ANZAC Day

Well to be honest, I had to look it up online, but essentially ANZAC Day is a public holiday in both Australia and New Zealand, falling on the 25th of April every year to mark the anniversary of the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) in WWI. Australia had only been considered a federal commonwealth for 13 years when the war broke out in 1914, so this was their big chance to establish their reputation internationally. The ANZACS landed in Gallipoli on April 25th with the mission to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) from the Ottoman Turks. Months later it resulted in a stalemate and over 8,000 Australian deaths. Now the 25th is a day for remembering the brave soldiers who have fought and served in war, similar to our Veterans Day at home. Although ANZAC Day seems to be much more highly recognized and celebrated in Australia. I guess Australians pretty much use any excuse to have a beer.

Britt, myself, and Miranda: eager to learn Two-Up

We celebrated ANZAC Day by participating in the usual game of “Two-Up.” The ANZACs used to play this game at their campsites, so it became legalised on ANZAC Day in their honour. This is the only day of the year when RSLs and pubs all across the country are able to play the game. Essentially, Two-Up is a game of heads and tails. If you bet on heads, you are betting that both coins tossed in unison will land on heads. If you bet on tails, you are betting that both coins land on tails. If one lands on heads and the other on tails, the coins are re-tossed.

The layout is set so that there is a designated circle in the center of the floor on which no one may stand except for the “spinner,” the person who actually tosses the coins into the air. Before tossing the coins, everyone places their bets. For instance, I would stand on the edge of the circle and yell “$20 on tails!” and then someone would match my bet. (They would be betting $20 on heads.) So it would be me versus the person who took my bet. The money waits at the feet of the person betting on heads. The “boxer” who organises the gambling makes sure that all bets have been matched and are ready to go before the spinner tosses the coins. Once all bets have been made, the “ringkeeper” gives the “kip” to the spinner. The kip is a flat piece of wood, just big enough to hold two coins, one facing up and the other down. The spinner then uses the kip to throw the coins into the air without actually touching them. If the coins aren’t tossed high enough or if they don’t have enough rotation on them, the spinner has to toss them again.

giving it a go as the spinner

I was a pretty excellent gambler for the first half of the day with winnings up into the $200 range. Most of my bets were placed on tails, and I usually only bet $10 at a time. However as soon as I became the spinner, my luck turned around. I didn’t realize that spinners always have to bet on heads. With one perfect spin, my coins landed on tails. I gave a little cheer and then turned around to redeem my winnings, but instead of getting $40 (I bet $20 that time), I was shuffled off the floor. The spinner only tosses the coins until they lose. Then a new spinner is brought in. Bummer!

shuffled off after my loss as spinner

After that I pretty much started losing consistently, so I threw in the towel when I got back down to a $40 deficit.  We played around at the RSL in Randwick, sipping on shouts of beers and then betting occasionally. Once it got a bit darker, we left for a decent feed at Oporto’s, where I got my usual Otropo burger with chicken and pineapple, yum! Shortly after, Britt and I sampled the scene at the Clovelly Hotel, which had a very interesting mix of people, but no Two-Up that we could find. Then we decided to follow the guys to the Clovelly RSL down the street, where we didn’t participate in any more Two-Up (the floor was packed!) but celebrated the ANZACs (and other veterans) by dutifully drinking our beer. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!

Staircase to the Moon

During 2 or 3 nights each month from March through October, a spectacular phenomenon occurs in Broome. When the tide is extremely low, the rippled mudflats are exposed beyond the sandy beaches of Roebuck Bay. On these special nights for only 5-10 minutes, the full moon actually rises over the horizon, reflecting off the exposed ripples of sand and creating an image best described as “The Staircase to the Moon.”

Apparently last month was cloudy on the nights it was expected to appear, so no one was able to witness the phenomenon. Luckily I timed my trip to Broome perfectly so that I would have 2 chances to see it before flying back to the east coast.

Last night, the Kimberly Klub shuttled a big group of us over to Town Beach, where hundreds of people stood waiting for the main event. Behind the lookout was a field crowded with spectators and night markets. Though I didn’t get a chance to meander my way through all the booths, I was quite happy to grab a $3 hot dog for dinner.

My friends and I gathered along the edge of a plateau above the beach, facing where we expected the moon to rise. Slowly the sky became a little brighter over one patch of the horizon, and everyone else crowded together in anticipation.

crowds gathering

Watching the moon rise is an unusual experience. Everyone has seen the sun rise and the sun set, but I would never have thought that it was possible to actually witness the reverse happen with the moon. Unlike the sunrise or sunset, which draws out all the colors of the rainbow across the sky, the moon simply glowed a warm orange-ish tint. And just as everyone said it would, the moon actually reflected off the banks. It looked as if you could actually run along the beach and climb right up to it. Truly amazing!

