Ningaloo Reef - Cape Range National Park

Sunset at Vlamingh Head lighthouse, overlooking the tip of the cape

Wobiri Beach, really beautiful

Crystal clear water in Turquoise Bay, friendly fish too.  A stunning beach!

At Turquoise Bay we went for our first ever snorkel, with gear borrowed from Kathleen & Nick.  The water's so clear and the reef so close that it wasn't difficult at all.  The beautiful coral and amazing variety of incredibly coloured fish made this an experience we'll never forget, a real highlight of our adventure.  We went in a couple of times. It didn't take me (Deb) too long to realise that exclaiming "OMG" underwater with a snorkel just results in a mouthful of salty water :)  As we don't have an underwater camera there are no photos of what we saw but it's imprinted in our memories, that's for sure.

That's an octopus in the centre, at another great snorkelling spot
known as Oyster Stacks (in Cape Range NP).  We watched it
change colours several times to match the rocks or the sand.

Oyster Stacks, so-called due to the outcrops of what look like rock but are actually oyster shells stacked on top of each other.  We went snorkelling here just before low tide, so the water's shallow but still just deep enough to float above the coral and not damage it.  We saw so much here, including octopus, starfish, clams, sea cucumbers and an eel.  Of course there were lots of colourful fish and some great coral.  Loved it.

Gorgeous Osprey Bay in the Cape Range National Park

We also snorkelled what's called the 'drift loop' at Turquoise Bay the next day - the current carries you across the reef area so you don't even have to swim, just drift.  It's gentle enough and a great experience too.  Ningaloo Reef runs the length of Cape Range National Park and there's a lot to explore.  We visited the Turtle Centre display at the beach where the sea turtles nest in summer.  Actually we saw a few big sea turtles in the water at a couple of the beaches.  Mangrove Bay was interesting.  It's a lagoon just in from the reef and being low tide we could see the root systems of these trees, with their 'breathing roots' (they do have a latin name) protruding from the wet sand.  In the bird hide there we were able to read more about them.

Phil's version of birdwatching!

We really enjoyed the National Park visitors centre which has a great display and plenty of information.  This bird's an osprey, a bit like a sea eagle, and we've seen quite a few of these.  We sat and watched a fantastic dvd, all underwater footage of marine life that may be seen along Ningaloo Reef.  It helped identify some of the fish we saw which was good.