Australia

---

After some serious debating we decided to spend another night in the area so that we could go on the turtle tour in the evening. The tour was based at a place near the national park entrance about 40km from where our current campsite was based. I didn’t like the idea of driving back that distance through an area of countryside that was full of nocturnal animals so we decided to move to a campsite called Lighthouse Bay as it was only a few minutes drive from the turtle beach.

We spent the morning trying to find somewhere with internet access as we really needed to spend some time researching accommodation in Thailand. Unfortunately everywhere in the town centre that the Visitors Centre said had wifi, didn’t actually have it. We gave up and went to a little restaurant called Whalers and splashed out on lunch.

It felt lovely being able to relax and enjoy our food without having to rush off anywhere. Our only plan for the afternoon was a drive to Bundeghi, one of the capes popular beaches. The weather was dry and hot, so we knew we wouldn’t last long on the beach, so we enjoyed sitting in the shade and munching our way through the homemade meal.

After we’d eaten as much as we could, we left Exmouth town behind and headed up the cape to the beach. There were only a few cars in the car park, and when we walked over the brow of the hill to the beach I was gob smacked to see less then ten people on the sand. It was a Saturday afternoon in summer and it was almost empty.

I took in the long expanse of white sand, with the lapping clear blue lagoon. There was no shade, apart from a thin sliver underneath a small pier. The locals had brought their own - one group had expertly attached a tarpaulin to the pier side and another had a large beach tent. We saw a few boats moored in the shallow water, one of them was a coral viewer boat used for trips, but given that there were few tourists in the area it wasn’t running today.

We couldn’t wait to dump our bags and get into the water. It was freezing so I got in slowly, whereas Matt just dived in headfirst with a splosh. I had a bit of a swim and then just lay in the edge of the water enjoying the feeling of the waves washing over me.

After a while I got out to take some pictures, then after a brief lay I got back into the lagoon and floated, swam and then floated some more. I could have stayed there all day - I really didn’t feel like I was burning as I kept applying factor 30 all the time and the water was keeping me nice and cool.

Today helped us to decide that this was our favourite place in Australia so far. It felt like a tropical island and had so much beautiful scenery and wildlife. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how amazing it would be to live somewhere like this, although it has downsides - it is so remote with Perth being over a thousand km away and it is prone to cyclones.

Eventually Matt pointed out that we really should go and check into the campsite and I reluctantly agreed.

Lighthouse Bay campsite was quiet. Apparently during the winter months it gets packed out with greying nomads - the mass of retired people out here who spend their free time driving around the country, usually in large converted buses. Today, as it was high summer, you could count the campers on one hand and most of the cabins were closed up. We’re told that it gets too hot for tourists in summer (and it’s peak cyclone season!) so people tend to avoid it until winter when it is much milder than much of the rest of the country.

As Matt hooked us up to the electric he heard all of the birds nearby going crazy. He grabbed his camera and went to explore - there was a long lizard over 1m in length crawling under the bushes.

I went for a shower to wash off the days sand in the surprisingly clean toilet block (usually the more rustic sites have more creepie crawlies!) As I was getting dressed I heard a noise that sounded like a didgeridoo. I listened to it, wondering who was playing in the middle of nowhere. I started thinking that it actually sounded more like a bee. As slathered on some mango body butter I smiled at the thought of it being an insect that sounded like a didgeridoo as I was currently covoering myself in sweet scented moisturiser. At that exact moment I got the shock of my life - it really was an insect - a massive wasp/hornet type thing and it was heading straight for me! I didn’t care that I hadn’t put my t-shirt on yet, I grabbed all of my things and jumped out of it’s way through the door in my bra and shorts. There was a gap over the top of the shower doors and it followed me, giving me just enough time to pull my t-shirt on and make my escape.

The sun was getting low and it was time to go to the turtle centre for our guided tour. It was still really hot and even though the sun was low, it was still powerful. We had been advised to wear long trousers and bring a jumper. Even though it didn’t feel like we’d need to be that wrapped up we did as we were told.

