West Coast Gold

So a month later I've gotten my act together and finished a blog. Through the Christmas period and New Years and all that in between I've really put this blog on the back bench. Sorry to my readers especially to my good friends and mostly my family for my slackness. Here we go again...

We’ve been told throughout this whole trip on how beautiful the west coast is and so far the descriptions from other travellers have certainly been true to their words. Turning off the highway leading to the coast ends with vast white sandy beaches lined with red roar cliffs then opposite, to the west is endless desert which randomly if you take the right roads results in amazing gorges in a little oasis. Karijini National Park was a place we’ve heard and seen in many photography stores that showed off how amazing the place is. Just heading out of Karratha our day was designated to travelling into the national park but as we were travelling the Abc news updated us that the national park had been closed due to a severe accident. At the main gorge a father had died attempting to rescue his son when he fell off the cliff track. It was a shock to us and with that the park had to be closed for a few days. This was a place we were definitely looking forward to but for respect of the family we left it at that and didn’t complain that we couldn’t go see it. It looks like we’ll just have to come back over to the most amazingly beautiful state in the country. Damn.

So with the change of plans we decided to drive straight into Exmouth on the coast known for neighbouring Ningaloo Marine National Park and the coral snorkelling right on the banks of the beach. We arrived into Exmouth with a lovely welcome from the local whales. Driving in we saw at least 5 or so whales just frolicking together just near the beach which was a nice introduction to this special peninsular. Driving into Exmouth we knew that we needed to get our hands onto some snorkelling gear which was an absolute necessity in the world heritage marine park where some of the best snorkelling in Australia is found. So with a little luck the local boating and fishing store were having a ½ price sale on everything. It was a quick “Dave pull over” moment. We scored some sweet branded stuff for cheap as. 

With that done we checked into our little campsite right on the beach with views of the coral and the reef breaks us a few metres away. This was our little paradise for a few days where we could fish, swim, snorkel, and relax which we needed on this holiday. The old saying: need a holiday after the holiday. 

Our favourite place was one of the more popular sites named Turquoise Bay. There was a steady current flowing through the whole coral site which made for ultimate relaxation just floating along. We saw a few reef sharks, swan with a turtle, tried to photo a blue ringed sting ray, followed thousands of schools of fish, and certainly saw the most amazing coral reefs. The photos don’t at all show what colour these were. There was no bleaching just colour; it all seemed very much alive.

We found this while we there...

More gear than ours

We were able to get very close to some local turtles on the beach. We heard of the touristy hub where you could go on guided tours during the night and see a few on the beach. The conditions were you had to stay 5m away, no flash photography and all that jazz. So we decided against it but found out from some other campers there was a more private location to see some turtles. So with this super doggy mud map, climbing over sand dunes, taking a left at the gate and a right near the old oil barrel we walked over the last sand dune to find a bay completely full of turtles.  It was one of the most amazing sites I’ve seen, even better when we rescued a turtle which had landed on its back from the incoming waves.

Fishing was good at times. We spent the whole day on the beach fishing finding nothing but one afternoon we hit the jackpot with schools of emperor and snapper.  This was the first only photo I took which showed one of the smaller fish we threw back. Dave caught them all that night which did make me wonder was I was doing wrong. He was so proud gloating all night but I brought him down a level when I asked him who caught that Barramundi in Kakadu.

Me in the background fishing

After a few days of pretty much awesomeness we moved on south to a little town called Coral bay. The town is basically dependant on the tourists; consisting of a few resorts, an IGA, and a lovely caravan park which has bookings years in advance because of its absolute waterfront sites. You may have heard about this town which has been in the news lately when a snorkelling guide got attacked by a 3 metre tiger shark. There was a popular bay known for its variety of reef, nurse, and tiger sharks which he got attacked in and where we logically stayed away from

thankfully.

Swimming and snorkelling in this bay did have its own uniqueness allowing us to see plenty of wandering sharks and the especially rare manta rays. I tried my hardest to take a photo but they obviously are amazing swimmers; me at full pelt with flippers on was like a walk in the park for the ray. Once it had enough it was gone just like that.

Dave swimming with snapper in the afternoon feeding session

Would recommend this region to anyone visiting; I’d say it in my top 5 places so far.