Australia
Humpback breaching, Ningaloo Reef
Autumn 2016
We flew out of Heathrow for this Australia trip, where we spent 3 weeks visiting relatives, seeing the sights, and diving/snorkelling on both the west and east coasts, including:
- two days of diving in Western Australia around the Muiron Islands with Exmouth Diving Centre.
- a snorkel swim with a Whale Shark on Ningaloo Reef with Exmouth Diving Centre.
- a 7 day Coral Sea Safari with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions on his liveboard (Mike Ball's Spoilsport) on the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.
Flinders Street Station, Melbourne
Saturday 17th September 2016
It was a long day but we finally arrived in Melbourne. 13 hours to Singapore and then 6 and a half hours to Melbourne with 3 hours lay over in Changi. When we got to Melbourne we caught the SkyBus into the city and then a taxi to our hotel for the night, Southbank Travelodge. It all went surprisingly smoothly when all things are considered but someone, presumably Customs, cut the lock off Jo's suitcase without so much a mention that they had done so. Even American Customs (on a previous trip) in Miami left me a little note to say that they'd cut my suitcase lock off when we went to Grand Cayman.
Although we slept on the plane we were both still very tired so, after a quick walk along the banks of the river Yarra we crashed out in the hotel. Met up with family the next day, in particular an Aunt and Uncle we haven't seen for many years, and cousin Karen and her partner John who we briefly caught up with recently as they were over in the UK for a wedding.
Sunday 18th September 2016
Only around 16 - 17 degrees today in Melbourne. We visited Federation Square and had refreshments in a small cafe on the square. The famous Flinders Street Station was just across the way and we saw the clocks over the entrance that tell you the time almost anywhere in the world. Then we caught a free tourist tram (Circle Line) to Docklands and the 'Squires' pub who served a decent Porter and eventually back to John and Karen's for a BBQ.
Monday 19th September 2016
Lovely day out today visiting various wineries, breweries and Gin joints in the Yarra valley. No really, the distillery where Four Pillars gin is produced was the highlight of the day. Their Navy Strength gin, at nearly 70% proof, could be felt burning its way all the way down into your stomach. De Bortoli and St Huberts wineries offered some excellent wines to taste and at Napoleone Brewery I drank an excellent Porter. A light lunch at Toolangi Tavern along the way helped to soak up the alchohol, hic.
Tuesday 20th September 2016
Another day of travel today. John kindly gave us a lift to the airport and we caught an 08:35 to Perth, then a connecting flight to Learmonth, losing 2 hours due to different time zones on the way. During these two flights Customs deemed it necessay to remove my suitcase lock this time. Whether they cut it off or just unlocked it (it was a special one that allows a master key to be used by the authorities) is not known. Again, there was no note, explanation or apology and they didn't lock it back on again either, so I assume it was cut off. What is the point of buying these special locks if they still cut them off?
Tawny Nurse Shark, Muiron Islands
Picked up a Hertz hire car in Learmonth and got stung for insurance cover which bumped the hire price up by another 50%. Legalised highway robbery if you ask me. Much hotter here, 28 degrees, a lot less green and with mozzies thick in the air at the airport. Hotel room seems good though with a fully equipped kitchen, and here for 6 days so hit the supermarket in Exmouth for cereal and bread for breakfasts. 1st dive is tomorrow. Can't wait!
White Tip Reef Shark, Ningaloo Reef
Wednesday 21st September 2016
On the 60 min boat ride out to Muiron Islands we spotted Humpbacks occasionally surfacing and a large pod of Spinner Dolphins hurrying to be somewhere known only to themselves. Looked like it was going to be a good day! I buddied up with a guy called Steve and four of us entered the water to dive. Mrs C was snorkelling, whilst we dived, with two others, and a couple of people were doing a Discover Scuba Diving course.
The first dive site is called Jaws because it is where the movie of the same name was filmed. Whilst we didn't see any beligerent Great White's it kinda lived up to its name because in a large crevice sat a large Tawny Nurse Shark resting on the sand. It decided it was time to leave when we started buzzing around it taking pictures. Further on the dive we came across a beautiful White Tip Reef Shark basking on a sandy bank which didn't mind us taking photographs at all. A Smooth Stingray and a Blue Spotted Lagoon Ray, Black Sailfin Catfish (which is exclusive to Ningaloo Reef), and many Batfish, Gobies, Trumpetfish and Nudibranch, to mention just a few of the local inhabitants, which, along with a stong surge and current, ensured it was a dive to remember.