Everyone’s flashes were going off as they desperately tried to capture an image of the phenomenon. Myself included. No matter which setting I put on my camera, nothing turned out well. The coolest shot I took resulted in what looked like the moon exploding.

and then the moon exploded

Tonight I was better prepared. My errand for the day was to buy a cheap tri-pod for my camera. I found one of those beady looking tripods that bends and wraps around free-standing objects so that it doesn’t require a flat ground or table, which is rarely available when you would actually need it.

This time around, my friend Arnika drove 3 of us to the Golf Club just a bit further down the road from where all the markets are. The clubhouse itself was closed, but there were 2 or 3 other carloads of people who had the same idea as us. I claimed a street sign for my tripod, which ended up being right in the middle of one of those groups of people. I set my camera to the “starry night” setting with a 60 second shutter speed. And…. Voila!

Staircase to the Moon

I’m sure if you Googled “Staircase to the Moon,” you would find much more clear and professional looking pictures. But I was rather proud of capturing what I could of this night. (Even though there was a blasted boat in the way.) I even lent my tripod to another onlooker, who had a similar camera as mine, so that he could share his photo with all his friends.

What a night! This definitely ranks as one of my favorite memories in Western Australia.

South Sea Pearls of Australia

So far Broome has been a much-welcomed relaxation period for me. My past few days have consisted primarily of reading, laying out, swimming, and socializing by the Kimberly Club’s pool. Before arriving in Broome, I had the full intention of finding short-term employment as a pearl diver. Broome is, after all, the pearl capital of the world! I heard the pearling boats leave for 10 days at a time and pay about $150 per day (and provide free food and accommodation). I thought being a PADI Divemaster would be plenty of qualification. However, upon arrival I talked to employers at Paspaley (very rude!), Clipper, and Cygnet Bay Pearls (LOVED them!) and soon discovered that actual pearl diving requires a significant amount of training as well as a certification a step beyond commercial diving – something entirely different.

Backpackers are often used as kitchen hands or “Marine Growth Removal Technicians,” meaning they shuck all the soft corals and such that grow on the oysters that could potentially cause disease or deteriorate the shell. One of my friends in the Kimberly Club hostel was employed to do this work. Chris described this task as difficult, boring and smelly. He continues to participate in this line of work every year though because of the high rewards and time off between trips. The boat takes 20-40 people out for 10 days at a time. Then they split into teams of 3 and depart from the larger vessel onto much smaller boats where they spend the entire day cleaning the oyster shells of their designated area. All the romanticism of pearls totally evaporates in that atmosphere. Chris swears he will never again purchase a pearl, and he was quite disheartened when I decided that I would spend today on the Willie Creek Pearl Farm tour and the Pearl Luggers tour. But I have no intention of becoming a Marine Growth Removal Technician, and I still like pearls. So when you’re in the pearl capital of the world, you gotta see it first hand while you have the chance!

Willie Creek pearl farm

Willie Creek

Even though Willie Creek is located 16km North of Broome, the drive is 38km – 17km of which are via unsealed red dirt road. When our coach dropped us off at Willie Creek, one of the WC employees took over the tour. We were seated under a small stadium-seated pavilion for a lecture on the modern cultured pearling process as well as a demonstration on how to seed a live oyster to produce a pearl (and how to remove it).

Pearl Farming

Broome’s famous South Sea pearls are produced by the gold or silver lip pearl oyster, Pinctada Maxima. Pinctada, meaning “pearl-producing,” and Maxima, meaning “largest.” This particular oyster can grow to be 30cm in diameter and weigh up to 5 kilos. It was first discovered in Roebuck Bay back in 1861, which is what set Broome on the map for the pearling industry.

Nowadays, divers collect about 600,000 wild shells from the coast of Western Australia each year with the legal size being at least 120mm. Hatcheries are also becoming more popular, and these are only required to be 90mm. They are then laid to rest in the pearl farm for 4 months to acclimatize to their new location. When ready for their first pearl seeding, they are held on board seeding vessels in large re-circulating tanks. When the water drains, it takes a few hours for them to relax and open up, then the technicians are “pegged” open with a wedge, similar to a door stop. This allows the technicians to perform the seeding operation without the oyster snapping shut prematurely.

Pearl Technicians

Pearl technicians are highly skilled (and highly paid) professionals, performing up to 500 operations per day. Yikes! A typical career path would include a degree in Marine Biology, then a job as a deck hand on board one of the seeding vessels plus 8 years worth of training. Then Day 1 as a pearl technician, they would be expected to perform hundreds of these operations.

