Roadtrip 2009 - Carnarvon, Coral Bay & Exmouth

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Day Four of our roadtrip was a long day as we drove further North to Coral Bay. We decided to break up the driving with a stop in Carnarvon which is a small town halfway between Denham and Coral Bay.

We took the tourist drive into Carnarvon which had us driving past orchards and banana groves as we wound our way into the town centre. We didn't spend much time in Carnarvon, just long enough to walk down to the shore which is also the mouth of the Gascoyne River and cross part of the old steam train tracks which used to run from the town out to the Jetty.

Back on the road we continued up to Coral Bay passing an unbelievable amount of road kill on the way. There were so many dead kangaroos, cows, sheep and goats that had obviously been hit by the passing roadtrains. I think it was the worst piece of road we had to drive on during the whole trip.

As soon as we arrived in Coral Bay I fell in love with the place. I had been told by a number of people how nice Coral Bay is, but I still don't think I was expecting it to be as beautiful as it was. Coral Bay is one of the best places to access the Ningaloo reef for snorkelling and diving. As we walked onto the beach you could instantly see where some of the coral reefs where in the shallower water. You could literally walk out to them. I don't think I have ever seen a bay with water so many varying shades of turqoise. We decided that we would spend the next day just chilling, not doing any driving, so we booked onto a glass bottom boat tour which included two chances to snorkel some of the reefs further out to sea.

In the morning as we made our way down to the beach to get on the boat the wind picked up and the clouds began to role in. I quickly realised that it was going to be freezing out on the boat, and probably not the best day to go snorkelling! Nether the less we boarded the boat and as we were sitting there ready to depart the first fish started to swim underneath us. It was brilliant. It wasn't long before we caught our first glimpse of the coral reefs, and although the coral in this area wasn't coloured it was still incredible.

After about half an hour on the boat and just as I was beginning to freeze, the skipper announced that it was time to get in the water. I hesitantly put on my fins and mask and waited for someone else to get into the water before me. Suprisingly, it was warmer in the the water than on the boat, although the tide was quite strong. Having only snorkelled once in a sheltered bay I found it quite difficult at first and after choking myself a few times I decided that I was safer clinging on to the mermaid line at the back of the boat and letting myself drift with the current. It was so good to be able to see the coral up close, but the thing I loved the most was how close the fish get to you. They swim right up alongside you and are not fazed at all. Plus there were so many of them, it was incredible.

Our time on the boat flew and before we knew it we were back on the shore. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun working on our tans (and warming up from the boat ride)!

For our second full day in Coral Bay we decided to drive up to Exmouth and visit Cape Range National Park. We had decided not to stay in Exmouth so that we could have a base for 3 days rather than continuosly moving around. I am so glad that we did this as not only did it give us a chance to relax rather than feeling that we were in constant motion, but we found that there was not really much to do in Exmouth unless you are a keen diver or snorkeller or have a four wheel drive to access the majority of the national park.

Exmouth is meant to be the best place to snorkell the Ningaloo reef as I think this is where you get all the colourful coral. However the current at Exmouth is much stronger than at Coral Bay and just from standing on the beach watching the waves I could see that you would need to be a strong swimmer and a confident diver to go out to the reef. Needless to say I didn't go into the water!

As Wallaby wasn't four wheel drive we stuck to the sealed roads in the National Park, which meant there were a lot of areas that we couldn't see. We did drive down to Yardie Creek though and did the short hike up the gorge for views of the river out to sea. We also managed to spot a rock wallaby during our walk.

On the way out of the park we drove up to a lighthouse high on a cliff overlooking the bay. I'm really glad we did this, as just as we arrived we spotted a whale just of the coast.

Although I was excited about moving onto our next destination the next day I was sad to be leaving Coral Bay as it is such a beautiful place. On our last night there the stars were so bright in the sky, probably the clearest I have ever seen. As we bedded down for the night we pulled back the shade on Wallaby's moon roof and lay gazing at the stars until we fell asleep. It was a perfect end to a peaceful, relaxed couple of days at Coral Bay.

Total Distance Travelled = 2132 kms

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Comments

[Amy Mason]

Hi, My husband and I traveled Australia for 18 months on our honeymoon! Coral bay and Exmouth were our two favourite places. The water is so crystal clear and the marine life amazing... The drift snorkeling was awesome at Turqoise Bay as you hop in at one end and slowly drift down the other enjoying the colourful fish and corals. Would love to go back and spend a couple of weeks there.