Ningaloo Reef - Monkey Mia

After our adventures in the Pilbara, it was time to head back to the coast. We had high hopes for the Ningaloo Reef – after hearing so much about it, it was the destination we were most looking forward to on our trip. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint!

We set up for a week’s stay at the Lighthouse Caravan Park, which was conveniently situated halfway between the town of Exmouth, and Cape Range National Park, where all the beautiful beaches, such as Turquoise Bay are found. We had arrived during school holidays, so the park was rather ‘cozy’ – we had the misfortune of being slotted between a crying baby on one side and a chronic snorer on the other (he was in a camper trailer, and could be heard from the other side of the park!).  We also ran into our first patch of less than perfect weather (admittedly, not bad for 10 weeks on the road) –  incessant wind that stayed around 25 -30 knots for the whole week, which made snorkeling much harder work than it is generally known to be!

On the up side, we reunited with the “Ping-Pong Poms” – the lovely Stanley family from Perth who we first met at the bottom of a Gorge at Karijini. We had such fun getting to know them and we are looking forward to seeing them again when we get to Perth. We also had the chance to catch up with our intermittent travelling companions the Wheatleys, who we first met in week 1 of our trip, and whom we always enjoy spending time with.

Exploring Sandy Bay with the Wheatleys

The other up side was, of course, the exquisite Ningaloo Reef. The colour of the water is defies description – it is so intensely blue/turquoise/aqua. We spent our days exploring the endless coves, bays and beaches, swimming, walking and snorkeling. The kids managed very well – even Georgie gave it a go, with me or John pulling her around on a noodle. James is an absolute natural in the water – declaring it his natural habitat. He has always been fascinated by the underwater world, and his enthusiasm and excitement was wonderful to see. The coral was not particularly colourful, but the formations were spectacular, as was the variety of marine life. We saw turtles, octopus, stingrays, eels, a wobbigong, dolphins, whales, countless species of fish, and even a dugong! Ningaloo Reef is famed as the best place in the world to see and swim with whale sharks, but unfortunately we were there out of season (we were aiming instead for “windy season”) – we are realizing it is impossible to time every aspect of a six month trip to perfection. We were also excited to see our first wild emus, and some “proper” kangaroos (as opposed to the smaller rock wallabies) bounding alongside the car. A lot of our excitement was based on the fact that we hadn’t wasted the few thousand spent on the car’s bull bar – our insurance against a “roo strike”. That said – we still haven’t hit one!

A family of emus



Humpback Whales



 

Happiness is...



Happiness is...



Our next stop was a couple of hundred kms south of Exmouth – the town of Coral Bay.  I say town, but I don’t think it qualifies as it is made up of only 2 caravan parks and a row of shops. Luckily for Coral Bay, its remote location is probably the only thing saving from becoming a tourist seaside mecca. It was absolute heaven. We scored a spot in the “ocean front” section of the park, overlooking the beautiful protected bay, under a tree, surrounded by grass. The caravan park trifecta! We have done a “Cape Leveque” and extended our stay from 3 nights to 6. What a privilege – to be experiencing such freedom. To find somewhere perfect and stay a while. We are not taking it for granted – every night we go to bed and thank the powers that be for the opportunity to live this life, if only for a little while.

Our campsite at Coral Bay

Our activities here have been much the same, with a bit more “sitting on the beach” thrown in for good measure, due to much friendlier weather. Georgie was reunited with her special friend Jasmine (a friendship formed so many weeks ago in Alice Springs) for one night, before we bid her and her family a fond farewell, with plans to visit them when we pass through Melbourne. We also had the pleasure of meeting up with another family from Melbourne whom we met at Cape Leveque - Chris, Trish, Grace, and Ivy Brewer, and friends of theirs, the Eisners, and their three gorgeous girls. They are terrific company and we have so enjoyed having the opportunity to spend more time with them. In fact, we have decided that that is one of the aspects of our trip that we are enjoying the most – meeting and re-meeting the many families who are following the same path as us. Much as we all love each other, it is nice to have people outside the family to talk to on occasion!! The kids certainly are happier and more harmonious when they have other playmates. I think they will probably remember the friends they made far longer than the sights they have seen. Tom especially has great talent in this area – he mixes easily with anyone and is never happier than when having fun with new friends.