Pearl technicians generally work for 3 months annually and will be paid about $80k on salary plus a commission as high as $50k if their oysters produce good quality pearls. That’s 3 months of work and then 9 months of doing whatever else they please until the next season. Some technicians will finish their work harvesting and seeding South Sea pearls in Australia and then spend another 3 months doing the same thing in Tahiti. That’s still 6 months of vacation! Why did no one tell me about this growing up?

Growing and Producing a Cultured Pearl

Natural pearls are created when an irritant, such as a grain of sand or other organic material, makes its way into the oyster shell. In order to protect its mantle tissue, the oyster then secretes its mantle tissue, creating a pearl sac around the irritant. It’s basically the same act as when we put wax over our braces when we first get them to lessen the irritation. Oysters do this naturally to protect their tissues, and the result just happens to be a beautiful pearl!

Pinctada Maxima interior

[Note: 95% of these oysters naturally contain a small oyster crab inside, which help clean the oyster and protect it from parasites.]

Cultured pearls take advantage of this natural reaction from the oysters by implanting a small nucleus formed from the shell of the Mississippi mussel into an incision made in the oyster’s gonad, which is located in the direct center of the shell. This makes it less likely for the oyster to reject the nucleus and push it out of its shell. Once this operation has been completed, the shell is then safely housed within a pearl panel and placed on the ocean floor to undergo a turning process to encourage the production of a round pearl.

panel of oysters

After letting the oysters rest for a period of 10 days succeeding their seeding operations, the technicians examine them to make sure that the oysters have accepted the nucleus. If not, the oysters are re-seeded again. If the oyster rejects the nucleus a 2^nd time then the shells are sent to the “Naughty Farm” in order to produce Keshi (seedless) pearls. 85% of the oysters will usually accept the nucleus and produce a pearl.

After a period of 2 years, the technician will carefully remove the pearl that has formed and replace it with a nucleus of a comparable size to that pearl that was removed. 2 years later, the same process is repeated. The oysters are generally only re-seeded 3 times, producing a total of 4 pearls – each larger than the previous one. After 8 years of this process (2 per pearl), the shell is much larger, but also less likely to accept another seeding. Therefore the shells are then retired from pearl-making and are used for other mother of pearl products.

Pearl Products

Before grinding the shell down, Mabe (or half pearls) are made. These are formed by adhering plastic shapes to the inside surface of the oyster’s shell, and then the oyster will overlay the plastic with mother of pearl secretion for a period of around 12 months, similar to they way it does with a nucleus for pearls. While still on the shells, they resemble blisters, but once trimmed to make jewelry, they’re gorgeous! And only half the price!

The mother of pearl (shiny interior of the shell) is used for a variety of different causes. Initially the pearl button was the main source of income for pearl divers, even more so than pearls since the pearls are extremely rare to find naturally.  Now the mother of pearl is used to make holograms (such as that found on your credit card), car paint, cosmetics, and furniture inlay.

mother of pearl buttons

Nothing is left to waste! Even the pearl meat (abductor muscle) is retained for use as a delicacy in restaurants. Delicious! Much less chewy than conch or other mollusk meats you would have tried.

The pearls themselves are graded upon 5 different qualities: complexion, luster, size, shape, and color.  Complexion and luster are really the most important because the rest are considered more of a personal preference. The more shiny, large, smooth and round they are, the more expensive they generally are. But as the saying goes, “You don’t choose the pearl; the pearl chooses you.”

Some simple rules of thumb can protect you from buying fake pearls. Rule #1: if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. When buying a chain of pearls, they shouldn’t all be exactly alike. No single pearl is perfect so you can check their personality by looking for bumps or dimples on the surface. If unsure, you can rub the pearl against your teeth, and it should feel gritty and organic rather than smooth like plastic. If you reallyyyyyy want to be sure, then you can drop your pearl in some vinegar. If you come back and there’s only the nucleus left, you know it was real.

Side note:  There is a story of Cleopatra inviting Marc Antony over for the most extravagant dinner banquet ever thrown. It was a massive feast, but Marc Antony told her at the end of the meal that it was wonderful, but quite similar to all her other feasts. She then poured 2 cups of vinegar and dropped both of her nicest pearl earrings in each of the cups. After it completely deteriorated, she then drank the vinegar. Marc Antony didn’t drink his, but agreed that it was indeed the most expensive feast to which he had ever been invited.

Pearl Luggers

After the Willie Creek tour, I continued back to the city for the Pearl Luggers tour, in which they discuss the old methods for collecting mother of pearl (and sometimes pearls).

