Sunday 31^st August

No luck with Manta ray sightings again this morning but we had a lovely snorkel before our final lunch on board. We saw a turtle and a blue spotted ray and Iain was the only one to see a shark but the water was calm and clear and the visibility good. I think we are at last getting the hang of using the fins!

We had a short two hour drive up the coast to Exmouth where we stay tonight – in converted officers quarters on a US Navy station of all places – now self catering units for holiday makers. Had our first self cooked barbi as well as good internet access so I can update the blog.

Saturday 30^th August

We had an early snorkel this morning at7.45am (as we had to get off with the tide) where we had our first shark sightings – white tipped reef sharks. One came circling quite close to me and I did wonder whether I should be worried or not! Iain saw turtles up close and a couple of octopi as well.

We then made passage through ‘Black Rock’ passage to the outer side of the reef where we had several good whale sightings before stopping to let Matt and Shane off to have a dive. There was quite a swell on and after lunch and the obligatory food coma we had another snorkel that didn’t last very long in my case. I must have caught some hair in my goggles as they leaked a bit and I couldn’t clear them, so I hailed the ‘snorkel taxi’ and came aboard. I didn’t miss much though as the choppiness meant visibility was poor.

We carried on southwards into Bateman Bay and went manta ray watching but without success, so we are trying that again tomorrow morning.

Friday 29^th August

Had an interesting shore trip this morning to a derelict whaling station that was active until the early 1950s (disposed of 4,000+ whales between 1913-1916 alone). It was very hot but I dipped my shirt in the sea at the start of the walk so I was okay; but it was still lovely to swim in the sea afterwards. We then went after lunch to snorkel off the wreck of the Finn and an old light house which was rather good. Saw dolphins, turtles and a large ray from the boat as we were travelling as well. After a while travelling we came to the ‘Green Mile’ where there is a large area of sea grasses where turtles tend to graze. We didn’t fancy putting on cold, wet wetsuits again but the others went for another snorkel. We saw plenty of turtles from the boat anyway. We continued on our way and made anchor near the ‘Falls’ again tonight ready for the morning’s snorkel.

Thursday 28^th August

Today we had a snorkel in the morning from the dinghy in a spot Gary told us is called Hole Mole where there are swim throughs (Iain and I didn’t attempt these!) and lots of brilliant snorkelling. I watched a ray burrowing into the sand, swam alongside a turtle and saw loads of different brightly coloured fish. After travelling for an hour or two further north and encountering several friendly pods of dolphins we had lunch and the compulsory ‘food coma’ followed by a walk up the sand dunes on the nearby empty shoreline. A very beautiful white sandy bay with a beautiful blue sea – a classic scene. Lots of different tracks were visible in the sand – snake, centipede and possibly fox or feral cat amongst others. We then took the dinghy a mile out to where the waves break over the reef and then pour over a natural shelf before funnelling through a shallow area of sand and coral.  This was a wonderful snorkelling spot – the best yet I think - for variety of fish and corals. Cath  and a couple of the others saw a large shark which was apparently not interested in eating them for dinner, thankfully!

Wednesday 27^th August

We are into our third day of our Ningaloo reef trip already, in a spacious catarmaran with six guests and three crew. There was quite a swell although it is much calmer today. We had a snorkel before the sun went down on our first day and Iain and I faced the challenge of the flippers. Having always snorkelled using breast stroke we now have to unlearn that and kick with our legs. It sounds easy but I am having some difficulty making much headway so I don’t think I have the knack yet. We had a snorkel twice yesterday so hopefully I’ll get a bit better. We saw loads of different fishes, a ray or two and some turtles. Cath our cook is preparing lovely meals for us and between the fresh air, the food and the snorkelling we are all in bed for 10pm! We had a new experience this evening when our ship mates introduced us to the Tim Tam explosion – sucking a hot drink through a chocolate biscuit until it all dissolves in a gooey mass – hopefully in your mouth!

