Coral Coast, Western Australia
10,403 kilometers around Australia
From the Ningaloo Marine Reserve to Shark Bay World Heritage Park, BJ and I explored beaches that I thought only existed on honeymoon brochures. The water was the lightest shade of blue surrounded by a deeper turquoise set against a white sand beach and the encroaching outback desert. Unlike up north there are no crocs or stingers, so we got our “snork” on in a couple different places, once at Turquoise Bay and once in coral Bay, where we ended up camping for three nights. There were tons of fish but not the brilliant coral that we found near the Great Barrier Reef along the east coast. The highlight for us has been the larger sea creatures that we have spotted from the shore, like whales, dolphins and even sharks.
Monkey Mia, in the heart of Shark Bay, has been made popular by its daily dolphin feedings. It sounded pretty touristy but ended up being one of the coolest things we’ve done and we both got a chance to feed one of the dolphins. For those skeptics out there, they actually only feed five of the dolphins that come into the bay and they feed them a very small amount so they are forced to continue hunting and fending for themselves. A local resident started feeding a dolphin in 1965 and this dolphin taught its calf who taught its calf to return to the area for food. So they now only feed these five related dolphins and you can stand right there with them in the water.
Before leaving Shark Bay we stopped at eagle Bluff and finally saw the sharks that give the bay its name. The bluff looked down over a huge shallow bay where we must have spotted at least a hundred shards cruising the waters below. I’ve never seen so many sharks. According to a sign, the sharks that we were watching were of the “Nervous Shark” species. This is one place in the park that posted a large no swimming sign.
As we made our way further south the terrain changed drastically. Rolling hills, large trees, tons of greenery filled the landscape. Our first destination was Kalbarri National Park and before setting up camp for the night we watched the sun set over the Kalbarri River Gorge. We continued our tour of the park this morning along the Coastal Cliffs, an area that reminded me of Moab if it were located along a beautiful ocean. It didn’t take long to spot dolphins, whales and seal lions. But we finally encountered the notorious Australian flies. There is not much you can do to keep your sanity when the flies come and you almost feel violated when they leave. You have to talk out of the side of your mouth as they love crawling around in any facial orifice that they can get to. Although we had planned a second night in Kalbarri, the only way to escape the flies was to drive and we found ourselves suddenly on the way to our next destination. The flies literally drove us out of town.
We are now in the small town of Cervantes where we will hopefully be able to call home for two nights. We have a campsite right on the beach and after going out to a so-so crayfish dinner at the only cafe in town, we already seem to have plans to watch the Melbourne Cup, a huge annual horse race, at the local tavern tomorrow. The strangest thing about the area is that there are no waves. The ocean is completely still here as if we were on a giant salt water lake. We’re not sure if this is normal or not, but we’ll have to ask our new friends at the pub.
Click on the dolphin image below to take a look at our Coral Coast photo album (oh, and be sure to watch the Pelican Drinking Fountain video):
