Thursday 20th September 2018 - We're now at Coral Bay another beautiful location along the Ningaloo coastline. So what happened today?

We packed our snorkelling gear and then went in search of the best places to swim and drove to a place called:

Maud where you can either snorkel, fish from the beach or take a boat out from the ramp.

Then onto Five Finger Reef that on further investigation was only accessible via a single, soft sandy beach track and a 4WD. As always, up for the challenge we lowered our tyre pressures we set off along the sandy track.

As we drove, we came across some people bogged in the sand that we helped dig out before we could carry on to arrive at a stunning bay with turquoise clear water, white sand and coral - Breathtaking.

We parked up, put on our gear & went snorkelling among the coral reef where we saw a huge Stingray. Later we walked further around the bay where we saw a shoal of bait fish and a Blue Spotted Ray sunning itself at the edge of the warm clear water, where we met & spoke with a family from Karratha who had also helped to dig out the car earlier.

After our chat we decided to leave Five Finger Bay and try another place to snorkel. But guess what! We came across someone else who had gotten themselves bogged in the sandy track. So once again we and some others helped dig out the car before we go underway.

We finally arrived back at camp for some lunch before heading off to Skeleton Bay Sanctuary where you can view the Black-tipped Reef Sharks. You aren't permitted to snorkel with them but you can wade out so that they come within a few meters of you before they dart away. We saw about 30 sharks swimming back and forth across the bay.

We left the sanctuary and on our way back towards Coral Bay Beach and stopped and got into the warm clear water for a snorkel where we saw a small shoal of Parrot fish. This part of the beach was protected by large white sand dunes that led down to firm sand and low rocky flats into shallow clear water before dropping into the deep coral reef.

Next stop was Coral Bay itself to take our third snorkel for the day where we hoped to find the largest Brain Coral in the Southern Hemisphere. Fins back on we made our way out in search the large piece of coral and were amazed at the beauty below us. The reef flow was covered in large corals that looked like roses with their petals open. We eventually found the large Brain Coral that was a sight to see.

This part of the Ningaloo Coast at Coral Bay doesn't appear to have as many fish as Ningaloo but it definitely makes up for it with its different, beautiful and interesting corals.

On the way back to camp we saw a fishing charter filleting and distributing its catch of the day and boy what a catch. The fish just kept coming. The people who had been out certainly caught some fish.

After dinner we sat listening to some music & banter from our neighbouring campers who were youngsters on a tour before retiring to bed. Wow! What another fun packed day.

Friday 21st September 2018 - We did! Well not much today. We drove back to Five Finger Reef and spent the day on the beach.

Saturday 22nd September 2018 - Today is a driving day. We stopped at Carnarvan to look around the Growers Market and re-stock. We somehow ended up at the Carnarvan Hotel to watch the first half of the AFL West Coast Eagles Vs Melbourne match before setting off where we plan to stop for the night.

We stopped at Edaggee rest area & parked beside the heathland where our attention was drawn to a strange metallic sound. It reminded us of wind chimes, and then by chance we spied a bird sitting on top of a large bush and found that the sound was coming from the bird. The bird was a Chiming Wedgebill and proceeded to sing its unusual song all through the night.

We watched a lovely, big red sun set that illuminated the horizon. It's funny, but some of the best sunsets we've seen have been when we've been parked in a rest area.