Hey everyone, we're in Coral Bay which is on the Ningaloo reef in the NW of Western Oz. And oh boy have we had an exciting few weeks! I've been mountainboarding in the bushland, then we went to see the crazy Pinnacles in a desert. Up to a bay called Monkey Mia, where we met the very friendly resident dolphins, who 3 times a day came right into the shore to our feet to splash about and be fed fish! There were about 7 bottlenose dolphins each time, some with young ones following. Then on a catamaran sailing yacht we saw a leopard shark, more dolphins and dugongs! They are like manitees, i.e. sea cows. Very funny looking, and also very rare. So, up to Coral Bay and we have stayed here for a week as it is so pretty and relaxing. We can swim less than 50 metres from the shore right onto the coral reef, where we have snorkeled everyday with hundreds of different tropical fish, and even a turtle. A few days ago we went a boat tour and found about 15 giant manta rays to swim with! They are amazing creatures (and totally harmless to anything bigger than plankton) and we coulnd't believe how close we could swim down to them. After that we saw more turtles from the boat, then went for another snorkel with some reef sharks! They were swimming around a 'cleaning station' where they go to have their teeth cleaned by very small (and very brave) fish. The sharks were only about 1-1.5 metres long, but a little scary all the same! We have had some great nights here too and met lots of friendly ozzies to drink with. Tonight its my birthday, so we're going out for a meal and a few beers with some live music. There's no more snorkeling for the time being as we are catching the edges of a very windy cyclone at the moment! Still, very hot though. Tomorrow we leave here and start to head north east and inland to Karajini National Park. Well, hope you're all well and check out the new photos. We'll put some more up with the dolphins and such like asap. Take it easy... we certainly are! Love Ian and Clare.