Another Perfect Day in Exmouth

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 RAC Caravan Park, Exmouth 

Truly fabulous day, again!

First up, glass bottom boat tour so Mark can see fish (as he doesnt swim or snorkel), which included a good hour or so of snorkelling for me. 

You cannot get bored going over the ‘bombies’ (small mountain-like coral structures under the sea) and seeing the amazing diversity of fish. Today’s highlight - a reef shark (about 1.5 -2m) plus I loved the bright yellow long pointy fish (trumpeter fish). And, more so on second viewing, I appreciated the pockets of green, yellow, and purple coral - more subtle than Great Barrier Reef (the brown is a sort of sun protection), but still very cool.



Shipwreck on the Exmouth coast

Mark looking at the glass bottom of the boat to see fish

This is the glass bottom. Not as good as snorkelling, but still you get to see something

View from the lighthouse

Lighthouse (built after the shipwreck)

After the tour, which included dropping in to see the view from the local lighthouse, we had an afternoon nap to prepare for a sunset whale tour in the Exmouth Gulf. The gulf has just been made an official marine park. This is because the humpback whales come here to give birth and get their calves ready for the 3000km journey back to the Antarctica. 

I was so happy that Mark was ok with me sneaking this extra whale watching tour in because he already did the glass bottom ride today, and thats a lot of marine life for him already. But the tour guides this morning told us it was the perfect time of the year so I was super keen! 

Well - we almost missed the boat because we rode our bikes to the marina and it was further and harder to find than we assumed! We arrived just as they were all boarding and despite being last on the boat got a great seat right at the front. It was fantastic. Mostly we watched a mother and calf, with the calf practising breaching over and over, right in front of us. 

Calf breaching over and over again right in front of us


A highlight was when, after learning about whale song, they put some sort of microphone into the sea and we could hear the whales singing. Honestly I pretty much cried as it was so overwhelming. Apparently it was the proof of whale song that led to the cessation of whaling in the 1970s. I can believe it as hearing the whales communicating to each other was profoundly moving. 

And now, to fill Mark’s cup, we are watching some live music. An African woman doing afrobeat music who is trying to establish her music career around Australia and Europe. Beautiful voice but quite a tough gig as most people not really listening. 










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