Day 70
Tuesday
11 September
Coral Bay
I awoke feeling refreshed, after getting an early night. I was happy to stay in bed and read my book, staying until 8.30am. When I got up, I sorted the bed and we ate breakfast. I rang Mum and Dad to check in, them happily reminding us that we would be home soon. Paul received a call from the Mahi Mahi charter group to say Thursday was a go and he did a little happy dance.
After the chat, we crossed over to the shop and paid for the charter, we then went for a walk along the front and up to the lookout. The water was well and truly on the way back in and there wasn’t much further we could walk.
We returned to the van via the beach and Paul got busy putting fuel into the van and car from the jerry cans. We then looked into our remaining days and where we want to be for them, nutting out a rough idea for our final 2 weeks. Boo Hoo.
Feeling in need of something warm, we trundled over to the bakery and bought a hot chocolate and mocha. We sat in the outdoor alfresco area watching life go by, as we finished our warm drinks. Once we were done, we did a walk down to the beach. The water was in even further, something I didn’t think was possible. We walked over to a rocky outcrop and watched the fish swimming about in the shallows and the coral outcrops. The water looked so inviting, that I decided we should return to the van and put on our bathers.
We did, returning a short while later with our snorkelling gear. As we came down the path, a pelican was busy taking advantage of the space and sun, so I stopped to check him out, along with a group of year 5 students on school camp from Karratha. We dumped our things on the sand, grabbed our noodles and cameras and made for around the point. Today we wanted the current to push us along and across greater ground and it did just that.
The fish life was even more incredible than what we had experienced yesterday. I became so engrossed in the fish life, that I was off darting all over the place, chasing the next big fish. At one stage, I watched a stunning green fish chewing away at the coral. He was so big and then others came to join him, but he wasn’t so happy about it.
I then came across the fish super highway, where hundreds of fish were travelling across a white sandy bottom to another coral outcrop. There were fish in schools of all sizes and they just kept on coming, it was crazy. I was having a great time being in the underwater world, but eventually Paul called time and we made our way to the shallow shore and back to our bag, towelled off and then began the trek back to the van.
We walked the boundary of the People’s Park and notices a good sized bungarra making its way across the road and straight into someone’s camp. By the time we reached it, it was holed up in the back of an annex and then owners were just pulling up. Thankfully, it made a hasty retreat for the seclusion under a car and they weren’t scared witless.
I dropped in for a warming shower and then came back to get changed and have lunch. I ate and went through the photos we had taken, along with the video footage. Two hours later, we were ready to head out for a wander. I was keen to walk out to the point and with the tide quickly subsiding, the walk was possible.
We tossed the shoes at the entry point and began the trek. While most of it was beach sand, there was a rocky point which had us wishing we still had our shoes with us. Oh well. We soldiered on anyway and were soon back on the white stuff.
We watched the school group, who were perched at the top of sand dune and scooting down on various devices. It looked like fun and just the trick to tire the little blighters out.
We wandered along the water’s edge, watching the coral and reef structure slowly become exposed. We saw a stingray cruising in the shallows and some fish. It looked quite inviting and I wished I’d had my bathers.
We rounded the point, keen to see what was on the other end of it. Maud’s Landing is what we found. We took that as our key to turn tail and return. We kept the structures of Coral Bay in sight and pounded the sand, keeping an eye out for interesting objects and animals. We saw a black tip reef shark swimming within the shark nursery area, some more interesting brain coral and a clam.
Soon enough, we were back at the starting point and then it was a short walk to return to the van, where we got straight into cooking up the fish for dinner. It turned out the fish was delicious. I beer battered one lot and grilled some other pieces, just so we could compare. Both ways were yum.
After dinner, I went through the photos I had taken and then I settled in with my book once again.
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