A turtle at The Canyon, Ningaloo Reef
I did a one day dive trip with Ningaloo Reef Dive and got a bit closer to the spectacular west coast corals and sea creatures. The highlight was definitely the hard coral structures, but I also saw two turtles, a gorgeous trumpet fish and a nudibranch. Unfortunately the visibility was uncharacteristically low, at about 7 meters, so I didn’t get so many amazing shots. Here’s a sampling.
A hard coral at Coral Bay
For Christmas break I headed to the west coast of Australia for a week. I was meant to go on a road trip stopping at all the major sites between Perth and Exmouth, but due to a hangover-induced oversight I lost my driver’s license at the Darwin airport. After a couple of hours of pure panic at the Perth airport, I realized I could get a bus up to Coral Bay and actually have a pretty good trip regardless of the lack of rental car.
So, after a 15 hour bus trip I arrived at the tiny town (pop. 190) in WA and settled into the friendly Ningaloo Club hostel. The next day the staff directed me to the best snorkeling spot, which happens to be just a few meters off the beach. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can literally walk into a coral reef. Absolutely stunning.
A view of the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road
Near the top of every Australia to-do list is a road trip on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, and it was one of the very first touristy things I did when I arrived. I rented a car with an Australian friend I’d met in Bolivia, and we headed out from Melbourne through Lorne to Apollo Bay, taking a detour to Cape Otway and spending some time in Port Campbell, before getting to Warrnambool and heading back – all in 48 hours. It was a whirlwind, but we saw some beautiful sights along the way, including some wild koalas!. Unfortunately it was too cold to go swimming in May, but we spent some time walking on the beach anyway.
I loved learning about the history of the area – from indigenous tribes and William Buckley to shipwrecks and lighthouses. I learned that the first American vessel to sink in WWII sunk right off of Cape Otway, something I’ll keep in my back pocket in case I’m ever on Jeopardy!
Additionally, there are several great hiking spots along the road, for short walks or longer ones that apparently can take several days. We did a few short walks, but realized at the end of the day that it had added up to quite a trek!
A Yank without a Chain 