Unlike the East Coast of Australia I'm just going to do one big clump blog for the West Coast. This is not because the West Coast is any less deserving, it's mainly because we followed a similar pattern in each destination; drive, arrive, swim and drink. It's amazing though how this never becomes dull and I have come to heavily admire the life of a beach bum, however swollen their livers may be.
Our West Coast adventure started by meeting Jenn and Cal in Perth where we stayed for a couple of nights to pick up our camper vans and to watch an Australia Football League match. For those of you who are not familiar with AFL, get familiar! It is possibly the only team sport I can bring myself to watch. I'm not going to get in to any detail as to why you should watch it, figure that our for yourself.
After Perth we began our epic journey and headed North up the coast. Our first stop was the Pinnacles. The Pinnacles, for those of you who don't know, are a variety of rock formations that span for a good few kilometres. This may sound pretty boring but they are actually quite interesting and it's good to get out and have a wander around them all, admiring their different shapes and sizes. This was also to be our first encounter of one of the most annoying species on our trip, flies. It's hard for me to describe how many flies there were without sounding melodramatic so all I will say is this; I felt like one of those orphans you see on TV with flies all over their face. This may sound a little bit harsh and yes I had food and access to clean water but I have found a new sympathy for these children and will be donating to oxfam as soon as I get home.
Ignoring the flies, which was pretty much impossible. Oh Jenn actually sneezed one out that's how bad it was. But yes ignoring the flies, next we headed towards Kalbarri National Park which in a nutshell had lots of pretty stunning views of the coastline. The sea really is beautiful in Australia and it's almost like every coast you go to beats the one before. Which seems rather impossible at the time. After Kalbarri we headed up towards Shark Bay and Monkey Mia where we got to see some pretty antisocial dolphins, grown men getting picked to feed to the before said dolphins and yet again more awesome scenery. I loved Monkey Mia as it had an awesome campsite right on the beach so you could basically roll out of your van and in to the sea. You can't ask for much more than that can you?
Next on our trip was Coral Bay where we arrived just in time for sunset and WOW what a sunset. Because we had been on the East for so long we hadn't seen a sunset on the beach (as the sun rises from the sea on the east) so it was a pretty awesome sight to behold. We spent a couple days chilling here and basking in the water where we saw a large sting ray and that's about all. On our last night we drank in the sunset by having a BBQ right on the beach which was pretty special to say the least.
After Coral Bay it was time to head to Exmouth which was to be as far as we were going to go on this trip. Exmouth is famous for it's whale shark diving and swimming tours. As soon as you drive in to the town this is made apparent with whale shark statues and drawings for as far as the eye can see. This isn't the prettiest wee town but it caters for what it's main demand is – diving tourism. We had a couple of days to wait before our whale shark charter so we spent a day or two chilling at the pool and snorkelling Ningaloo Reef from Turquoise Bay. Remember what I said about the beaches getting better and better? Well Turquoise Bay pretty much took the biscuit. This has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes upon. When you lie on the beach and stare out at the crazily turquoise coloured water your eyes struggle to soak it all in, it's almost too perfect to compute. The snorkelling here is unbelievable, within a couple of minutes paddling you come across the most beautiful, vivid and lively corals just buzzing with sea life. We all saw some pretty amazing fish and it was pretty surreal having them swim around us so calmly. You can only hope that Ningaloo doesn't reach the same fate as the great barrier as that would be a great shame and loss but going by the amount of dead coral washed up and the amount of uneducated snorkelers getting completely unrestricted access to this natural paradise I fear it won't be long before tourism and humans take their toll on this delicate ecosystem.
After much lounging, turning in to prunes from excess water exposure and a few bad cases of sunburn it was finally time for our whale shark charter. Myself, Ryan and Jenn were beyond excited about this and getting up at 6am seemed less daunting than it should when we had the thought of a whale shark pressed on our minds. Whale Sharks are sharks, not whales, and are the biggest fish on the planet. They are pretty elusive and we don't know much about them but we do know the congregate in certain areas at certain times of the year, usually coinciding with coral spawning as they feed of this. Ningaloo, luckily for us, is one of the places in the world where whale sharks are regularly spotted and we had pretty much been promised a sighting of one of these amazing creatures. After a wee briefing and reef snorkel our charter boat set sail full speed ahead to go on the hunt for some whale sharks. The water around Ningaloo is so clear and sitting on the boat alone we saw giant turtles, spinner dolphins, black tip reef sharks and a bronze whaler shark. The latter of which is not the most comforting sight when you're about to jump in the water with ten other people and splash around. After half an hour or so our captain had caught word of a whale shark spotting and before we knew it we were in the water swimming along side on of these awesome creatures. They are MASSIVE, very beautiful and faster than they seem! We got to snorkel twice with three different sharks and each time was just as amazing as the first. If you ever get the chance to swim or dive with these sharks you really have to grab it because it will be one of the best things you ever do.
Whale Sharks were the highlight of our tour and the marking of the end being close. We packed up our things and headed back to Perth where we stayed a few more nights, ate some amazing food and got the opportunity to join a 6am beach walk and swim with my mum's friend Helen. The West Coast and Perth are pretty cool indeed. There's something for everybody and so much to explore! We were gutted not to make it down to Margaret River so that's a must for next time. Now it was time for us to hit up Melbourne and visit many friends and family for some very good times!
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