Advertisement
Published: December 30th 2010
As humpback whales migrated south we were getting further north, along the beautiful and remote West Coast of Australia. The sheer scale of the country tipping the kilometres into the thousands. With tourist brochures and notes from other travellers literally spilling out of the glove box we came to the highly recommended Quobba. The name, sounding like a teasing cricket toss, enticed us to play and we duly pitched up in the midday heat.
We had been reliably informed that camping by the beach would be free as the ranger had 'gone home' for the season. This refreshing occurrence was indeed true and we set about finding a spot to camp. The heat outside of our air conditioned Holden was stifling. A dry heat that was made worse by the amount of flies that pestered our every movement. We found one of the only places with shade and popped up our tent in the knowledge that we would not move for two days. There was no facilities at this deserted beach 70kms north of Canarvon, just sand and a clear blue sea with abundant coral and sea life. Having been unable to swim in the cold sea further south it
was here we had our first proper swim in the Indian Ocean. I snorkelled with large grouper and parrot fish as well as a turtle whilst enjoying the sanity that comes with having no flies on your face.
The pestering flies had driven us to put up our mosquito net under the shade. There is only so long one can remain calm before you are reduced to acting like a crazy homeless man shaking his head, mumbling "bloody....grrr...get off". We spent the rest of our time reading under the mozzy net and snorkelling with the fish. In the evening we would venture out from under our net to cook dinner, play the didgeridoo and star gaze.
Quobba was also nearby the 'blowholes', a natural water spray created over thousands of years. We walked down to witness this beautiful feat one morning as the sun shone, as always.
It was then on to Coral Bay further up the coast. With the radio on in the car for the journey we were reminded several times that it was Melbourne Cup day. A race, similar to the Grand National in England, that captures the imagination and wallets of the Australian
public. The state of Victoria even get the day off work and the whole country seems to come to a standstill. Not that the West Coast could be more still.
We turned up at the magnificent white beaches of Coral Bay and sat in awe of it's beauty. No English speaking country should posses beaches like this. Those are for far away places like Sumatra or Sulawesi. But here it was before our eyes, the beach to ourselves apart from the wives who had been left sat on the towels of their gambling husbands.
The sea was a brilliant aqua colour that simply lured us from the beach. Wading in the shallow shores we saw a large stingray by our feet. It was here Han turned around and I continued for a snorkel. Back on the sand we walked along the curved shore towards Skeleton Bay. Han spotted something in the water that looked like a manta ray so I got my snorkel and mask on pronto and entered the water. At first the manta moved away but soon I was able to snorkel with it in full, glorious view. It was timeless moments that I spent snorkelling
with this most graceful creature. It looked like batman and swam like an eagle would fly. I was so glad when Han plucked up the courage to come and join me to share in this special moment. I had always wanted to swim with a manta and, although a small baby one, it was breathtakingly impressive.
After the manta ray had glided off into the distance we continued on to the shark nursery at Skeleton Bay. Not sure what to expect or where to find this reef shark nursery we waded though the water from one spit of sand to the next, unaware we were in their zone. The sheltered waters of the bay provide a safe ground for baby sharks and soon we could see up to fifty in the shallow sea. For once I was not going to snorkel with the sharks as it is a preserved area and rightly so.
What an afternoon it had been. Coral Bay was immensely beautiful above and below sea level. We were now by the Ningaloo Reef and looked forward to plenty more snorkelling to come as we headed to Exmouth. We had a shower out by the beach
and watched the sunset with the slightly drunk Melbourne cuppers' before driving to a road stop to sleep.
We had seen Coral Bay in a day and that felt about right. It had been a fabulous day, so good in fact that we deciding leaving was better than staying. Manta rays, stingrays and schools of sharks had satisfied us enough to move on from this serene paradise and start finding the next one.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 14; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0433s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
The flies
Your story made me laugh because of all the flies. We were shocked and amazed how many there were and how annoying they were. Thanks for the memory.