Ningaloo Reef Marine Park

Leaving the hustle and bustle of Tom Price we headed towards the coast and the blue waters of Ningaloo Reef. After having a few issues with Trev overheating a little and the fact that we had 650kms to travel we proceeded with caution.....not too fast and without A/C.

A few hours in an all seemed to be running well so the decision was made to add the Air Con in to the mix, it was only 43 degrees out side a howling hot wind was coming from the centre (of the earth). Good plan but again things struggled and the A/C belt was slipping. We soldiered on with the thought of cool ocean breezes to keep us going.
There were a few minor incidents with grasshoppers flying in the window, something that Cindy took exception to and the road atlas will never be the same again.
After arriving in Exmouth, only to find that it was hotter here than it was at Tom Price......work that out. We headed straight for the Information Centre, amazing this one was open, have tried about half a dozen since Christmas and this is the first that was open. Based on the great weather and the fact that we had spent 7 hours in the car at 40+ degree heat we booked a hotel for the night.......with air con. After securing a 12 noon check out there seemed to be just enough time in the morning to fit in a half day fishing charter......while Cindy slept in the cool. Booked a charter with Ningaloo Pearls Fishing Charters for 6.30am.

The weather in the morning was a little rougher than the previous day but not too bad all the same. There were only 5 on the charter, myself and 4 others from Grafton of all places. Anyway things got a little rough a few hours in and soon a couple had circum to the conditions. The fish were still biting so we kept at it, in total 28 keepers were landed and a good mixed bag of Spangled Emperor, Black Snapper, Chinaman Cod and a couple of whopping Coral Trout. Tom managed to catch more than his share, 6 Spangled Emperor, 5 Black Snapper, 7 Chinamen Cod and about half a dozen smaller ones.....no Coral Trout which was a shame. Anyway great day was had and managed to get a few feeds of fish, gave the rest away...must really get a bigger freezer.

Returning back to the motel, where it was found that Cindy had made the executive decision that we should stay another night in the cool......good move as it was still too hot to do too much. Later that evening we headed up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset and have a couple of quiet ones and some cheese.

The next morning (not too early, about 11.30) we headed off to see the National Park that borders Ningaloo Reef Marine Park, was very spectacular, stopping in at a couple of the turtle nesting beaches as well as Turquoise Bay.

A very popular snorkeling spot were you can drift over the coral with the current, as we did not have any gear and couldn't be bothered driving back to the Visitor Centre we opted for a swim instead.....This is where Cindy managed to conquer one of her fears of fish, seems she is happy to eat them but not keen to be in the water with them.

Anyway, whilst we were swimming around they just come from everywhere, mainly queenfish but then a massive school of mullet and whiting.....shame you can't fish there, it could have been fun. Slightly refreshed we jumped back in Trev and headed for our next destination, Coral Bay, about 150kms from Exmouth but still on the reef.
What a fantastic place, water is crystal clear and scenery breathtaking....the reef is only just a short distance from the shore. After booking in to the caravan park and securing a nice grassy site, we made camp and even put up the newly acquired shade tarp (Thanks M & D).

Although the weather was not as hot as it had been in Exmouth we headed off to the beach for a quick swim before heading to the lookout ( for the sunset) and pub for a beer. The water was slightly cooler than the weather and extremely salty but nice all the same. Not long in to our swim Cindy's recently conquered fear of fish was back, she claims it bit her but there was no blood.....we actually were surrounded but heaps of rather large emperor (of some sort), needless to say swim was quickly abandoned and we headed for the lookout followed by the pub where we managed to see the Australian cricket team lose again....
From Coral Bay, the journey continued south next stop Monkey Mia.
Based on the recent issues with Trev we decided that a quick checkup with the local radiator guy could be worth while, anyway we are now staying the night in Carnavon and Trev gets a new radiator in the morning.
As we were not proceeding any further the rest of the arvo was spent exploring the sights of Carnavon, out to the 1 Mile Jetty, port and local watering hole.....not too much to report but we have had a chance to get some supplies as well as get the local Auto Electrician to rewire the fan for the A/C, runs like a dream now.

All should be back on track soon