At the information centre, we gathered under the awning that was shaped like a turtle, along with about forty other people. The sun was still only part of the way down, so we tried our best to find a shady spot.

The staff from the Dept of Environment and Conservation welcomed us. This was only the third trip they’d run this season so we were lucky to have arrived at the right time of year. During their talks we learnt lots of facts about them…
There are three different turtles living in the lagoon; Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill. When turtles are born they go off into the ocean and vanish for their ‘lost years’ where no-one really knows what they get up to. Twenty years or so later they come back to the area they were born to mate, and they crawl up onto the sand in the dark to lay their eggs. Everything has to be just right - from the texture of the sand, to the temperature, otherwise they’ll get back in the water and leave.

Turtles drink the sea water and excrete the salt through their eyes like tears. They need to come to the surface to breathe and spend about 3 - 6 % of their time on the surface. They are one of the oldest surviving creatures having been around for 160 million years. Humans are their biggest threat - they get caught up in nets, get turned into soup, are killed for their shells and get mushed up by boat propellers. Not a nice way to go.

After a presentation telling us about the turtles and the egg laying process, when the sky had turned a deep shade of lilac and a few stars had started to twinkle, we split into three small groups and set off to different points along the beach. A moon was just starting to peep over the horizon at the opposite side to where the sun had just dipped. Both spots were bathed in a pinky orange colour making it look like two sunsets. Exmouth is one of the rare places that you can see both the sun set and moon rise at the same time and the fact that it was a full moon tonight made it all the more special.

We had to walk slowly along the tide line and be prepared to stop, rock and drop - ie stop in our tracks, be as still as possible and drop as low as possible. If a turtle started coming up the beach near to us we couldn’t allow her to see us as it would put her off laying and she’d go back into the water. When we’d walked a little way along the sand, we sat down in a huddle to wait, chatting to our guide about turtles and travelling (she was from NZ and had fallen in love with Exmouth while travelling so decided to stay).

A large group of backpackers from a local hostel turned up on a ‘guided’ turtle viewing tour but they were going against the DEC viewing guidelines so they were politely asked to leave. Too many people on the beach risked upsetting the turtles.

After waiting at least an hour, one of our group spotted a turtle coming out of the water about 10m away. We stayed quiet as it slowly braved the waves and emerged onto the sand. It was big - almost 1m in length - and it moved desperately slowly. Once it crawled a little way up the beach it turned and started walking parallel to the water away from us. We all waited patiently as it blended into the darkness and eventually stopped. Our guide didn’t think it was in the right spot to lay but crawled up to the sand dunes to see if she could get along side it to get a better look. While she was away someone in our group spotted another glint in the waters edge on the opposite side of us - it was the moon shining on a turtles shell. This one moved much faster up the beach.

When our guide came back she told us that the first turtle had stopped but she didn’t think it was laying. We sent her to have a look at the other one but again that one wasn’t laying either. Shortly after that one decided to turn around and shuffled back to the lagoon.

It was getting late and we knew we were only allowed on the beach until 11pm (this was to give the turtles some space). Our guide was eager to show us something so she crawled back on her stomach over to the first turtle. All we could see was a tiny red light bobbing up and down in the distance as she got closer and closer to it. A couple of minutes later she sprinted back over to us with a smile on her face. It was laying and we could all come and look as at this stage in the laying process the turtle was in a trance so wasn’t aware of her surroundings.

We all trailed up the beach in the darkness and under the beam of our guides red torch we were able to see the turtle dropped ping pong ball sized eggs into a sandy hole. Our guide told us that unfortunately she hadn’t dug a deep enough chamber for them so it was unlikely they’d survive. She explained this may be because she was tired and had already laid other batches earlier in the season so just wanted to get them out. A german guy on the tour asked her if we could dig a deeper hole to help her out but he was told that the group wasn’t allowed to interfere with nature. We stood watching her for a while until it was time to leave the beach.

We left pleased that we’d seen some turtles, but sad that it wasn’t a successful lay for the poor old tired turtle.

On the couple of minute drive back to our campsite we spotted a few kangaroos lurking in the bushes but luckily none decided to jump in front of us.

---