The oysters were gathered from Roebuck Bay and other areas surrounding Broome by hundreds of divers in pearl luggers (specialized boats). Rather than diving up and down all day, they found it more efficient to have an air supply cranked down to the divers at depth via an air pump and hose, where the divers would scrape along the bottom, picking up shells. The divers would collect the shells in a bag around their neck, and once it filled, they would send the bag to the surface and wait for them to drop the next bag.

model of a pearl lugger

retired pearl lugger

In regards to safety, the system was horrific! They were armed with a firefighting helmet, weighing 35kg, plus another 70kg of weights around their neck, and “mother in law” boots made of wood, leather, and copper, weighing 12kg each, just to help keep them grounded on the ocean floor.

pearl diving equipment

pearl diver suit and manual air pump

They would spend as many hours under the sea as there was light provided by the sun with the exception of one speedy lunch break (and an exchange of urine bags). Even though they would reach as deep as 80m, they never made any sort of decompression stops on their way up because it was too time consuming. Therefore many pearl divers died of the Bends, a decompression illness in which nitrogen expands upon ascent and blocks your blood flow, prohibiting oxygen from reaching the brain. Scary stuff! Nowadays, decompression chambers can help stabilize divers with the Bends before it becomes fatal by putting them in a chamber with a similar atmospheric pressure for a couple hours and slowly returning them to a normal state. But back in the “hard hat era” these Saltwater Cowboys were risking their lives for the chance of making millions.

the hard hat era is not one for the fashion diaries

These procedures finally stopped in 1975 (??!??!?!!!) when spear-fishermen proved to the pearl divers that SCUBA diving equipment and proper safety stops were actually more efficient than the methods they had been using. 1975!!!!!!!! I think that was the biggest mind-blowing fact I learned all day. SCUBA divers have been modifying and perfecting safe diving methods for decades, while these pearl divers were wearing 130-135kg of weight and risking their lives upon descent. Craziness!

I apologize for the long post, but I hope you found it informative if you made it all the way through. Please feel free to ask me any more questions because believe it or not, I spared a great amount of detail! If anyone makes it to Broome, I highly suggest these tours.

$25,000+ pearl

At the end of today, I made 2 decisions: 1) I’m going to start wearing my pearls when I get home. 2) I’m going to start traveling more. Sydney was great, but there’s so much more to see and learn!

Beware of the Boxed Jelly!

Well we had a pretty horrifying experience last night… well for one person in particular. There were about 15 of us form the Kimberly Club that went to the beach for a bonfire party. The location was chosen because it was remote, just south of Cable Beach. We watched the sunset, grabbed some supplies, then started our fire. Throughout the whole night everyone was going in and out of the ocean. It was already hot outside, so the fire was more for ambience than anything else. On one particular venture into the sea, Erica (mid 30’s) was stung by the box jellyfish. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the box jelly, its venom is among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. In many cases, people will go into shock and drown or have a heart attack before even reaching shore. However, it can be treated, but you need to seek help immediately. Erica, however, was feeling pretty tipsy and didn’t realize the severity of her situation so she decided to stay in the water. (I had no idea this happened because I returned home long before these events took place.) When she started to lose feeling in her lower body, the people in the water with her persuaded her to return to shore. Because she had no control of her lower body, she was blindly placing her feet on the sand and rocks. SNAP! Broke her leg! It was 3am by the time an ambulance found the beach where we were, since there wasn’t a road directly leading to it. Her situation was neutralized and they were able to release her today. Scary stuff! Lesson learned: be careful when swimming in northern Australia, and be prepared for an emergency situation. Especially when swimming at night or on an uncrowded beach where help is not readily available. Yikes!

On another note, it was one of the best sunsets I’ve seen:

Broome sunset

Arnika, myself, and Hector at sunset

bonfire

Everything Aussie in Zoo Café

Everyone in Broome says that so long as you do 1 thing per day, you’ve had a productive day. For some people that means a load of laundry, or a trip to the grocer, or maybe a walk around the block. Britt and I had a very lazy day of reading and swimming around the pool in the Kimberly Klub, my favorite hostel in all of Australia thus far.

The Kimberly Klub

We decided to check 1 more thing off our Broome bucket list: dinner at the Old Zoo Café. As its name suggests, the building was renovated after serving as the Pearl Coast Zoo feeding house until the zoo closed. It’s a pretty nice restaurant and we were surprised when we showed up and they allowed us to sit without reservations. Really we just lucked out because there was one small table reserved for dinner a few hours after we arrived, so they were able to squeeze us in. Hoorah!

We ordered a couple plates of appetizers (bread, mushrooms, etc), but the main reason we were there was to try the ultra-Australian sampler tray.

pearl meat, barramundi, crocodile, kangaroo, emus

1)   Pearl Meat – The abductor muscle from the Pinctada Maxima oyster that produces the famous South Sea Pearl. It was prepared in some sort of citrusy Asian style that was delicious. The meat itself had a very smooth and consistent texture, not like the slippery and chewy rock oysters I’m used to eating (but also love).

