We had a quick change of clothes in the car park before purposefully getting wet when we went for a snorkel at Oyster Stacks. Whilst it was a bit choppy due to the wind, the water remained fairly clear and we got our first proper look at Ningaloo Reef which is at its closest along the national park’s coastline. Anne particularly liked the big blue starfish, but my favourite were the tiny blue fish which caught the sun light as it filtered through the water.
The next bay up is Turquoise Bay, perhaps the most famed place for snorkelling as you can drift along with the current over the coral before walking back the 400m along the beach to get in and drift again. However, due to the choppy seas, Barry and Jim (who we’d met at Mandu Mandu’s car park) had told us that visibility wasn’t very good, and, as sun had decided to hide for a while the, we headed up to Ned’s Camp to see Iain and his family who had got together for his father’s 80th birthday celebrations.
We spotted a familiar Series 40 Land Cruiser on our way and found Scott, who by this point had been reunited with Ted and Judy. We thought we had missed them as Barry and Jim had mentioned that, because Ned’s Camp was full, they had decided to push onto Broome. We were glad to catch them and see that all was well, and we promised to call in when we get to NSW.
One of the two police pastors who cover the whole of Western Australia (which as you can imagine involves rather a lot of travelling) was setup next to Iain at Ned’s Camp, and he kindly passed on some route tips through the Pilbara. A beer and a chat with Iain and family provided more generosity as his father gave us his address in Auckland for when we make it over to New Zealand, then it was time to head into Exmouth for the night. A Big4 campsite (we became members in Albany and get a 10% discount) and hot showers cleansed us after three nights wild camping. SPOT
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