Perth to Broome Safari Part 1
Day 1 - Perth to Kalbarri
We left Perth early on Saturday morning although not as early as we should have as the bus was 25 minutes late - so glad I got up early!!
Anyway I hopped on board and we headed North up to the Nambung National Park. We stopped to see the thousands of limestone pillars at The Pinnacles. It was a bit windy and the sand was blowing everywhere so we just stayed long enough to get a few photos.
After lunch at the township of Dongara we headed towards Kalbarri. We stopped off at a Colonial house in the process of being restored. We saw a snake lying in the sun outside and it slithered away into one of the rooms.
The area we were driving through could be very windy - check this tree out:
We arrived at out hostel for the night and cooked a stir fry on the BBQ hot plate.
Day 2 - Kalbarri to Monkey Mia
An early start saw us heading out into the Kalbarri National Park. We visited the Murchison River Gorge and explored The Loop, Natures Window and Z-Bend Gorge.
On the way to Monkey Mia we made a number of other stops. We went to see something called Stromatolites - Stromatolites are an example of the earliest record of life on earth. They just looked like rocks under the water but you could see the bubbles showing that they were producing oxygen.
We also stopped at Shell Beach - a beach which was covered in tiny shells instead of sand - there was a quarry there too where they made bricks using the shells.
We arrived at our hostel in Monkey Mia (via the Bottle Shop) and cooked a BBQ. The hostel was fantastic and was right on the edge of the beach.
That night Dan the guide took us all out to a naturally heated pool where we had a few beers.
Day 3 - Monkey Mia to Coral Bay
We were up early to try to catch a glimpse of the wild bottlenose dolphins that come into the shore to be fed. There was no sign of them for a while, but just as we were heading back for breakfast they appeared.
The place is a bit of a tourist trap and there was a big crowd by this point. You stand in a line in the water but the rangers keep you at a distance as the dolphins swim backwards and forwards. When it's time for them to be fed everyone has to get out of the water and the rangers pick out volunteers to step forwards and feed them. Apparently the dolphins are not fed very much so they still have to go out and find their own food.
We left Monkey Mia and headed to 'Ocean Park' eco tourism site where we got to see some of the sharks, fish and turtles close up.
We made a stop for lunch where we cooked burgers.
There was a lot of wild life to be seen while on the road (where we spent a lot of time!) and we spotted loads of Kangaroos, Emus (although no Rod Hull or Grotbags!), an Echidna (which we nearly ran over) and this little fella:
The Thorny Devil.
We arrived at another nice hostel in Coral bay where we had yet another burger!! After dinner we went to the beach for some beers we also met some new people joining our trip.
Day 4 - Coral Bay
Practically the whole group headed off on the Manta Ray Snorkelling Safari at the Ningaloo Reef.
We made a brief stop for a snorkel before heading out to see the Rays. They use a plane to spot the Rays which are massive and can easily be spotted from the sky. We were the first group in the water and we were really lucky as the Rays were swimming around a cleaning station (they get the bacteria cleaned from them by smaller fish) so they swam backwards and forwards right underneath us. They were really big - one of them had her tail missing - they look quite scary but are harmless to humans.
While on the boat we did a Melbourne Cup sweepstake - not all the numbers were drawn and the winner stayed in the bag!
Next we headed into another area along the reef to see the turtles. There were quite a few and it was funny watching them come to the surface for air then spot our boat, get a shock then dive back down.
Before lunch we made another snorkelling stop to try and see some turtles in the water. Although we didn't see any turtles up close there was a bit of panic when we started spotting sharks. I saw one of the Reef Sharks - luckily he wasn't hungry. We also saw some stingrays.
After lunch we sailed back to the beach.
There was a second panic of the day as the guide had lost the van keys and the trailer had a flat tyre. Luckily the keys were found at the boat office and he quickly changed the tyre and we headed off to Exmouth.
We passed another tour group on the road who had lost the wheel off their trailer and were all in the fields looking for it!! We stopped briefly to see if we could help.
We got to our hostel in Exmouth cooked dinner and had a few beers.
Day 5 - Coral Bay to Exmouth
For me day 5 was the best day of the trip. We drove out to Turquoise Bay a remote beach at the North end of Ningaloo Reef. It was an amazing spot to snorkel as you walk up the beach and swim out to the reef - there is a current flowing which you can use to drift along the reef taking you back to where you started - you had to swim quite hard to get back to the beach though or the rip could carry you out to sea. I spent nearly the whole day snorkelling.
We headed up to a lighthouse on the way back to the hostel to watch the sun set.
After dinner we went out to see if we could spot some turtles laying their eggs - I'd missed them in Costa Rica and had thought it was going to be the same again but the guide spotted turtle tracks up from the sea and soon found the turtle itself and we crouched down to watch her dig a hole and lay it's eggs - it's pretty incredible to think that turtles only come ashore to lay their eggs and they somehow come back to the spot where they were hatched to lay their own eggs. We watched the turtle head back to the sea. On the way back to the bus we saw another turtle digging.
We left Perth early on Saturday morning although not as early as we should have as the bus was 25 minutes late - so glad I got up early!!
