Day 43 Ningaloo Reef

Every day, we find ourselves living through a new high-point on this adventure. A new prettiest, or a most spectacular, or simply a new best. Today was no exception. We explored the northern end of Ningaloo Reef through Cape Range National Park and we marvelled at the sheer beauty of the place. Once again, we were amazed that we could find ourselves enjoying a spectacular natural wonderland in virtual seclusion, with only a handful of other travellers scattered around us.
As we entered the National Park, the gate attendant gave us a heap of information about the various bays and snorkelling areas. She saved as valuable time by telling us which sections are closed, and where the safest spots are for taking the boys for their first experience of reef snorkelling. We soon found ourselves in the parking area at Turquoise Bay. Such a beautiful spot! When standing on the beach and looking out to the sea, to the left is a section of coastline about 1km in length, where you get into the water with your mask, snorkel, and flippers, and you simply let the current drift you across the reef, until you gently wash onto the sand bank at the other end. We found ourselves walking back along the beach to our starting point, and jumping back in for another go, with each drift presenting a slightly different path, with different, yet equally superb fish and coral, but always landing safely on the sand. To the right is a fully protected and enclosed little bay, ideal for smaller children. The waters are crystal clear and warm and the bay is dotted with small coral outcrops presenting opportunities for small children to view the coral and fish while standing only waist deep in the water.
The coral here at Ningaloo isn’t as colourful or as spectacular as at the Great Barrier Reef but the fish are just as brightly coloured and as thick in the water. Making up for the lack of coral colour is the easy access, the lack of crowds, and the variety of sea life. Zach and I had a lengthy, close encounter with a sea turtle, and I took half an hour of underwater video during half a dozen drift-snorkels.
While we spent most of our time today in virtual isolation, we were over-run for a brief moment by a busload of European tourists. Most were pleased to frolic on the reef but a few spent their time just lying on the beach. Jacqui found two Pirates doing sit-ups on the beach interesting and thought the lady readers might also enjoy this small part of Europe in Australia.
Part of the appeal of this area is the timidity of the wild life. It was surprising how close we could get to the kangaroos and how relaxed they seemed with people around them. After 3-4 hours of snorkelling, we decided to explore some of the other little bays and found one in particular which we thought we’d come back to tomorrow, for an overnight stay. Osprey Bay looked magical with close access to the reef, safe swimming coves and small sandy beaches. It looked ideal but as we got later into the day, we decided to head for Coral Bay tomorrow. We’ve all had plenty of sun and a second full day of snorkelling on the back of today might not be the best thing for us.
After a great day that’s left us all exhausted, we walked across the road to a Pub for quiet dinner.
Cheers,
Jorg