Exmouth - A Tale of Two Reefs

Before we started our trip we bought a big map of Australia and let the boys start thinking about where they wanted to go and what they wanted to see. High on this list were crocodiles, theme parks at the Gold Coast, Kakadu and Timmy the Crab (but that is a story for another post). They also wanted to swim in two oceans and snorkel on two reefs. We had loved our visit to the Great Barrier Reef and now we were here in Exmouth and just off the shore was Ningaloo Reef – here you can walk into the water and snorkel the reef.  

Exmouth

Exmouth is a small town located on a peninsula still in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is so small that when you see two IGAs literally across a mall from each other it strikes you as most odd (there really aren’t many shops here). The other thing that returned was the friendly water park in town. This does make shopping easier – one parent with the kids, the other set free to roam the isles of the small IGAs in glorious peace and quiet.

The other thing that is totally unique about Ningaloo – the emus. They are all over this peninsula and luckily for us it was chick time. We saw many family groups wandering the surrounds of Exmouth and you could even find them on the main street.

The main attraction for Exmouth is of course Ningaloo which is on the opposite side of the peninsula and just off the many beaches there including the famous beaches of Cape Range National Park. We stayed at a caravan park just outside the park and had intended to camp. But this time the wind was incredibly strong and David just looked at me and said even if we could get a tent up we would never sleep as the noise would be deafening. Instead we stayed in comfort in a two bedroom chalet.

The other side of Cape Range National Park - Charles Knife Gorge

It turns out this wind blows a lot here and a side effect - there are absolutely no trees here. The only trees are the ones we have grown in and around the houses, shops, parks and caravan parks. The rest of the place is amazingly treeless. This makes the gorges around here rugged and sculptural. We took a picnic to Charles Knife Gorge which was different again to the many gorges we have seen on this trip, more like what we thought we might get in the USA.

 

Turquoise Water and White Beaches 

Cape Range National Park is renowned for its almost miraculous turquoise water and white sandy beaches. As they tell you turquoise bay has been voted no. 2 beach in Australia making photographing here very easy (actually it was hard to take a shot we didn’t like). We spent a fantastic day in Cape Range National Park beach hopping, snorkeling, swimming, surf kite watching and I have only one regret – we didn’t have more time here. Even with the wind howling over the water we could easily have stayed much longer.

Turquoise Bay

 

Sandy Bay

Ningaloo Reef 

The main attraction here is of course Ningaloo Reef. Our first interaction was on a snorkel and glass bottom boat cruise which we thoroughly enjoyed. Then of course we snorkeled the beaches of Cape Range National Park. We loved the ability to just walk metres into the water and snorkel a reef. Did I love Ningaloo – yes I did, but it is a subtropical reef. If I could chose only one reef in Australia to snorkel, it would be the Great Barrier Reef, for us the water clarity was better, the coral more colourful and overall we thought the Great Barrier Reef was a bit more special. But we love snorkeling coral and tropical fish and we would love to spend more time here.

 

 

Bat fish - these are much larger than they appear in a photo.

Coral Bay 

All too soon our four nights at Exmouth were over (oh for more time in this part of our trip!) and we were on our way south again. But we managed a lunch time stop at Coral Bay. This was another lovely white sandy beach, crystal clear turquoise water and coral metres from the shore. Coral Bay also had one of the yummiest bakeries we had come across on this trip making it very hard to choose the right thing to order when you were only there one time.

 

 

Mr C was overjoyed when he spotted this ray all by himself

We also had a surprise, there were birds flying in and out of the toilets, and right in the women’s toilet were the cutest baby birds. Whilst changing out of my swimmers I saw them being fed on a number of occasions.

The Sunset Clause

Do we get tired of watching the sunsets over the beaches on this side of the country – NO WAY. This was a beautiful sunset on our first night in Exmouth. At this rate we are thinking of making our own sunsets of Australia calendar, we have been so lucky to witness so many beautiful sunsets.