Coral Bay

After a pleasant first evening in Coral Bay, it was time for serious business. In Coral Bay, you can snorkel at a beautiful reef, and what it’s even more famous for are the tours with Whale Sharks and Manta Rays. Whale Sharks are large sharks that feed solely on plankton and can grow up to twenty meters long. The Manta Rays are the largest rays in the world. It was a unique opportunity to see these animals in the wild and swim with them. We gathered information at one of the many visitor centers but decided to hold off on the boat tours for now. The tours were costly and currently out of our budget. However, we promised ourselves that we would return after finding work somewhere.

Linde booked a scenic flight over Coral Bay for herself. Since Coral Bay is renowned for its coral reef, we immediately jumped into the water to go snorkeling. Linde booked a Glass Bottom Boat tour so that she didn’t have to get wet but could still enjoy the fish and coral. Inez and I let ourselves be carried along by the current and enjoyed the beautiful coral. We saw many large and different species of fish. When we went snorkeling a second time, we convinced Linde to join us in the water and guided her.

After some initial hesitation, Linde started to enjoy it more and more. In the end, we spent nearly three hours in the water. We extended our stay at the campsite for one more night, took showers, and updated our blog in the camp kitchen. The kitchen was modern and had air conditioning, which came in handy at 35 degrees Celsius. At the campsite, we met a Belgian family and watched the sunset at Coral Bay together.

We all felt like doing something different than just water and the beach. Linde’s time with us was running out, and giving her some more variety was more enjoyable. The outback was hot and challenging, but we decided to give it another chance (after our first failed attempt at camping in Francois Peron National Park). Giralia was a stop on the way to the famous Karijini National Park. We didn’t have enough time to visit the park with Linde, but we could still spend the night in a remote spot in the red sand of the outback.

A homestead offered us a cheaper camping spot. It was 48 degrees Celsius in the shade here. We set up our tent, but Linde was too hot and opted for an air-conditioned room. There was a slight breeze that provided some relief. Due to the dozens of flies, we quickly decided to set up our fly net as well. The heat was unbearable, and we sought refreshment in the swimming pool. It felt so good! We played board games all afternoon and had dinner together at the tent. The sunset was gorgeous here. At night, the temperature dropped to only 32 degrees Celsius. Linde enjoyed her air-conditioned room while we were sweating in our tent 😀 We’re proud that we always choose our tent no matter the circumstances.

The next morning, we made delicious banana pancakes with peanut butter together. We had the luxury of taking it easy in the morning because we didn’t have to leave the campsite at 10 a.m. Once the sun came out, it was too hot to do anything. We drove back to Coral Bay for Linde’s scenic flight. On our way back, the sky became increasingly cloudy. When we arrived in Coral Bay, it was completely overcast. Luckily, Linde was able to reschedule her flight for the next day. We had a relaxed day at the campsite, where we did our laundry, worked on our blog, enjoyed the tranquility, and mostly did nothing. The camp kitchen with air conditioning was once again the best spot. It was Linde’s last day tomorrow, so we went out for a drink together.