Exmouth - Part 1

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September 17th we got on the 7am bus from Broome to Exmouth. This was a long bus ride. Like I mean VERY long! We finally got to Exmouth at 4am on September 18th and had to stay at the bus stop until the hostel opened at 7am. It was chilly and we spent the three hours huddled together.

After the hostel opened, we were able to store our luggage and head over to a hotel, where we treated ourselves to a buffet breakfast. Yum! After checking in and taking a nap, we explored the town. Exmouth is very small and seemed almost deserted as it wasn’t the tourist season at this time.

The next day we explored some diving options. Exmouth is famous for its scuba diving as it is located right beside the Ningaloo Reef, a major reef on the west coast of Australia. After checking out our options, we headed to the beach. We saw some wallabies on our way!!

Sunday and Monday, after booking our diving tour (for Tuesday), we spent the rest of the time relaxing at the hostel, walking a bit around the town and chilling on the beach. There isn’t much to do in Exmouth, so we spent this time just hanging out. We did however meet up with some friends we had made on our Kakadu trip. Darragh (from Ireland), and Julie (from Quebec, Canada) had been traveling together and we’re coming northwards on the west coast after having flown to Perth from Darwin. Julie was soon flying to Melbourne next, and Darragh was planning on sticking around to take a diving course. It was great seeing familiar faces, and he also gave us some good advice when it came to diving.

Hillary (and Kevin)

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Photos

Port Hedland
We were hoping to stop here and see what a mining town looked like, but we weren't able to find a hostel. So the short break during the Greyhound ride was all we got.

Bus
We got to watch a few movies during the ride, like Madagascar 2 and Australia.

Karratha
This was another town we wanted to stop in, but this time the hostel was all booked up!

Info Centre
We arrived at the Info Centre at 4am! And not only that, but it was really cold!

Info Centre - 2
Since the hostel reception wasn't open yet, and we didn't want to walk over in the dark, we opted to sit tight until at least the sun was up.

Info Centre - 3
The sun was finally up in full swing by 7am, and we walked over to the hostel to chill out in the common areas.

Lounge
It's safe to assume that these kinds of bus trips definitely wear us out.

Potshot Hotel
The hostel was part hotel, part backpacker hostel.

Town
IGA seems to be pretty popular in the smaller towns of Australia.

Town - 2
There were some nice parks we checked out while exploring the town.

Time Capsule
The prime minister of Australia?! Must have been a big event.

Coast
Hill and I in search for the coast and water.

Coast - 2
The coast is protected with these really big sand dunes.

Golf
We found a golf course near the water, but it looked in pretty bad shape.

Wildlife
Kangaroo or wallaby? We weren't too sure, but it was cool to see them not too far from where we were walking.

Wildlife - 2
Hillary looking for the goana that I had just seen walked by across the pathway.

Coast - 3
We came to the coast again, this time in the middle of the day where it'd be a little warmer to lay on the beach.

Tide
With the tide pretty low, you get to see everything that usually remains hidden under the water.

Coast - 4
We even saw this guy with his dog and horse off for a little run.

Wildlife - 3
For the second night in a row we saw some wildlife as the sun set. This time we were pretty sure it was a wallaby.

Pool
The Ocean is great and all, but pools are awesome too.