2)   Barrumundi – The quintessential Australian fish, which is usually fished at just over a meter long.. pretty big, hey! It’s a flaky white meat, and every time I eat it I end up with the same opinion: forgettable.  It was alright, but seemed a little bland in comparison to everything else on the plate.

3)   Crocodile – It sounds cliché, but any fried white meat is going to taste like chicken fingers, and this was no exception.

4)   Kangaroo – Kangaroo is one of the leanest and healthiest meats you can eat. The trick is how you prepare it though. If you cook it 30 seconds past medium rare, it will without a doubt be tough and chewy and completely non-enjoyable. This kangaroo meat was prepared smoked, so the texture itself was perfect, but then the smoky taste overtook the actual flavour of the kangaroo.

5)   Emus – Best for last. I feel like Pavlov’s dog salivating at the very thought of it. Emus is a red meat, also prepared best medium rare (like every red meat should be). This also was prepared with some sort of Asian-style sauce, which definitely hit the spot. You can bet that I will most certainly be ordering more emus steaks upon my time in Australia.

To top off the evening, we saw the cutest little tree frog outside  🙂

Australian tree frog

Camel Safari

Ahh, finally Britt and I have reached our destination in Western Australia: Broome! Britt is only staying for a few days before she heads back to Sydney so we decided to kick-start our journey in Broome with the utmost important endeavor: camel-riding.

I’ve always imagined camels to be indigenous to the Middle East, so they seem very out of place to me when found anywhere else (for instance my junior year prom in Nashville, TN). When you think of wild animals in Australia, you think dingos, kangaroos, crocodiles, koalas and emus. Anything but camels. Oddly enough, Australia actually has the largest population of feral camels in the world with a population increase of around 10% each year. Thousands of these one-humped camels were originally brought to Australia from India, Pakistan, and a handful of other countries between 1840 and 1907. They were primarily used as pack animals for exploration and the construction of railroads and telegraph lines; but they also served well for sending supplies to remote mines and settlements. Camels are perfectly suited for these tasks because, unlike horses, they are able to carry heavy loads over long distances and may go for days without drinking water. These are pretty powerful advantages in a country where temperatures can reach 50*C / 120*F in the summertime.

Even though they weren’t indigenous to Australia, camels have since thrived in the environment and are now considered pests by the locals. For starters, they have no natural predators so there is nothing to keep their population in check. They are known to destabilize dune crests, causing massive erosion, and they feed on over 80% of the available plant species so that other animals, such as the indigenous marsupials, must compete with them for food. Most of their infamy that I hear about results in their fouling of waterholes, which are already scarce in the Outback.

Regardless, dozens of camels are available for our tourist enjoyment in Broome. The funny thing is that unlike dolphins that experience shorter life spans in captivity, camels live much longer. They are extremely clumsy animals and would not be able to survive in the wild with any sort of injury, but in captivity, their caretakers are able to help them recover without exposing them to the harsh elements.

So here we are… in Broome… on the beach… with our camels… at sunset.

Our camel’s name was Matilda, and she was especially cute because she had this big droopy lip that gave her some extra personality.

darling Matilda

After the first 5 or 10 minutes passed, Britt and I began to wonder what in the world we were going to do in the next hour that could possibly keep us entertained. But as the sun began to descend, that time quickly flew by.

Cable Beach is known as one of the best beaches in the world… and for good reason! In the daytime, it looks like a National Geographic picture with green grass against red rock on white sand with a blue sky and turquoise waters. The beach is so long and the population so little (15,000 normally, but then 50,000 in the dry season) that there is more than enough room for everyone to spread out for their own private patch.

Then at night, well, you can’t beat that sunset!

sharing the sunset with Britt & Matilda

Snorkeling in Turquoise Bay

The original plan for today was to SCUBA dive off the Exmouth Navy Pier, which is ranked in the world’s top 10 best dive sites (according to scubatravel.co.uk)! Unfortunately no one is diving there for the next couple of days, so instead we signed up for the dive at the Muiron Islands, which has wall diving, swim throughs and caves. But when we got back to our hostel last night, there was a note on our door from the dive center. We went to the shop to see what was going on and they told us that the dive had been changed to a whale shark snorkeling trip, but that we could dive at the snorkel sites. So we obliged and met up with them this morning. The crew was grumpy at first then threw on some fake smiles when we got to the boat. The trial snorkeling site was pretty weak, and it ended up raining while we were there. Trip cancelled! We all went home and got a refund. I was so relieved we weren’t going to be held hostage with that crew! Britt and I sought shelter in the pub for some lunch, and within a couple hours there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky… amazing!

