The Beautiful Ningaloo Reef

Hello again dear Blogsters... I have been out of touch for a few days as we were out of phone reception.


Now..... back to Monday... We got up and packed early and then went down the beach. We all walked around to the point and then the blokes had a bit of a snorkel and then headed back to where Mum was sitting. Nic, Bron and I snorkelled out and drifted along the reef, quite a way out from shore. It was wonderful! We were snorkling in about 5 metres of water and the reef was made up of corals of a range of beautiful shapes. There were fish of all sizes feeding in and around the reef and we enjoyed diving down to look more closely. We snorkelled for about an hour and then got out to dry off and begin our drive up to Exmouth.


We were quite sad to leave Coral Bay - it is such a beautiful, laid-back little town with very little development and a very relaxed feel.


We drove up the coast to Exmouth, where we stopped to do some shopping. We were planning to camp out in the Cape Range National Park, but when we got to the gate, we were told all camp-sites were full. We turned back and found the Yardie Homestead Caravan Park just a few kilometres out of the park. We booked in and headed over to the pool for a very refreshing swim. Lovely!


Bronwyn cooked our dinner - the most delicious seafood risotto - which had other caravan park residents commenting on the wonderful smell! Go Bronny!!!!!!


After a good night's sleep we set off to explore the Cape Range National Park. We drove along and stopped to have a look at the beautiful escarpment rising up beside us. We climbed all over the rocks and were amazed at the fossilised shells and coral obvious in the rocks of the range.

We drove on and had a look at the visitor centre - some really interesting information and displays and a wonderful library full of fascinating books, articles and magazines. We also stopped into the shop for a couple of souveneirs.

We drove on to Yardie Creek and Nic, John and I did a bit of rock scrambling to have a look at the glorious Yardie Creek Gorge. Absolutely stunning!

After this energetic little walk, we drove on to Sandy Beach for lunch. After lunch Nic, Bron and I went for a snorkel. No coral here, but some lovely kelp forests with a range of fish, crabs and shrimp feeding around the sandy floor and the kelp.

After this, we drove on to the magnificent Turquoise Bay. We arrived in good time as the tide was going out. We quickly got into our snorkels and flippers and headed out just a short distance onto the reef. And what a magnificent reef it was! Better than anything I have seen on the Great Barrier Reef. We were in really close to the shore, but were gliding over magnificent coral bommies which were just covered in fish of all colours and sizes. Bron found a wonderful big sea turtle feeding and we stayed to watch it for quite a while.

Dad came into the water and soon found a school of bait fish swarming around him seeking shelter. The bigger fish soon arrived and fed all around him - sometimes bumping into him in their eagerness to get at the little bait fish.

Dad and Uncle John both came in for a snorkel before Nic, Bron and I went for a final drift for the day. What a wonderful experience this was - the water was teeming with life and was quite warm (though the wind did cause a few shivers when we got out).

We went back to camp, had a shower and then it was my turn to cook dinner - Green Chicken Curry with lime cous cous - YUM!

This morning we woke and packed quickly as we knew we had a big day of driving in front of us. We headed off, stopping at Exmouth to post Bethanie's birthday present (she leaves next week for Europe). On the way we saw some huge termite nests - these dot the landscape here - looking a little like some ancient structures (a bit like stone henge at times).

We drove on through the Pilbara, enjoying the changing landscape and feeling the heat every time we stopped (it was about 38 degrees). We had to stop once to re-fuel Mum and Dad's car from the jerry can as it was quite a distance between fuel stations.
We stopped by a lovely river next to the Nanuturra Roadhouse for lunch. It was a quick lunch (giving thanks to Mi Goreng for their noodles) and, even though I REALLY wanted a swim in the river, we pressed on.We drove on past the Hammersley Ranges, the landscape was stunning! There were ranges of red hills, surrounded by spinifex, grasses and shrubs. What an ancient landscape this is.We finally pulled into Karratha at about 5.00 this evening. We are staying at a lovely caravan park and look forward to a good night's sleep after a long day.