Category: Around Australia 2011

It’s about 20 metres north of the ‘5 knots’ sign and about 40 metres from the beach. The purple patch that is. Well it’s lavender actually, lavender coral and it’s the only place on the planet you will find it. It carpets the floor of this section of the lagoon at Coral Bay in a lovely purple colour with the occasional patch of green thrown in for good measure. Its also a bit unusual in that most of the coral here is naturally brown, the most efficient colour for hard corals to photosynthesize (apparently). The usual array of tropical fish make this the best bit of snorkeling at Coral Bay without venturing further afield to the outer reef anyway. Continue reading “Day 64-69 Coral Bay… The purple patch” →

I’ll just spin around and look behind me… because maybe if do I’ll catch that shark sneaking up on me and save myself from certain death! Nope nothing there. More snorkeling. Ok here he comes, quick spin around again. Nope nothing. Ooh an octopus, ooh a, a, a… What is that colorful fish, look there’s a big one, ooh that coral is bright, is that a stingray over there?

These are but a few of the thoughts that drift through my head as I drift over the world’s longest fringing reef at Ningaloo. We are in Cape Range National Park and I love it! I probably sound like I love everything on this trip, but as yet, this place takes the cake. I cannot get enough of the colours here. Turquoise Bay by name, turquoise bay by nature. The sand is white and the water shifts between different shades of blue from light to dark with huge breakers crashing against the reef on the seaward side of the lagoon. Continue reading “Day 57-63 Cape Range NP, Swimming with sharks!” →

Exmouth. Often I’ve noted its existence on the map. Never have I contemplated why it was there. Why would you, as Emma pointed out to me. So it was with interest that I was to learn that Exmouth exists with thanks to the US military who, back in the sixties, erected a dozen or so 300 plus meter tall towers used to transmit Very Low Frequency radio waves to their submarines around the world. Apparently, if Cara our glass bottom boat tour guide can be believed, the station is so powerful it can send a message around the entire globe and back to itself. Today the facility is shared by a number of different militaries, including some which to me did not seem natural allies. All well taken care of by the good people at the Defense Department I’m sure. Continue reading “Day 54-56 Exmouth” →