We were both pretty tuckered out, but decided to go snorkeling at Turquoise Bay off of Cape Range National Park, which is about a 15 minute drive farther than the boat ramps used for the whale shark tours. We felt obligated to see the reef there because so many people had told us about how great it is, but loads of people also told us about their near drowning experiences due to the high currents that have been known to sweep people out into the sea. Even our map had a warning sign saying, “dangerous currents may occur.” We stepped into the water a little ways down the beach so that if we ended up getting caught in the current, we would still have a fighting chance to swim back to the beach before the peninsula ended. Of course as soon as we got in the water, we couldn’t figure out what everyone was talking about. It was perfect!

Turquoise Bay gets my approval

The reef was only 15-20m off the beach. And the entire time I was snorkeling there, I don’t think I went any deeper than 5m. I’ve never been a huge fan of snorkeling because I find it awkward and limiting, but this place totally changed my mind. Similar to the snorkeling sites we went to off the boat yesterday, this reef was full of colorful marine life that was easily visible from the surface!

unicorn fish

picasso triggerfish

cornetfish / smooth flutemouth / whiptail

blue-spotted stingray

In addition to all the fun little creatures, there were some more exciting larger ones swimming around as well…

white-tip reef shark

black-tip reef shark

stingray with about a 2m wingspan

I would have like to have stayed a bit longer in Exmouth so I could dive the Navy Pier and Muiron Islands, but we’re leaving tomorrow 😦

For next time!!!

Whale Sharks in Exmouth

SUCCESS!

As soon as we arrived in Exmouth yesterday, our first stop was the tourist information center where we were determined to book a tour swimming with the whale sharks. Luckily, there are 7 different companies that run from Exmouth to the Ningaloo Reef. A couple of them were already booked out, and when Britt and I pressed the employee to tell us which company provides the best tour, she simply replied that they are all paying customers so she can’t give an opinion on the matter… but would we like to book with 3 Islands? At the time I thought she was just trying to book us on that tour because there was plenty of room, and she was trying to even out the numbers on all the different boats. But in retrospect, I’m fairly certain she was trying to hint to us that we would have the best experience with them. I’m so glad we went with the 3 Islands tour!

3 Islands picked us up from the visitor information center this morning and then swooped around to pick everyone else up at their accommodations (including ours, but we hadn’t booked that until after we booked the whale shark tour). It was probably a half hour drive around the top of the peninsula to the other side where a small dingy waited for us on the beach. We took turns hopping onto the dingy, which shuttled us out into the deeper water where our proper diving vessel was anchored. The crew gave us their greetings and introductions (and some morning tea and biscuits) as we set off to a snorkeling spot along the inner reef. Similar to yesterday, they were giving us the opportunity to snorkel around and get used to our equipment… and probably scan to see who would most likely need rescuing. Not only was the current not as strong as it was outside of Coral Bay, but the visibility was also significantly better. Right from the beginning, we knew this would be a great day of snorkeling!

The snorkeling sight was only about 5 or 6 meters deep, but within a half hour I saw parrotfish, pufferfish, starfish, venomous catfish indigenous to the Ningaloo Reef, and a rather large and intimidating moray eel… just to name a few.

wrasse and parrotfish

stars and stripes pufferfish

starfish

black sailfin catfish (venemous)

feeding on a jellyfish

(I was too scared of the eel to get close enough for a proper picture.)

After we snorkeled around a bit, the crew waved at us to return to the boat. The spotter planes had already taken off and were radioing in to the boat the location of a whale shark. By the time we arrived at its location in the outer reef, the whale shark had already dived down into deeper water. Because they are actually sharks and not whales, there is no reason that the whale shark actually needs to surface since they don’t require oxygen. They prefer the surface for its warmth, but may dive down either because they feel threatened or because they want food, in which case they would dive down and then resurface with its mouth wide open to catch plankton and krill. We waited a moment, but this particular whale shark never resurfaced so the spotter plane tracked down some more sharks for us.

By the time we were ready to jump in the water, I could barely sit still I was so overwhelmed with excitement. 16 people were on our boat but only 8 people (plus our guide) are allowed to swim with the shark at any particular time. Therefore our guide was the first one in the water, and the first group was instructed to quietly slide into the water behind her. “Keep your head down!” No sooner had we jumped into the water that the massive whale shark appeared right in front of us. Even though no one could hear me, I was still saying, “oh my goodness, this is unreal!” through my snorkel. All you see underwater is this massive creature swimming towards you, then its mouth opens as big as the windshield of a Greyhound bus and you get a vision of being sucked into its body like Pinocchio. Of course it ducked right underneath us, and as soon as we gained composure, we were racing after it.

