Blogs from Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 4

Wow! What a day! I had a poor night's sleep due to the excitement of diving with the whale sharks. They did not let me down. The morning started well, no need for the alarm I'm up showered and breakfast before getting dropped off at the dive shop around 7:30. Ironically I was the last one to arrive. After saying farewell to Sandy it was into the minibus and off to the dive boat. 16 paying divers (myself included) and 6 crew, which included a marine biologist as well as a professional underwater photographer. All crew had a minimum of instructor level diving credentials. After a 30 minute drive we were at the boat and loaded on. A 30 minute "test" dive to check the competency of all divers. All OK and we were back on ... read more

A game of 500 using "Komen rules" last night. Not sure who won as the rules kept changing along the way. This morning was a late start before heading out in both cars to Turquiose Bay and the various bays and inlets along the way in the Cape Range National Park. Some beautiful scenery andThea water gives a clear indication to where the name Turquoise Bay comes from. After doing some exploring on the land at the different lookouts and beaches we had a light lunch before heading into Oyster Stack bay. One of the premium snorkel bays along the coast. Debbie and Steve left us at this point whilst I got changed and went for a dive into the water.no sooner than the head is underwater and the colours and life seems to abound. I ... read more

We were able to sit outside last night without any wind for a change. Steve found a few new birds at the park who,he was happy so share his seat with. After finally having dinner last night after the long wait for fish and chips it was off to bed in the still quiet night. That was until around 1am when the wind once again picked up big time! The tent was flapping around and making lots of noise. Enough to keep us awake. Then at 6:30 it was time for me to get up to go looking for whale sharks. I got down to the dive centre and signed in. There was to be six of us on the tour. Into the mini bus we all climbed with our diving gear stowed away in the ... read more

The good news was that there was no rain overnight, the bad news it was pretty windy. We were all up fairly early and Steve and Debbie took off around 8:15 then 45 minutes later it was our turn to head off. The drive was fairly uneventful and once again we were looking to see what animals we could see as we drove along and Sandy also got back to her Kindle to continue reading her book. Our first stop was Minilya Roadhouse for a refuel for the car as well as a coffee and pie for myself and a toasted sandwich for Sandy. Back on the road again and the next stop would be Coral Bay. Potentially a pretty spot but looks more like an oversized caravan park. We didn't stay for too long before ... read more

Exmouth 15th May One of the newest towns in Australia, Exmouth was founded in 1967 as a support town for the Harold E Holt US Naval communications station, and a joint venture with Australia, which is the main source of local employment (spying?). As we drove into Exmouth for the first time, it was evident that it was new and growing and attracting ‘money’. The magnificent Novotel Ningaloo Resort based next to the marina and the new estate being built on a canal system is the first thing that greets you, and it is pretty impressive. With no wet season, the region has a dry climate with hot summers and mild winters, Exmouth has around 320 days of sunshine each year. We were here at the start of winter and experienced weather temps down to 33 ... read more