The photos from the 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive

I've finally looked at the DVD from 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive and selected a few shots. This was truly a fantastic day.

This shark was about 7 metres:

Sandra and one of the four sharks she swam with:

A whale shark up close:

Passengers and guides on the 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive:

I can't speak highly enough of this company. They went out of their way to make sure everyone got to swim alongside a whale shark.

Sounds like flaming ...

We picked up a hire car today to drive round Exmouth and nearby beaches and to catch the sunset again at Vlamingh Head (I had no idea how to pronounce this until I heard someone say it - rhymes with flaming).

Town Beach was virtually deserted - the beaches are better in the National Park on the Ocean side of North West Cape:

The path up to see the wreck of the Mildura and the wreck itself:

Not many people out this way:

Vlamingh Head Lightstation in daylight:

A different perspective of yet another beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean:

We spend most of tomorrow flying back home via Perth, but check back in a few days and hopefully I'll have posted photos from our whale shark experience.

The Cape in a Day

I pinched the title of today's post from the side of our 4WD tour bus. We spent all day touring Exmouth, canyons and the Cape Range NP with Ningaloo Safari Tours. Yet another great day with near perfect temperatures and weather. The water is warm, the sky is blue and the nights are cool.

We drove up a gravel road which split two canyons - Charles Knife and Potshot - which were at their green best after recent heavy rain:

Charles Knife Canyon:

Potshot Canyon:

We then backtracked through Exmouth and headed north before cutting across to the reef side of the Cape. What can I say - perfect beaches make for lovely lunch spots:

After lunch we drove further south for a boat trip up Yardie Creek and into Yardie Creek Gorge where we spotted Yardie Creek Rock Wallabys, Egrets and Ospreys:

We even had time for two runs of the Turquoise Bay drift snorkel - plentiful fish. I spotted a moray, a reef shark and a green turtle.  There is a strong current which was manageable today but can get much stronger and, if you miss the exit, then hello Africa!

We finished a perfect day with a stop at Vlamingh Point Lighthouse:

Now for a glass or two of Margaret River wine.

Shark Tales

Today we went snorkelling - firstly on coral bommies and then beside whale sharks. I only went on one snorkel with the whale sharks, whilst Sandra went 4 out of a possible 6 times. We only had 12 passengers on the boat, hence the number of chances to snorkel with the sharks.

I managed to swim alongside a 7m male for over a minute. I had to swim away when he turned towards me as you are restricted from being in front of a whale shark and must keep 3 and 4 meters away from the sides and tail respectively.

Unfortunately I don't have any underwater pictures as my underwater camera seals failed (probably due to a long period of no use). Luckily, the tour company had a photographer snorkelling with us and we pick up the complimentary DVD on Thursday. Hopefully there will be some good shots I can share with you.

The seas outside the reef were calm today and the water warm. There were plenty of whale sharks in the area and a seaplane acts as a spotter. Given the number of boats going out (see photo) it was surprising that we didn't have to compete with anyone to snorkel beside the sharks.

We went with the 3 Islands Whale Shark Dive Ningaloo and I can't speak highly enough of this company. They made sure everyone, no matter how inexperienced, got a chance to swim beside the sharks even to the extent where they would give you a tow if you were struggling to keep up. Unbelievably, I didn't need a tow - perhaps this was more due to the speed of the shark's swim than my ability. The crew would do as much as possible to assist everyone - when I had trouble reaching my flippers underwater to take them off prior to climbing the ladder back to the boat, one of the crew dived down and took them off for me. They always had at least one crew member in the water to help you with positioning, a crew member in a dinghy positioned behind the shark to help locate it and a further crew member taking photos. If there are more than 10 people on board, the group splits into 2 and an additional crew member takes the second group. The groups then alternate swimming with the sharks. The trip isn't cheap at $385 per person, but it is worth every penny.

Balmy, Blue and Beautiful

The further we flew from Perth towards Exmouth, the bluer the skies became and the greener the landscape. Exmouth had a lot of rain in the last month and everywhere is green.

We flew over some spectacular landscapes on the way up:

We are staying at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort - your eyes are drawn towards the view of the Ocean from the lobby:

We caught the free shuttle to Exmouth shops to stock up on supplies this afternoon. The evergreen frangipanis there are a favourite of mine:

We finished the day with a glass or two (or three) of wine and a seafood platter for two at the in house restaurant:

We're off looking for whale sharks tomorrow.

In the beginning...

Sandra and I have flown to Perth for an overnight stopover on our way to Exmouth to see Ningaloo Reef and the whale sharks. 

We had great views of the Southern Ocean on the way over:

After checking into Four Points by Sheraton, we walked over the railway line up to Northbridge. There is plenty of building work going on in this end of town:

After walking a kilometre or more looking for a restaurant for dinner, we resorted to Urbanspoon and the AGFG to find somewhere. We ended up at The Old Crow - a soul food restaurant. The small plates size was a meal in itself and we ordered 5 to share thinking they were entree sized. Totally deliciously different and the Louisiana Iced Tea was very good. The fried brussels sprouts was my favourite and the waiter told us afterwards that these were voted as one of Perth's top 20 dishes.

We needed the walk home to work off the excess food.

Would we book at Four Points again - yes, the exec twin rooms have two double beds and the location is good - right opposite the new Perth Arena and walking to distance to both Northbridge and the City Centre. A bit of building works and road works going on, but not at nuisance levels.

Would we go to the Old Crow again - you bet, but we would order less food. 

Looking forward to Exmouth.