After the first group got their chance to swim with the shark, our guide would motion for us to stop and then the next group would drop into the water a slight distance in front of the shark and pick it back up. We would trade back and forth like this a handful of times until the shark finally dove deep below the surface outside of our visibility. Then the plane would indicate our next location for finding a whale shark. Though the spotter planes help, there is no guarantee that any whale sharks will be in the area, even during the peak season, simply because they are wild animals and they decide when and where they want to go. We were extremely lucky to have seen so many whale sharks! What’s even more remarkable is that in one particular snorkeling session, there were 2 whale sharks swimming together. We were frantically swimming trying to keep up with the first one and then all of a sudden another one popped up underneath us. It scared the wits out of me! Only one guide on our boat has seen 2 whale sharks swimming together before and she thought it was probably 3 or so odd years ago… and she takes these tours out almost every day!

Whale sharks are the largest creatures in the sea, the biggest recorded being 18m long! The whale sharks we saw today had not yet reached maturity and ranged from 5-8m in length. (Apparently the really big ones are found around Taiwan!) In addition to its size, the most alluring aspect of whale sharks is its total mystery in the world of marine biology. The migration patterns vary significantly between each individual whale shark and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for their choice of direction. And they usually always travel alone, which made it super cool that we saw 2 together! No one knows where or how they mate or even where they give birth to their young. They don’t know whether the mother cares for her young or if she just leaves them to fend for themselves. Only in the last 5 years did scientists discover that they give birth to live young. A female whale shark was unfortunately hunted down in Taiwan, and when they cut her open, she held 300 fetuses at different stages of development. Such a shame!

The whale shark is listed as “vulnerable” to extinction in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ECOCEAN developed a program through which tourists and tour guides can submit pictures of the whale sharks in order to help keep track of their migration patterns and hopefully learn more about them. Their spots (or “bodyprints”) are as unique as our fingerprints, so they ask that you take a picture on the left side of the whale shark perpendicular to its spotting above its left pectoral fin. They use the same program to map the pattern of spots that NASA uses to record the positioning of stars. After submitting your picture, ECOCEAN will send you an email any time this shark is identified in the future all across the world! I didn’t capture any great images at the correct angle from the left side of the whale sharks, so even though I can’t participate, I still thought this program sounded really cool and worth mentioning. It’s a great way to get everyone involved in learning more about these amazing creatures!

I can’t stop looking at my own pictures!

reef shark swimming with the whale shark

After our experience swimming with the whale sharks, we were given one last snorkeling opportunity along the inner reef. I’ve never been a fan of snorkeling until this trip. I suppose my previous snorkeling experiences have never been comparable to my SCUBA diving experiences, but the Ningaloo Reef was certainly an exception! I saw the stars and stripes pufferfish again, as well as some other interesting sea life. None of those were as exciting as the flounder! I’ve never seen a flounder before, and to be honest I’m fairly surprised I was able to see it this time. As soon as it stopped moving, it was impossible to see. I tried to point it out to a few other people snorkeling, but ended up just having to show them my pictures. So cool!

flounder!

red bell jellyfish

This was truly an amazing day… one I will never forget!!! I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience Ningaloo Reef. Believe the hype!

Coral Bay (Ningaloo Reef)

Yesterday was consumed by our drive from Denham (Shark Bay) to the tiny coastal settlement of Coral Bay. We had heard that Coral Bay was pretty small, but then again, so were all the other towns we’ve been staying in so we didn’t expect it to be that much different. There is literally one road in the whole town, which stretches maybe four or five blocks. As far as I could decipher, the whole of Coral Bay was made up of a small shopping center, two restaurants, a service station, a hotel, two caravan parks, and a backpacker’s hostel. We stayed in the Ningaloo Club… don’t be excited, that’s the name of the hostel. Britt and I came to Coral Bay with the intention of diving with whale sharks, a popular attraction for the Ningaloo Reef between the months of March and July. However the area experienced some bad weather the last two days, which prohibited the whale shark tours from departing. Therefore the people who had signed up for the last two days were rescheduled for the following days, and everything was totally booked out (from all TWO of the snorkeling tour companies). Our hostel receptionist suggested an intriguing alternative for us that we jumped on pretty quickly though: snorkeling with MANTA RAYS! So that was our adventure today.

Around 9am, we received confirmation that the tour had enough people sign up in order for it to depart.. YAY! Britt and I dragged our snorkeling equipment to Coral Bay Adventures, where they shuttled us via bus to a boat ramp a short drive away. Only six of us signed up for the tour… great for us! The boat set off toward the reef, and they let us swim around on a shallow reef while we waited for the spotter plane to take off. In other words, the guides wanted to make sure that everyone actually knew how to swim and use a snorkel. Fair enough. The spotter plane took off around 10am and it wasn’t too long before they found the one and only Manta Ray in the area. They’re fairly easy to spot from above, even in poor visibility, because they prefer the sheltered sandbanks of the inner reef for their food source. I’m glad that they found one, but when the boat caught up to the ray, we discovered there was very low visibility in the area. Bummer! We jumped in the water and were basically chasing a shadow for most of the time. When the guide ducked under the water, that was our signal indicating that we could do the same (so long as we stayed at a distance of 3m away from it).

