#28,29,30 Exmouth - whale sharks

Well I survived the boat trip, but on the way to Exmouth "we" had to survive a kidney-stone attack...

There were hints of a stone a day or so before but it went "away" and then came back on the road to Exmouth - and there isn't a lot of anything "on the way to Exmouth" so that was a bit tricky!  Joseph managed to find his pills, in pain, as we drove along, but there were a few different pills and we couldn't remember exactly what they were for so we called our on-duty pharmacist.  "She" said we could call any hour of the day or night - "just call", "she" said!  (I think that's what she said.)  So we called my friend Carol (Field) and she dispensed the critical information from the other side of the country.  Before the pills started to work there were a couple of stops while he vomited and I smiled at the passers-by but he made it to the caravan park and to our site with it's own ensuite bathroom (that was critical at this point) and then voilà it was gone! A miracle? Un milagro? Or a testament to Oxycontin? We were just grateful to have Carol as a friend.

So here we are in Exmouth and the main reason we are here is for Joseph to snorkel with the whale sharks, and now also, for me to do a glass-bottom boat tour to see the Coral. 

                  Joseph went off on his tour -  snorkelling with his trusty "sleeve" 

Provide your own caption!

and even though it was windy and rough they went past the reef into the huge swells and found the "beautiful" whale sharks (I must admit the stuffed ones at the store were pretty cute) and he loved every minute of it including; minor sea sickness, being hauled in and out of the boat with one arm and a swim with a dugong (which is not so common).

Spotted the whale sharks!

There they are! ... the black spots!

The lovely whale shark

Dugong with" hangers on"!

There were all sorts of people on the boat including two young girls (~10) who had no problem snorkelling Joseph said - I don't care - I had a lovely day doing laundry and sitting in the shade.

There's those young girls (on the right) - big deal!

Joseph's lunch

Joseph's tour

On the boat he met a couple from Spain who were also at our caravan park so he invited them over for drinks.  They were lovely, although they could have escaped convicts and I still would have enjoyed talking to somebody different.  But they weren't  - they were from the north-west of Spain, near Bilbao  and their English was very good and we enjoyed quite a bit of wine with Maika and Miguel . Except for Miguel who can't drink alcohol because not so long ago Miguel survived an 8-metre fall that left him with not just a leg that didn't work so well, but also a brain injury and he was pretty much starting life all over again and couldn't start drinking for another 18 years!! 

That's Miguel next to Joseph and Maika in the blue top.

A lovely breeze sprung up during the night and while it cooled us off nicely (it was 35c during the day) it made me even more nervous about my boat trip that morning.  

Jill's tour!

I took a couple of pills (thanks Mrs. Murray (Ottawa Senator's)) and thank goodness there was a father and son waiting for the tour who were also nervous and so the guide was very good at putting us all at ease and really, with the reef off-shore it was very protected where we were going.  I don't know if the pills worked, but I almost enjoyed the hour with the different kinds of coral, the sea turtle (!!) and the amazing fish and I finally understood what Joseph was going on about.

Exmouth was previously an American army base, complete with roads and cars driving on the wrong side of the road. They finally left a few years ago and left behind a decent airport and some serious wireless antennas. It was also a fairly strategic site for the Australian Army during WWII. Now it was a serious tourist and fishing spot and so we had some pretty yummy fish (sand whiting- my new favourite), seafood (the best scallops since LaPointe's in Ottawa Joseph declared) and chips.

Not sure if you can see the huge antennas in the distance - you can see why it was such a strategic point... it's about the most westerly point of Australia.

Cockies at the campsite - our neighbours!

Next stop - Karajini National Park and NO power - oh joy!