ningaloo reef v barrier reef?

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One of the sights that we are now getting used to is the various road kill that litters the highway. The majority is probably done by the roadtrains as, when they are thundering down they don’t really have time to stop when animals such as a kangaroo, joey sheep wallaby or dingo (the list goes on) go running or jumping out in front. It still turns my stomach thinking about all the dead animals we saw by the side of the road, some very fresh indeed!
Canarvon is the only point on Australia’s coastline where the central desert reaches out to the sea. There are numerous plantations here, all growing a variety of produce, most notably bananas for export, as well as avocadoes, tomatoes, courgettes and mangoes. Canarvon supplies 70% of western Australia winter vegetable requirements, producing over 30,000tonnes of fruit and veg every year from 176 plantations. We wander around a farmers market, sampling the local produce as we go, especially the chocolate dipped mango ice lollies. Deciding to stop for lunch we happen upon a lovely cafe called River Gums cafe which is like a country garden cafe. The garden has a multitude of brightly coloured flowers and is a haven of wildlife. The cafe is set right on the River Gascoyne’s bank which is completely dried up at the moment. However the owner showed us photos of the river when the weather has been bad and the river has completely flooded the cafe (the last time being back in 1995) As we head back in to town we pass the OTC dish which dominates the skyline. Its a huge communication satellite dish which was opened in1966. After assisting in tracking Haleys Comet in 1987 the station closed and now just stands a s a reminder of days gone by. We take a spin out to One Mile Jetty but are slightly disappointed that after taking the tram to the end of the pier there is actually nothing there, except a few fishermen. Being slightly behind schedule now we head out of Canarvon and end up doing our first bit of night driving...not recommended at all. We get to our rest stop but its so dark that we can’t see the entrance and end up down a disused dirt track full of ruts (a sense of déjà vue perhaps) Finally we negotiate our way out of the track and into the Lyndon River rest area.

Our next stop is Coral Bay, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn and the southern part of the Ningaloo Marine Park .The reef of the marine park forms a natural lagoon running 80km in length for 3-7km offshore, starting about 300mfrom the beach. The water is crystal clear, lovely and warm and its where we do some snorkelling and swimming during the day whilst watching the fishermen bring ashore their catch each evening. This part of the Ningaloo reef is a protected marine sanctuary so no fishing is allowed close to shore here. Therefore, when we snorkel close to shore we see amazingly huge snapper fish as well as numerous other brightly coloured fish. We also take the opportunity to go out in a glass bottomed boat to view some of the hard corals a bit further off shore. I know people go on about the Great Barrier Reef but surely it can’t be any better than this - it is just so idyllic here!!

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