Anyway I hopped on board and we headed North up to the Nambung National Park. We stopped to see the thousands of limestone pillars at The Pinnacles. It was a bit windy and the sand was blowing everywhere so we just stayed long enough to get a few photos.
After lunch at the township of Dongara we headed towards Kalbarri. We stopped off at a Colonial house in the process of being restored. We saw a snake lying in the sun outside and it slithered away into one of the rooms.
The area we were driving through could be very windy - check this tree out:
We arrived at out hostel for the night and cooked a stir fry on the BBQ hot plate.
Day 2 - Kalbarri to Monkey Mia
An early start saw us heading out into the Kalbarri National Park. We visited the Murchison River Gorge and explored The Loop, Natures Window and Z-Bend Gorge.
On the way to Monkey Mia we made a number of other stops. We went to see something called Stromatolites - Stromatolites are an example of the earliest record of life on earth. They just looked like rocks under the water but you could see the bubbles showing that they were producing oxygen.
We also stopped at Shell Beach - a beach which was covered in tiny shells instead of sand - there was a quarry there too where they made bricks using the shells.
We arrived at our hostel in Monkey Mia (via the Bottle Shop) and cooked a BBQ. The hostel was fantastic and was right on the edge of the beach.
That night Dan the guide took us all out to a naturally heated pool where we had a few beers.
Day 3 - Monkey Mia to Coral Bay
We were up early to try to catch a glimpse of the wild bottlenose dolphins that come into the shore to be fed. There was no sign of them for a while, but just as we were heading back for breakfast they appeared.
The place is a bit of a tourist trap and there was a big crowd by this point. You stand in a line in the water but the rangers keep you at a distance as the dolphins swim backwards and forwards. When it's time for them to be fed everyone has to get out of the water and the rangers pick out volunteers to step forwards and feed them. Apparently the dolphins are not fed very much so they still have to go out and find their own food.
We left Monkey Mia and headed to 'Ocean Park' eco tourism site where we got to see some of the sharks, fish and turtles close up.
We made a stop for lunch where we cooked burgers.
There was a lot of wild life to be seen while on the road (where we spent a lot of time!) and we spotted loads of Kangaroos, Emus (although no Rod Hull or Grotbags!), an Echidna (which we nearly ran over) and this little fella:
The Thorny Devil.
We arrived at another nice hostel in Coral bay where we had yet another burger!! After dinner we went to the beach for some beers we also met some new people joining our trip.
Day 4 - Coral Bay
Practically the whole group headed off on the Manta Ray Snorkelling Safari at the Ningaloo Reef.
We made a brief stop for a snorkel before heading out to see the Rays. They use a plane to spot the Rays which are massive and can easily be spotted from the sky. We were the first group in the water and we were really lucky as the Rays were swimming around a cleaning station (they get the bacteria cleaned from them by smaller fish) so they swam backwards and forwards right underneath us. They were really big - one of them had her tail missing - they look quite scary but are harmless to humans.
While on the boat we did a Melbourne Cup sweepstake - not all the numbers were drawn and the winner stayed in the bag!
Next we headed into another area along the reef to see the turtles. There were quite a few and it was funny watching them come to the surface for air then spot our boat, get a shock then dive back down.
Before lunch we made another snorkelling stop to try and see some turtles in the water. Although we didn't see any turtles up close there was a bit of panic when we started spotting sharks. I saw one of the Reef Sharks - luckily he wasn't hungry. We also saw some stingrays.
After lunch we sailed back to the beach.
There was a second panic of the day as the guide had lost the van keys and the trailer had a flat tyre. Luckily the keys were found at the boat office and he quickly changed the tyre and we headed off to Exmouth.
We passed another tour group on the road who had lost the wheel off their trailer and were all in the fields looking for it!! We stopped briefly to see if we could help.
We got to our hostel in Exmouth cooked dinner and had a few beers.
Day 5 - Coral Bay to Exmouth
For me day 5 was the best day of the trip. We drove out to Turquoise Bay a remote beach at the North end of Ningaloo Reef. It was an amazing spot to snorkel as you walk up the beach and swim out to the reef - there is a current flowing which you can use to drift along the reef taking you back to where you started - you had to swim quite hard to get back to the beach though or the rip could carry you out to sea. I spent nearly the whole day snorkelling.
We headed up to a lighthouse on the way back to the hostel to watch the sun set.
After dinner we went out to see if we could spot some turtles laying their eggs - I'd missed them in Costa Rica and had thought it was going to be the same again but the guide spotted turtle tracks up from the sea and soon found the turtle itself and we crouched down to watch her dig a hole and lay it's eggs - it's pretty incredible to think that turtles only come ashore to lay their eggs and they somehow come back to the spot where they were hatched to lay their own eggs. We watched the turtle head back to the sea. On the way back to the bus we saw another turtle digging.
posted by Phil at 9:13 AM
1 Comments:
The snorkelling sounds great and I am so jealous of the Manta's - hope there are some in Sydney! the thorny devil looks cool - you wouldn't want to squish that one!
Jen
xxxx
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