Category: Western Australia

We were a little sad to leave Coral Bay, but there are so many more good places to visit. Next stop Carnarvon was especially good because we caught up with Grandpa Brucie and Irene and doubly exciting because they picked up a new camera for us and bought it over with them. No more spots in our photos!!

It was also good to temporarily return to suburban living as we parked our van in the backyard of Irene’s son Jason and his wife Kylie’s place. Amy and Oliver enjoyed playing with four year old Tommy and two year old Summer and all their toys. Greg enjoyed the access to a hose and ladder to wash the car and caravan while Amy and Oliver gave their bikes a going over as well. I got to cook a bit in a real kitchen – so much space! It was also nice to just talk with the other adults and find out about Carnarvon from the locals. Continue reading “Day 70-73 Carnarvon – “6 ft, 7 ft, 8 ft bunch”” →

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!” →