The Coral Coast

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Gianna is a little grumpy at the moment. We have arrived in Exmouth, it's freezing cold (24 degrees and very windy) and there is no McDonald's or bakery that serves meatless pizza! There is also no Coles (Gianna's favorite supermarket) and no sign of Woolworths (the other supermarket alternative if necessary)! So we have to shop in a completely unfamiliar supermarket which of course is totally confusing and stupid..

I was happy, we have never done the shopping so quickly 😂👍!

Exmouth is the starting point for tours to the Ningaloo Reef. After the Great Barrier Reef, it is the most famous reef in Australia. Arriving at our small campsite by the sea, we once again experience incredible things.

A huge monitor lizard (about 1.30m) strolls by leisurely and after only 5 minutes of walking on the beach, we see several heads of turtles coming up for air! 🐢

Of course, I immediately put on my swimsuit and took a closer look. I saw 5 turtles and these animals are simply magical! We can't really believe that there are so many animals within reach everywhere..Even during our evening walk, it just doesn't stop!! In the distance, we see humpback whales 🐋 hitting the water with their fins or even jumping out completely. An echidna is also waddling leisurely through the dunes!

We almost ran over a kangaroo the next morning, which at the very last moment decided to jump in front of our car! Thankfully, nothing happened, I could never forgive myself for hitting such a cute thing on the hood ☹️. There are still several kangaroo skeletons and half decomposed kangaroos on the side of the road..It's sad to see and the smell is breathtakingly ugly 🤮! There are supposed to be local places in Australia that specialize in these so-called roadkills, animals killed on the road, and prepare them after collecting them. Well, bon appétit! Maybe they're used to make bush tomatoes? 🤭

Of course, I used Exmouth to dive at the famous Ningaloo Reef! After Gianna said goodbye to me as if I would never come back, she had to drive the camper alone and find a campsite..

Unfortunately, my dives were not as amazing as I had hoped.

The sea was quite rough and the visibility was accordingly poor..Well, at least I saw the obligatory turtle, a sea snake, and several fish. It was actually more exciting on the boat ride to the dive site! In the Gulf of Exmouth, from March to July (without guarantee), whale sharks and currently several humpback whales can be found. Incredibly impressive, especially when one of these 12-16m giants swam under our boat! Of course, I was late again to jump into the water 😰

Tschanna actually survived being alone for a day and took care of important things like laundry and cooking. Our roles are pretty clear, I drive and set up the bed, and Gianna cooks and washes our clothes! Occasionally, I also get to cook myself so I don't forget how 😜

Our everyday life here on the West Coast has noticeably become calmer and even Gianna is deeply relaxed as she can read a lot while I snorkel. As nice as it looks in the photos, unfortunately it's freezing cold (24-27 degrees) and extremely windy! Not so cozy but in our new camper, we can also sit inside, which is a big plus 👍! Snorkeling was also miserably cold, and without a wetsuit, it doesn't last long! Luckily, we can see the little sharks from the beach 😃.

In the next town, Coral Bay, the lady of the world got to choose a tour! A glass-bottom boat tour to see sharks, turtles, and sea snakes, as safely as possible..

Shivering from the cold, we saw many beautiful corals but unfortunately not the big predatory fish we had hoped for..🦈☹️

In Coral Bay, our neighbor was once again Swiss (as if that was especially unique, there are so many here 😂) and it was interesting to hear what he does alone for 6 weeks. He left his wife at home, that rascal! 😀

Now we are meeting many more people and getting a lot of tips on what we should do. Especially when I plan the next few days online, I have 7325524 places that are a must and that we absolutely must not miss. It's actually more difficult to find the really worthwhile places here because it's beautiful everywhere! 🏝

However, writing the blog is proving to be difficult because we more or less do the same things here. Eat, read, swim, complain about the cold, argue about who gets to read on the iPad, drive, and above all, enjoy. We also think a lot about what comes after our trip because when we drive at least 2 hours every day, everyone has time to make their plans.🙂

So, if you don't like driving, this is definitely not the continent for you. If we were to drive the same distances in Europe, we would have crossed 7 countries and here we are still in the same state. In Australia, there are an average of 3 inhabitants per km2, in Switzerland, there are 205 inhabitants.

A dream 🏝😉!