Ningaloo

We should talk about a little secret they've been keeping from us in the West.

Equivalent in beauty to The Great Barrier Reef, but sitting meters from the shore in Cape Range National Park south of Exmouth, is the exceptional Ningaloo Reef. A stunning coral and ocean marine park that stretches a few hundred kilometres along the WA coast about a thousand clicks north of Perth.  Well it’s not that much of a secret, but I think Queensland’s has taken the lion's share of reef talk in recent years. Pretty sure the Ningaloo locals are okay with it though!

Its also one of a few locations in the world where Whale Sharks aggregate.. for reasons science has not been able to uncover. Animals 'aggregating' is a strange concept for me, associating the language with some component of data. Also that science knows so little about the behaviour and patterns of Whale Sharks seems odd. A solitary animal never observed mating or with offspring and no idea why they appear or migrate through this region. Come on Science, pick up your game!

We stayed at Osprey camp ground in a beautiful albeit windy location.

Osprey

Our journey to the Reef through a sandstorm. Felt like the end of the world! 

Lewis scored new flippers before arriving and picked up snorkelling in a flash, paddling off on his own whilst meant to be under the watchful eye of his parents. Ellie's experience was a little tougher trying to negotiate the adult snorkel, instead opting for her goggles (pink Kareem Abdul Jabbar no less) and taking breaths above water. She was happy to taxi along with me or drift solo in her Wahu floaty, going through the independence stage of development - "I can do it". Only a few weeks ago she saw her first large fish and tried to climb me like a tree in the water. Thankfully she's quickly adapted to the temperate waters teeming with wildlife.

 The amazing shores of Osprey!

Ellie catching a ride out to the reef

Kareem Abdul Jabbar knock-off goggles

Lewis' new gear

Ningaloo Reef

 Spotted ray

Sea Turtle from Finding Nemo

You have to swim with Whale Sharks when you visit Ningaloo, so following a short credit and background check, the bank was happy to release the small fee required to get on a tour ($!#$!). Next followed an exciting day of chasing them after being identified by spotter planes. We met these monsters in fairly dark and open ocean off the Reef. Filter feeders like whales, they’re quite harmless, and our boat was lucky enough to find and swim with 5 different Sharks, clocking up well over an hour in the water swimming alongside them. We were also fortunate enough to catch a mother and baby Dugong, Turtles, Mantas and a few pods of Dolphins. Highly recommend speaking to your bank and getting over here.

Whale Shark with me in background at front as a comparison of size

Not wanting to leave the reefy coast (but very much needing some relief from the persistent 20-30 knot wind), we backtracked down the coast to Coral Bay, on the southern end of the Ningaloo. Unbeknown to us, the small tourist town explodes with families during school holidays (derr!), and we were unprepared for scenes reminiscent of Merry Beach which resembled a refugee camp.

In the first instance, we were allocated a camp site in the middle of a group of 6 families, freshly checked in and icing their beer gearing up to party the week away. We politely requested a lesser, quieter site, that turned out to have an awesome family from Hamburg next door to it. The kids spoke German, so Lewis and Ellie had the opportunity to hone their language skills in anticipation of the European leg of the trip.

Next stop Karijini National Park..  

Late arvo beach time

Loving life!

Jump for joy

Dancing with the sun