Ningaloo Reef Heaven

Oh WOW. I love it when something lives up to its google photos! Cape Range National Park is snorkel heaven. Turquoise Bay was wonderful. As I drove up I thought my sunglasses were making everything too colour saturated and turquoise looking then realised I had my regular glasses on - it really looks turquoise! The whole coastline is astonishing, with Ningaloo Reef coming right up to the beach and the cave-riddled red cliffs of the ranges on the other side.

I hired a car so that Honey and Smokey could hang out in the bus at the caravan park, and spent the day trying out all the snorkel spots. Oyster Stacks looks like the best but you can't go in at low tide, so I ended up back at Turquoise Bay after having a look at Yardie Creek Gorge. The drift snorkel spot is terrific, you hop in at one end of the bay and let the current carry you to the point, where hopefully you're strong enough to swim in to shore, otherwise it's Shark Snack Time at the gap to the main ocean.

You can basically tick all the fish in the fish chart here, and I also saw a black and white sea snake. It was quietly cruising along on the ocean floor about a metre and a half below me; as they are ridiculously poisonous, I resisted my natural impulse to poke at it with a stick, but followed it for a while. Tomorrow is boat snorkel day as they reckon there are still whale sharks to be found, so fingers crossed!

Seriously, quit working and go here