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Published: April 25th 2007
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Today we woke up bright and early to head to Coral Bay, a small town along the coast of the Ningaloo Reef. Athena and I were the only certified divers on the trip, and we were looking forward to a day of first snorkelling with Manta Rays, then doing a reef dive.
We pulled into Coral Bay before 8AM and Kim took Athena and I into the dive shop. When we got there, however, bad news awaited us. Extreme wind warnings were in effect, and no boats were going out onto the reef today.
Can I just say this - DON’T GO TO CORAL REEFS WITH ME!! I BRING BAD LUCK!!! And I’d also like to point out (and this relates to the ‘6’ thing from yesterday) that it was only Athena and I who were supposed to be diving.
Utterly, utterly disappointed, Athena and I got back onto the buck and told everyone what had happened. We then went with everyone else to sign up for a snorkelling trip. This one didn’t go very far off the coast, so the wind warnings wouldn’t affect it. We then all headed to the beach. I was told the
More coral
So pretty...if only they had COLOUR coral reef began just a little ways off the shore, so I grabbed my snorkel gear (which I’d purchased in Cairns and which have been put to good use) and swam out to have a look. I got to see some fishies, and took some good pictures on my underwater disposable camera.
At 10 we all headed to our snorkel cruise. There we learned that coral spawning, an event which happens only once a year, had happened just the night before. The water was therefore filled with literally coral sperm and eggs, and would be murky. So the colours were a lot less magnificent than they would normally be.
Allow me to repeat - I BRING BAD LUCK TO CORAL REEFS!!!
But we were taken to a couple of good snorkelling sites and I got to see some cool stuff and get some good pics. And it was a glassbottom boat, so we could even see the coral while going between sites.
We had lunch on a grassy area near the water, and then had the whole afternoon to spend doing whatever we wanted. We went swimming and I visited the Coral Reef one more time,
wishing I could go deeper…
Coral Bay was very busy, since it was Easter Holidays for all the schoolchildren, and the North of WA is a popular tourist destination for the people of Perth. In the past, Murdoch groups had stayed right in Coral Bay, but apparently they had been too rowdy and weren’t allowed to stay there anymore. Kim pointed out that we were definitely quiet enough to stay in the city, but alas, that opportunity had been taken away from us by those before us. It didn’t matter, our sheep station was very nice.
We headed back there in the evening for one more night of luxury. Everyone HAD to have a shower upon our return, because that coral sperm left quite a disgusting residue in our hair and on our skin.
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