The second dive site is called Dinner Plates. Current was a lot less and no surge so a more relaxing dive. The highlight of this dive was a huge Green Turtle which we disturbed from where it was resting and which provided good photo opportunities as it swam off. Fusiliers, Barracuda, Golden Trevally, Barramundi Cod, Coral Trout and Nudibranch were other inhabitants of the dive site. You could hear Whale calls throughout the dive but none were to be seen, until, back on the boat and on the way back to harbour they put on a display for us, slapping the water with their fins. We also stopped to snorkel with a bunch of Manta Rays that were feeding on the plankton that had turned the water milky. Another pod of Spinner Dolphins also swam by, putting the finishing touch to an excellent days diving.
Thursday 22nd September 2016
Back to Muiron Islands again today and two more dives. Sky was overcast and sea was a little lumpy. The first dive site was East Side Bommies and presented hard coral and a nice easy 48 minute dive to a max depth of 9.4 mtr. Nearly missed a large Octopus as it blended with the coral so well. Another shy Sail Fin Catfish showed itself long enough for me to get its picture as did a couple of rather intimidating looking lobsters with massively long feelers.
The second dive site was Key Hole, named for its resemblance to, you guesed it, a keyhole. We dropped down 10.8 mtr into the 'hole' part to a sandy bottom and then started our exploration. This time it was soft coral of just about every colour you could think of. Lots of juvenile Barracuda, File Fish, Barramundi Cod, Leaf Wrasse and right at the end of the dive a tiny, bright yellow Box Fish.
Manta Ray, Ningaloo Reef
Once more we snorkled with Mantas after the second dive. These were huge oceanic Mantas, awesome creatures that 'fly' though the water with ease, one minute they are there, the next they are gone. Managed some halfway decent pictures in the milky, plankton rich water! The 'piece de la resistance' though, were the countless Humpback whales which put on quite a show, breaching and fin slapping. The 60 minute return journey turned into 2 hours as everyone watched in awe and tried to second guess when they were going to breach so that a good picture could be taken. I planned to go on a trip to actually snorkel/swim with the Humpback whales on Friday but, alas, it never happened (see below).
Whale Shark, Ningaloo Reef
Friday 23rd September 2016
Booked the Humpback whale swim for today with Exmouth Diving Centre. It is a full day out on the boat and is new for this season, being done on a trial basis with people on board from an Australian University to try and observe the effect it has on the whales, if any. We set off and had a brief snorkel on a reef so that the tour operators could assess our snorkelling skills because, as I found out later, it is quite strenuous. The sea was lumpy to say the least with a good wind stirring up the waves.
A spotter plane flew overhead looking for the whales and every eye on the boat was peeled for tell tale signs. An air of suppressed excitement was everywhere i looked. The spotter plane had numerous sitings, unfortunately on this day all of them were of mother and calf. The rules say you can't enter the water if the whale has a calf, so all we could do was observe them from the boat.
Another tour from a different dive centre had found a Whale Shark that was still feeding on the reef, pretty late in the season for it to be there, so we went over to it and did a Whale Shark swim instead. Just as awesome! The Whale Shark cruises along effortlessly feeding on the plankton and we jumped in just ahead of it. As it passed by we swam with it (the strenuous part) and took our photographs. Couldn't keep up for long though. We had two swims before it was time to return to shore. A fantastic experience.
Saturday 24th to Tuesday 27th September 2016
With diving in Exmouth now finished we took the car out to Cape Range National Park and did some snorkelling off the beach at Turquoise Bay. Very windy and quite a current running from South to North so a drift snorkel it became. Needed to take care to exit the water at the appropriate point to avoid being taken out to sea with the current.
Later we drove down to Yardie Creek and had a walk into the canyon rather than take the short boat ride. On the drive back along the coast road to Exmouth we saw two Black Eared Wallabies at the road side, but unfortunately they disappeared before I could stop and take a picture. These creatures have very little road sense and are often hit by vehicles, hence the rather costly insurance charges.
