This is a trip that's been in the planning (Susan not me) for months so I'm super excited!! Not that I really have any idea on the actual location and what we can do, other than swimming with the whale sharks!
My taxi driver is telling me no drinking at the airport (as I'm coughing my lungs out).....but.....surely one won't matter.....
After a super easy check in I'm set and ready for the lounge - I'm a good girl and listen to my taxi driver....only non alcoholic drinks for me :)
Even though the flight is 4.45 hours it feels like it's much longer, I'm ready to get off after 2!!
On landing it's a quick exit, stop at duty free - yes thanks with 20% off!! Now the fun begins waiting for my transfer. It's a chilly 16 degrees here; a major shock to the system to me.
Finally at 12.25am I crawl into bed....now for some serious shut eye as we are on the 4.30am shuttle back to the airport for our flight up to Exmouth. The things you do for your friends!
At the lovely hour of 4.10am (on Good Friday, April 18, 2014) I get a knock on my door to say we are leaving in 15 minutes (to the airport), I feel like I've been hit by a very big truck!!!!
We have a 5.30am flight to Exmouth; on arriving at the airport I'm amazed at how busy it is! There are at least 20 flights all before 6am, wholly molley this is one busy airport.
My eyes are literally closed the whole 2 hour journey - finally I sleep! We are met at the airport by someone from the hotel and after about thirty minutes arrive in the "town" of Exmouth. First stop is collecting the 2 rental cars. There will be 8 of us in total so it makes sense having two cars.
It's now around 8.30am and I feel like I've been up for hours and hours. A very strong coffee is needed! Following shortly behind breakfast. We decide to collect some supplies from the supermarket and head to our hotel.
Sharon very kindly cooked us breakfast :) I'm now ready to face the day.
Driving between the "town" and our hotel I'm amazed at how many dead kangaroos there are - so sad. Means we need to be bloody careful when driving, especially at night time as there isn't many lights around.
On leaving the hotel we are greeted with two mean looking emu's....thankfully we have the car to protect us.
Now time to go exploring, this time in the opposite direction from where we have come from. The heat is already out and kicking in full force. A major amount of sun screen will be needed.
We head off to Sandy Bay, about an hour’s drive away. Along the way spotted a kangaroo waiting to cross the road. Thankfully it waits until we pass before deciding to head back in the direction it came from.
Sandy Bay is absolutely picturesque - white sandy beaches with crystal blue warmish water. Heaven!!! We have a couple of hours here relaxing, I move from sea to sand sea to sand. What a way to spend a day.
We head up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset - an amazing site! As soon as the sun is down it's time to head down. We are all pretty had it (it’s hard work being on holiday!) so decide to head in for dinner earlier than originally planned. We were able to be seated straight away thank goodness as I was starving!!! It's really nice sitting outside and not sweating, I could easily get use to this dry heat.
After a delicious Italian dinner it's back to the hotel and basically straight to bed - lights out minutes after 9pm :) it's expected after being up since the lovely hour of 4am!!
Saturday (April 19) we wake early, not surprising given the early night. After a leisurely breakfast we head into the "town" to get some lunch things then head off to Turquoise Bay.
On arrival I'm amazed how busy it is - not a car park spare.....buggar. We end up following the other cars and park in a bus only section - perfect.
Turquoise Bay is a snorkel beach; we were told yesterday that the currents can be quite strong, by just looking at the sea it's very obvious. I decide not to snorkel and instead just hang out on the beach.
Colleen and I go into the sea and within seconds are washed down by a very large and super strong wave. Wow wee. Me be-hind got a good exfoliation!! Time to walk down the beach a bit too where it's calmer before getting in.
This beach is a lot busier than Sandy Bay where we were yesterday - not really my cup of tea.
We have a few hours relaxing, before the sand blowing everywhere gets to us, then it’s time to head back to home base.
I'm desperate to wash the salt off me so jump into the cold pool.....nice to be drinking chlorine rather than salt water.
Early evening we head into "town" for dinner, like last night we are earlier than our reservation and after a short wait we are in.
Another delicious meal (so nice being back in Australia!!) we head back to the hotel....having to stop as a kangaroo wanted to cross the road. A tad scary in the dark.
Easter Sunday (April 20, 2014) we are up early - today we are going swimming with the whale sharks, the reason we are all here!! I'm a tad nervous and this increases as the time goes on.
After getting onto a small speed boat (which makes a few trips between the land and the boat) we are all set and ready for our day. There are 20 of us in total on the boat, and are split into two groups.
The water is absolutely beautiful, crystal clear. So exciting to be going out for the day on a boat. I've remembered this time to take some motion sickness tablets before getting on the boat, better to be safe than sorry.
Our first stop is to snorkel around/through a reef, good practice for me before we head off to meet the main event for the day – the whale sharks.
The time has come to get back onto the boat, always an interesting experience, before we motor off towards the horizon, through the reef. Ooh dear it's a tad rough now.....time to focus my eyes on the land.
10am signals the start of whale shark spotting. Our boat is in a group with 4 other boats and they all share the same spotter plane. The wait begins.
After what seems like a short wait the race is on - we are the first boat to arrive. Group one (which all 8 of us are part of) are the first ones in the water, eeks alive the heart rate is racing.
