Wildlife Extravaganza in Western Australia ( 7/14 )

DAY 8 ~ Sunday

Having had enough of ‘civilization’ we headed up to Cape Range, where it was more wild and there were campsites that were au naturel! On the road to Exmouth we discovered that we had a sizeable chip in our windscreen and that the crack was spreading. So we thought we ought to stop in Exmouth and inform Maui, our rental company, and get it repaired if possible. Ian was not a happy bunny. He didn’t want to waste the day on it, we planned to do some snorkelling at Turquoise Bay.

After more miles and miles of scrub we eventually got to Exmouth and phoned Maui. But, we couldn’t get hold of the right people so we went to browse the tourist office across the street. To my utter amazement there were blackboards advertising boat trips to see the WHALE SHARKS! We were so lucky, we secured the last two places on the boat for the next day. We were soooooooo excited and couldn’t believe our luck, especially as we had given up hope of seeing them, (they come between March and early June) and it was by total accident that we’d stopped in there!

Eventually we got hold of Maui, but they were unconcerned and as there was nowhere to get the window fixed. We didn’t care either- we were so

elated about the trip the next day!

We managed to get a spot at Tulki Beach campsite, the nearest one to Turquoise Bay and not far from the boat ramp where we’d meet the cruise the next day. It was lovely, by the beach, nice and intimate, just a loo, but we didn’t care after the nightmare of Coral Bay! Deep sigh of relief and satisfaction.

Then we headed off to snorkel at the gorgeous and aptly named Turquoise Bay. Again, I was slightly nervous as the coral was a way out and

there was an incredibly strong current. It was hard work just to get across to the coral, then you drifted. But eventually we got the hang of it, went further up the beach and let the current drift us along. It was fantastic, we were so close to the coral and thus the fish, multicoloured parrotfish, flute fish, all kinds of things.

Eventually, we headed back in the gloaming to our cosy campsite, seeing lots of roos, fortunately, none of them kamikaze! We went down to the beach to watch yet another beautiful sunset. What made this one particularly extraordinary was that because we were by the reef, we could see the edge where the waves would pound against it.

Consequently, as the sun went down we actually saw a splash, as though the sun was hitting the water! Not missing our 50/60’s compilation at all and that evening I beat Ian soundly at backgammon!

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