Britt with the Manta Ray

Manta Rays are the largest species of rays and can grow to have wingspans of over 7m, but the one we were chasing was closer to 4 or 5m. Because of their massiveness, they often are referred to as Devil Rays, even though they are quite harmless. They are bottom and filter feeders, eating plankton and krill. More importantly, they lack the stinging barb over their tail that other rays have! The pictures I took don’t do the creature any justice (darn visibility!), but they certainly live up to their other nickname: Eagle of the Sea. What caught me by surprise was their speed!

Manta Ray

After swimming with the Manta for a good period of time (and I think some of the others became exhausted and dropped back from the group while we kept swimming), they took us to another snorkeling sight. We attempted to go to a shark cleaning station first. It’s simply a popular spot on the reef for sharks to go so that they can get their regular maintenance from the little cleaner fish that pick off all the algae and such that grows on them. The only problem was that there happened to be a tiger shark there, so they weren’t allowed to let us get in the water. It was disappointing news, but I certainly wasn’t keen on swimming with any tiger sharks today! Instead, we found another reef in which we happened to find a pufferfish, some parrotfish, and…. (drum roll)… a SEA TURTLE!

Britt was especially excited because for some reason, every time we happened to see one diving, she was always around the corner or looking at something else.

The current was pretty strong, so it took a great deal of energy just staying in the same place. Clever little guy just ducked right under the reef!

Since it will be awhile before anything else exciting happens in Coral Bay, we decided to kick it and push onward to Exmouth tonight. Hopefully we’ll see some whale sharks soon!

Good ‘Ole Shark Bay

We didn’t have anything in particular planned for today, so we decided to explore all the stops along the World Heritage Drive on the North West Coastal Highway, essentially backtracking as far as the Overlander Roadhouse (130km). The destinations were quite diverse, I must say.

Eagle Bluff

Visitors overlook the clear and shallow waters of Shark Bay Marine Park from high on a boardwalk. You’re supposed to see everything from sharks, rays, turtles, and even dugongs (sea cows) – all of course depending on the season and what not. All we really saw were a few dark patches, over which we debated on making a big scene in order to stir up commotion for the other onlookers. Maybe next time.

Eagle Bluff

Shell Beach

This one was pretty cool! As the name implies, the beach is made up entirely of shells rather than sand. They all come from a creature called the Hamelic Cockle, which is heavily populated in the area due to its especially salty water. The shells have all washed up into massive piles, creating a beach 10m thick of shells, up to 1km wide and many km long!

Shell Beach

Shell Beach

Because they essentially have a never-ending supply of these shells, they have a mine rigged up on the far end of the beach for exporting shells. I figured they were used mainly for architectural purposes, but it turns out they’re also crumbled up and put into chicken feed so that their egg shells become harder. Who’da thunk it?

Hamelin Pool Stromatolites

Stromatolites are colonies of micro-organisms that resemble the oldest forms of life here on Earth. They were present about 3.5 billion years ago, and these stromatolites in Hamelin Pool are thought to be more like 3,000 years old… “the largest and oldest living fossils.” Stromatolites are extremely rare nowadays, but the high salinity in the area makes it a comfortable area for the colonies to grow here. We felt it was necessary to see because everyone made it sound like life started here, but it was a little anti-climactic once we saw them. I wasn’t expecting to shake hands with God or anything, but maybe I was imagining something more dramatic like the Pinnacles; instead they were just rocky lumps in shallow water. But I guess they’re the most basic form of life, so it’s not like they were gonna be completely crazy looking to begin with.  You gotta respect the process.

Stromatolites

A Backpacker’s Night to Remember

At this point, we returned to our home base at the YHA hostel. That pool was the greatest gift anyone could ask for! It was also full of a bunch of other people who had just arrived on an Aussie Wanderer bus (or one of those tours). We befriended a handful of them and then watched the sun set over the ocean. Then conversation turned to going-out plans. Apparently their bus driver was friends with Jamie Morgan, the pearl farmer from the popular Aussie reality TV series “Farmer Wants a Wife.” And Jamie was celebrating something… I thought it was a birthday but I think it was some sort of reunion show. Anyway, the plan for the night was to go to THE bar for a “disco” which then turned into a karaoke night. The Swedish girls sang multiple ABBA songs. I might have sung some Garth Brooks. And we all met Jamie!