We basically get in the water, someone from the boat yells to put our head down and the whale shark swims by us. Wow wow wow!!! What an amazing experience - and within seconds it's all over. The whale shark is just too fast for us and after heading down is off swimming.
We are fortunate to have 6 swims with the whale sharks - each one a different experience. One was slow enough that I could swim next to it, WOW.
After an amazing lunch (Ningerloo Blue Charters really looks after us!) it's time for another snorkel.
We are just about to start heading back to shore when another whale shark boat radios in to say they have come across approximately 100 false killer whales; the staff ask us if we want to go see. I'm beside myself with excitement and am thankfully everyone on the boat is more than happy to head off in that direction. This day just keeps getting better!!
We finally arrive in the spot (after spotting dolphins along the way) and the looking begins. I just can't explain how awesome this is when we spot the first false killer whale. I feel so very fortunate being here.
We cruise around the area following a few whales then spot a flying Spanish mackerel escape a mouth and start flying over the water, making 3 "dips" before disappearing. Wow!
What a way to end the day!!!
Throughout the day we saw dolphins, whale sharks (including a young 2-3 year old), octopus, flying Spanish mackerel, hundreds of different types of fish (including Nemo's cousins), Minky whale, stingray, turtles, and false killer whales.
I cannot say enough about the staff; all four are extremely passionate about what they do and not once weren’t helpful. Every time we saw a whale shark, or anything else for that matter, they were just as excited and happy as we were.
Can’t believe the day is over; would be awesome to do this day after day….only problem would be the decreasing bank balance!! After a semi quick turnaround at the hotel we head out for dinner.
Easter Monday (April 21, 2014) we are up early again. A quick breakfast, with coffee, is consumed before four of us hit the road for the 1.5 hour trip to Coral Bay to swim with the Manta Rays.
It immediately becomes apparent that the crew today are definitely nowhere near as good as yesterday; we really were spoilt yesterday!
Similar to yesterday after a briefing we head off for a snorkel first; it's a bit choppy which isn't too pleasant but I've now got the hang of snorkelling with a swell so head off.
The coral is amazing! It's just so peaceful cursing around under water taking is all in. The highlight was definitely watching a turtle swim down from the surface and park itself half under what looked like a rock. Brilliant.
After we are all back on-board it's off to the area where the Manta Ray's have been spotted previously. Like yesterday we have a plane spotting for us so it's not long before one is located. The 4 of us are in the second group today so have a wee bit longer to get ready before having to slide into the water. The first thing I notice is how murky the water is - definitely not the best for watching the Manta Ray's.
Within a few minutes one appears - wow. Even though it's big we are able to keep up with it and are fortunate enough to see it rolling over and over and over again. An amazing site. Then off it goes, as the visibility is poor it's not the easiest at times to spot it. A real shame but can't be helped.
The second time we get in the visibility seems better and we are able to swim with it for awhile. I have a mild panic when it starts to come up and straight towards me - eeks alive reversing with flippers on, and people around, is not easy!! Thankfully it moves away and we keep swimming with it.
After getting out of the water we spot a tiger shark so follow that for awhile. One of the crew informs me it was swimming quite near to us when we were in with the Manta Ray's.....glad I know that now and not when we were in the water.
After lunch we stop again to snorkel, the current is very strong so a decision is made to drift snorkel; meaning we just go along with the current. That didn't work out so well as after a few minutes when I come up for air I hear the captain telling us to swim away from the boat into the shallower water which means straight into the current. Here comes the workout! It did cross my mind that we may be doing this as there is a tiger shark close by.....I pick up the pace!! Unfortunately the coral and fish in the shallower waters aren't that great (and the visibility isn't that great either) they were so much better in the deep water. Time for me to get out.
I elect not to get in the water for the last snorkel, instead enjoy the views of the water from the top deck. The captain points out a Sea Cow (Dugong) in the water; we really have been so fortunate to see so many different animals / mammals throughout the past two days.
We get back to shore an hour later than planned, no problem with me as it meant we got to see a lot more. After filling up the car with petrol we have a quick look see around the town of Coral Bay. I'm very glad we aren't staying here - the caravan park seems over flowing and it doesn't look like there are many options for eating.
Throughout the day we saw Sheep, Cows, Dead kangaroos, Crows (eating the above dead animal), Sea Cows (Dugong), Turtles, Manta Rays, Sting Rays, Eagle Rays, Dolphins, Tiger Shark, Assorted reef fish and Emu's.
While it's been another good day this company definitely has nothing on the one from yesterday - shame we didn't do this first as the expectations wouldn't have been so high.
We get back to the hotel around 5.45pm, a very long but enjoyable day. Time to wash the salt off my body!!
For dinner we head into the town; service isn't the best but thankfully the food is tasty.
Tuesday morning after a wee sleep in and packing up I enjoy a leisurely breakfast. It's so nice not to be rushing off. After dropping off the rental car the hotel then drives us to the airport. I'm really not ready to leave - another couple of days here would have been perfect!
Ningerloo Reef was never a place I knew about until Susan suggested we come here for her birthday, now it's a place I'll never forget!
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