Sunday was a lazy day by the pool and packing ready for the journey over to Cairns on Monday, via Perth and Melbourne. We have six hours to twiddle our thumbs in Perth, glad I have lots of books on my tablet! Arrive in Cairns at 12:35pm on Tuesday, so a long overnight trek. Next post will be from Cairns where we join Mike Ball's Spoilsport dive vessel.
Mike Ball's 'Spoilsport' dive vessel
Spotted Boxfish (Female), Coral Sea
Tuesday / Wednesday 27th and 28th September 2016
We arrived in Cairns around lunchtime on Tuesday after nearly 24 hours travel via Perth, Melbourne and then Cairns. First thing to hit us was the heat and humidity of the tropical climate. A taxi took us from the airport to our hotel, Mantra Esplanade, for a reasonable price and we checked in, having unexpectedly been given a free upgrade to a sea view on the sixth floor. We had booked a cheaper, city view room as we would only be there for 2 nights before joining the dive boat. Room is air-conditioned and comfortable and after a wander around during the afernoon and early evening, and a visit to a Bavarian Beerhouse, we had an early night.
We got up too late to go on any of the tours on offer in the many tourist places so we did some more wandering, looking for gifts to take home, stopping for frequent liquid refreshments and we popped into Mike Ball Dive Expeditions shop; a) so we knew where we had to go the next day and b) to say Hi. As I write this Mrs C is still wandering whilst I sit in Jimmys Burger Bar (well, outside actually) dinking a nice cold Stein of beer under a nice shade :-).
Thursday 29th September to Thursday 6th October 2016
We joined Mike Balls Coral Sea Exploratory Expedition on 29th September for a week of diving in the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). As a bonus, it was also the Ancient Nautilus Expedition and so we got to see and dive with some of these rare and wonderful creatures which reside around 1000 mtrs depth. More about that later.
The boat sailed all night, on a very lumpy sea, way out past the GBR into the Coral Sea and arrived in the morning at Holmes Reef.
Dive #1 was on Nonki Bommie and served primarily to do a weight and equipment check. It was, however, a nice pinnacle dive with good vis. We dropped to 30mtr to see a White Tip and then slowly ascended clockwise around the pinnacle taking in the rich marine life assembled there. Dive #2 at Cathederal, a wall dive and another White Tip (became a theme for the week), and dive #3 at Exciting, notable for swim thrus and a Hairy Ghost Pipefish. The final dive that day was a night dive at Exciting with the highlight of seeing Flashlight Fish in the now pitch-black caves. Flashlight Fish have a bioluminescent organ beneath the eyes, which they can turn on and off, that they use to confuse predators, to attract prey and for communication.
After dinner everyone turned in around 9 - 9:30 pm, absolutely bushed after the previous rocky nights sailing during which nobody got much sleep. I didn't hear anyone complaining though, everyone was just full of talk about the days diving. Bouganville Reef in the morning so another night sail, but getting used to the rocking now!
Ancient Nautilus, Osprey reef
Moray Eel, Bouganville Reef
Saturday 1st October 2016
Dive #1 was the wreck of the 5,851 tons Italian cargo ship MV Antonio Tarrabocchia on Bouganville Reef. The wreck is very broken up but provides an artificial reef that is a haven for abundant marine life, including a couple of good sized Honeyomb Moray Eels.
Dive #2 was at dungeons and Dragons, a rib drop off and pickup. Many pinnacles which were like Swiss Cheese providing lots of swim thrus (and, as I found, some dead ends). Pulled a muscle in my back getting back into the rib which would plague me for the remaining dives this trip but I wasn't going to let a minor thing like that spoil it for me.
Dive #3 Western Front was a nice wall dive with lost of hard coral and the obligatory White Tip as well as Barracuda and a large Potato cod. Fantastic vis! There was an open deck after lunch which I sat out due to my back and the fact that I'd been there and done it but I did go in that evening for the night dive. I had changed from 15Ltr to 12Ltr tank to reduce stress on my back, so I was a bit twitchy and uncomfortable on the night dive and didn't really enjoy it, I didn't event take my camera.
More to come.