Monday 25th August

An early 7.30am start today as it is a 6-7 hour drive to Coral Bay. The countryside got increasingly flat and sandy as we headed north and the greatest excitement was when I narrowly missed hitting a couple of emus! We arrived at our accommodation shortly after 3pm so we had ample time for a swim in the sea (nice and warm once you were in). Coral Bay has a long sandy shoreline and tomorrow we board a boat for 5 days to explore the Ningaloo Reef, so no more blogs until we get back.

Sunday 24^th August

Just 28Km to drive this morning across the peninsular to Monkey Mia, where we stay one night. This is in an ecologically protected area and visitors have to pay an entry fee. We have a beachside unit in the complex that, as well as various grades of units, also has caravan parking, restaurant, shop, laundry etc for a captive audience. Everyone comes here to see the Monkey Mia dolphins up close and, although some are fed a bit each morning, the rangers try to ensure little human contact so that they continue to hunt and remain in the wild.

We had a three hour boat trip this afternoon which was very pleasant although we only saw a few dolphins, a logger head sea turtle and a brown head and back which was a dugong although I never caught a good look at it with the binoculars.

Saturday 23^rd August

We had a four to five hour drive today up to Denham firstly through the Kalbarri national park and then on the main highway (NR1) with mile upon mile of empty road and huge vistas of scrub, with occasional farmed land or sheep. This is where cruise control really comes into its own - set at 108 Km/hr (110Km is the usual limit) and then one can sit back and just steer.

On the way we stopped at Hamelin (in the Shark bay area) and had a walk around part of the shore to see the stomatolites, which are apparently world famous here.

Denham was a smaller version of Kalbarri but we had a wonderful dinner of assorted fish, prawns, squid and crayfish in the most westerly restaurant in Australia which is built of blocks of compressed (naturally) shells called cochina. These blocks had been carved from a six foot deep seam of this material and looked rather like pale breeze blocks. Because of the airpockets contained within the cochina, it makes for a nice cool room when the weather is hot. Although this is their winter it is like the height of summer to us and very pleasant!

Friday 22nd August

Today we had an early start when we joined a trip to Kalbarri National Park to see the Gorges, Z-bend and Nature's Window - very spectacular scenery with sandstone cliffs together with a fossilized trail of an ancient extinct giant scorpion Eurypterid. Because there had been a rain shower the previous night the flowers were beginning to bloom – smoke bush, lamb’s tails and many pink, yellow and orange flowers that we were told the name of and then promptly forgot! It was then a relaxing afternoon, another superb fish dinner and an early night!

We are now into our third day although it seems a good deal longer! Our onward flight to Perth was uneventful and our passage through customs much quicker and easier than we anticipated. We picked up our hire car and after a bit of practice driving around to find the exit we eventually exited the airport and promptly got lost again! We righted ourselves after a while and enjoyed the almost empty roads and wide sweeping vistas of scrub and countryside. The problem is that when you take a wrong turning there are many kilometres before you see a road sign - so a two hour journey took twice as long and we arrived in Cervantes around 6pm. A lovely motel and the food was superb! By 8.30pm we crashed and had a reasonable night's sleep, interrupted only by the wind whistling in a nearby gunnel. Another wonderful meal at breakfast set us up for the day and the four plus hours driving to Kalbarri. Before this, however, we retraced our steps by 17 Km to go and see The Pinnacles. These were well worth the detour - a whole sandy plain in the midst of the scrub with a myriad of outcropping limestone pillars of varying shapes and sizes.

When we neared Kalbarri we diverted to see Shellhouse Grandstand and Natural Bridge on the coast which were worth a few photographs. It was also nice to stretch one's legs a bit!

Kalbarri is a small linear coastal town where the Murchison river opens into the Indian Ocean. We had an amazing good evening meal with scallops with salted cashews and garlic butter and pink snapper with mixed salad at the Black Rock Cafe. 

Sipping champagne at 10.30am on a Tuesday morning has got to be good! After several times thinking it might not happen and three to four years in the planning we are finally in our way. We were actually having a cup of coffee in bed this morning at 6.30am when the phone rang to tell us our transfer to the airport had arrived - I had thought they weren't due until 7.15am - so it was a quick shower and off to the airport asap. Our flight to Dubai was uneventful and we are now in the lounge and going to continue our journey in about an hour so I thought I would start my posts.