Coral Bay 12/8/08

Coral Bay Car Kilometres: 170,333

Distance Travelled: 575km

Total Distance Travelled: 2082km

We were on the road for 10am, but this was slightly later than planned as we were both kept awake by a noisy German couple in a camper just behind us. Obviously they weren't experienced in the sound insulation of tents and were talking and shouting to each other across the camp site. Inside a van (as most people were), it would have been barely noticeable but for us in our tent it was like being in the same room. It got slightly worse before it got better as they retired to the van and did do a little 'loud exercise' before finally shutting up. Luckily for us he wasn't a stamina man!!!

Anyway, this time we are in the Coral Coast and are heading for Coral Bay (can you see a theme), but before we got to Coral Bay we stopped for Lunch in Carnarvon. Unfortunately Carnarvon over here does not have a large impressive Middle Ages Castle like the one in Wales. What it does have is a 20 metre fibreglass banana advertising the plantation tours and luckily for us, petrol and a fully stocked Woolworths.

Apart from driving over the Tropic of Capricorn, the journey consisted of many many miles of scrub bush land, the Olympics on the radio and Jemma continuing to knit a scarf for me for when we get to New Zealand (in theory this will keep her awake more on the long journeys...I will let you know how that one works out).We arrived in Coral bay and checked into our (as advised) pre booked camp site to find that the owners had decided that people, well tourists, much preferred to live in close harmony with all around. By that I do mean that even our medium size tent and car were a little too large for the plot. This meant that the only way we could get it all on was by having the tent right up to the line and guy ropes as short as possible. We just about made it fit but we both got the impression that the family next door were not pleased by our close proximity. I thought that this was more to do with the fact that the kitchen was now about 20 steps round us rather than straight across and the guy didn't look like he liked any additional exercise other than lifting the beer glass. The normal setup process was made a little bit more interesting by the random woman who came over and asked us if we knew how to set our tent up. By now we had set up a number of times, and explained (very patiently) that although she admitted not having a clue on how to set her own tent up, we were getting to know how our own tent worked.

The next morning I got up and found the supermarket, (well, small shop) and found myself a pint of milk. I also managed to bump into the girls we had now seen in Kalbarri and Monkey Mia. They were just about to head off to Exmouth so I said hi and left them to their coffees and headed back to the tent. After breakfast we had a walk down the one road of the town and got to the beach. As we came out of the path and onto the actual sand we were greeted by a view of crystal clear turquoise water, white sand and as you got closer to the sea you could pick out the fish swimming just off the shoreline. We paddled in and the sea stayed at knee height until about 50m from the shore. By this time we were pretty much surrounded by the fish all swimming past us. They pretty much ignored us unless we moved towards them. That is the confidence you must get being a fish in a no fishing area. The contrast from the white sand and the turquoise sea gently fading to a really strong blue was fantastic. It was postcard stuff and to top it all off there were probably about 15 people around.

We decided that as we were in Coral Bay, on the Coral Coast and all that, that we should at least go and see some of the coral. We booked on the Sub Sea Explorer, without really knowing a lot about what it actually was, for later in the afternoon and while Jemma checked her emails I decided that I was going to try a spot of snorkelling later so bought a snorkel mask etc. I don't generally just buy equipment like this but I think we were both just so amazed at the closeness and size of the fish and I just wanted a second look and to be in the water with them. Unfortunately that would have to wait as we only had time to drop stuff back before it was time to be Sub Sea Explorers.

The Sub Sea Explorer is actually a boat with a lower bit and windows in the middle of the hull which meant you could sit down below water level and see the coral. It was only an hour's trip but we got to see so much in that time. Initially it was like sitting looking at the largest aquarium in the world as even before leaving the mooring there were loads of fish swimming past. As we got further out we went over the coral seeing the rock like formations of the hard coral and at least 20 or so different types of fish. As the coral was hard coral it wasn't like the bright soft coral that everyone has seen on TV, we will apparently have to wait for the barrier reef for that, but the formations and the amount and different fish still made it amazing to see. There were around 30 different types of coral from the more solid mass types like the brain coral (yes.. it looked like a brain) and the cabbage coral (yes.. you guessed it), to the wider flat corals and pointy ones with blue tips called the antler coral (yes !!. they're very descriptive people these coral namers). There was a guide on the boat describing the different types of coral and the different fish. I am not sure where she was from but we both think she was from the Lancashire area but she was definitely northern UK. So, the accent combined with the references to 'Allo Allo' resulted in most of it going over the heads of most of the passengers.

So, after seeing all the fish from the boat it was my turn to 'swim with the fishies' and I waded into the sea all decked out in my new gear... When I had swallowed about a pint of nice salty water and realised that I was breathing like I had just finished a marathon and needed to relax, I started to enjoy it. As this was my first ever go it didn't go far out but I enjoyed getting close to the fish as they came to see what I was up to! I did have a moment when they seemed a little too interested and a little too close, after all these were not goldfish size fish swimming up to me, but I eventually realised that as I was walking back on to the sand I was disturbing sediment and that was what they were after. After realising this, I was less concerned about the 30 odd pairs of fish eyes all about half a metre away. Even so, I decided that that was a good enough 1st snorkelling experience and headed back onto dry land and Jemma.

To finish our time in Coral Bay we watched the sunset together (very romantic) and had 2 minute noodles for tea (not so romantic).Exmouth here we come.