock up on groceries.  We looked through the DVD later that morning and were absolutely delighted with the photos:  there were great photos of Kerryn and Tim very close to a whale shark and a stunning photo of Tim relaxing on the bow of the boat!

We drove out along Charles Knife Road (20 km south of Exmouth) into some superb gorge country in the Cape Range.  As we drove along quite narrow ridges, there were spectacular gorges on either side of the rough gravel road along with a marvellous panorama of the coast and Exmouth Gulf from the Naval Communications Station and Exmouth in the north to the Learmonth Air Force Base in the south was breathtaking. 

 

In the evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Whalers Restaurant.

The following day, in bright sunshine, we drove down the west coast of the Cape to do some snorkelling.  Our first stop was at Oyster Stacks (about 66 km from Exmouth).  The shore is very rocky and extreme care is needed to get into and out of the water – but the care is well rewarded.  We were dazzled by the array of fish and, this time, it was easier to see the different colours and types of corals.  All in all, this was a super spot for snorkelling over Ningaloo Reef – the number of people in the area demonstrated how popular this spot is.

After a couple of hours there, we drove to Turquoise Bay (about 63 km from Exmouth):  there was a breeze blowing by this time and, while the outlook was superb, it was not the best snorkelling conditions.  It took a bit of effort to get out to the reef and then the water was very choppy.  We had lunch and had another snorkel at the northern Turquoise Bay beach, where it was calmer, and then drove back to Exmouth.