Georgie and Jasmine feeding the fish, Coral Bay





Some local urchins

Georgie, Pepper, Ivy. The pink posse.

Seems we're not the only ones to find room for a dress up!

I’m sure the boys would add that another highlight for them was taking a lesson in scuba diving in the swimming pool. They absolutely loved it and picked it up easily – unfortunately they have to wait until they are 14 before they can go in open water, but they will certainly be ready when the time comes, as we hope to do a few more lessons along the way.

James



Tom



We also enjoyed a snorkeling cruise on a catamaran, where the kids had an exhilarating time “boom-netting” behind the boat, and a glorious day at Five Fingers Reef, where we had the beach all to ourselves.









Snorkeling Cruise



Five Fingers Reef, Coral Bay

 





The other incident worth reporting was the appearance of “Red Man”. A “random” guy dressed in an all over red lycra bodysuit (including face) who occasionally turns up on the beach. Apparently there is an emerging craze called “morphing” whereby people get about in these suits, presumably in order to make a liberatingly anonymous spectacle of themselves – a goal easily achieved on the beach at Coral Bay! Very curious indeed.



Red Man. Taken with the underwater camera - hence bad photo!

Day to day van life is on the whole happy and comfortable. The kids have their moments of getting on each other’s nerves (and consequently, ours) but most times tension is relieved with a walk or time to one’s self. After starting out with a recipe book of “gourmet meals for campers” our diet seems to consist of cereal, sandwiches and BBQs. We seem to be happy with that. We have not watched TV for 10 weeks, but do enjoy the occasional DVD night, sometimes just us, sometimes with up to 10 children flopped in layers on the bed. The home schooling is a bit of a disaster. Some weeks we are very conscientious, and others we do nothing more than read. Such as Coral Bay. Looking at the photos, though, I’m sure you understand. Sorry Mrs Hopwood! We will try and do better. Mostly we wake up with butterflies of excitement at the prospect of a new day filled with new adventures.

UPDATE:

I didn't get the chance last week to finish this post, so we are now at Geraldton, after a wonderful few days in Monkey Mia. We were there again with our friends from Coral Bay, which certainly enhanced our enjoyment! The highlight was of course, the beautiful dolphins, which come in to the shallows up to three times a day for feeding. What began as a very casual and unregulated practice, (therefore becoming an inevitable problem, with the dolphins unable to fend for themselves), is now highly managed, with a maximum of five female dolphins restricted  to a single fish no more than three times a day (the dolphins decide if and when they want to make an appearance).  The crowd at the first morning session was large – over 200 or so, so we knew our chances of being chosen were slim. However, the Jedi mind tricks must have worked, as low and behold, James was singled out from the crowd!  That plus his sweet earnest face, his mother pushing him forward, and the bright purple t-shirt reading PICK ME AND NO ONE GETS HURT!  Needless to say, he was so excited, and now even further committed to a future as a marine biologist (/actor/aviator/historian/farmer/Edwardian gentleman).

We are heading off tomorrow for Perth, via the Pinnacles. It is raining today for the first time since we left and we are feeling slightly melancholy  at the prospect of heading south. We have so enjoyed our weeks of endless sunny days and balmy nights, never having to wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow – sunscreen and swimming bag always at the ready. We have also surprised ourselves by the fact that we seem to be “outback” people. Even boat boy John! We loved its rugged wild beauty, its untouched emptiness, and the countless adventures that we shared. That’s the problem with having such incredible experiences at the outset – surely it can only go “south” from here? Let’s hope not!

Monkey Mia

The locals

New friend Pepper's 4th birthday party.

We did a lot of this at Monkey Mia.

PS. I've finally resolved my torturously slow internet problems by buying a Telstra wi-fi thingy. Hence the number of photos! Can download in a fraction of the time. Yay!!

PPS. If you'll remember from John's post (wasn't it great?) we bought a new camera in Port Hedland. Canon Eos 60D. BRILLIANT.