What The Edsalls Are Up To: Exmouth, Western Australia

We had quite a trip. The drive north wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. We all slept, snacked, sang our favorite songs, and watched DVDs. After roughly 1,300 kilometres (around 800 miles) of red sand, termite mounds, and kangaroo carcasses, we arrived at our destination.

Exmouth was built in the 1960's. The US Navy needed a communtication station in the area. So they built a Naval base and the town of Exmouth was built beside it.

Our Best Western was once Naval barracks and was located right beside the base, which is now largely deserted. The hotel was alright. The room had a queen bed and a set of bunkbeds (which the kids found THRILLING), and a little kitchen and dining table. Just right for us and our busy trip. The hotel had a pool, spa, alfresco bbq area, and 2 resident emus named Stupid and Bullmouth. D was delighted at hearing one emu was named Stupid. This is, of course, a word she is not allowed to use normally. So, using it when referring to the emu was a real thrill for her. On any given day of the trip, she asked/said/stated, "Where's Stupid? I wonder where Stupid is. Is Stupid over there? Watch out for Stupid's poo on the ground! Let's find Stupid. Hey, there's Stupid!" She enjoyed every minute of it.

So here's a brief run down of our first 3 days in Exmouth, and a few photos. As you may have read the the previous post, underwater whaleshark photos will posted at a later date.

Day 1: Groceries (not very exciting, but necessary), a dip in the pool, and meeting friends at the beach.

Jumping in to daddy is always a favorite activity.

C really got the hang of his swim ring.

The kids spent lots of their beach time making birthday cake for daddy. mmmm!

But there's always time for making sand angels.

And a run around the beach to search for seashells.

Day 2: Whaleshark snorkeling tour!!!This experience was the highlight of the trip.

Whaleshark info:

The mass spawning of more than 200 species of coral

in March and April each year is part of a chain of biological

events that heralds the arrival of the world's largest fish,

the whaleshark to Ningaloo Reef. These gentle giants cruise

the world's oceans in search of concentrations of plankton.

A fully grown whaleshark can reach up to 18 meters in

length, bur more commonly, individuals encountered at

Ningaloo Reef are between 4 and 12 meters long. A 12 meter

whaleshark may weigh as much as 11 tons and a mouth

more than a meter wide.

We were out at sea all day, starting off with some snorkeling in the shallow to view the coral.

Once a spotter plane had located a whaleshark, we boarded the boat again and set off to find our gentle giant of the sea. C wasn't feeling the mask and snorkel, so he stayed on the boat.

We were given lots of instruction from the guides. We were required to stay 3 meters from the whaleshark, 4 meters from her tail, and to avoid swimming directly in front of her. That all seemed fine and easy to me.
And then we arrived at the whaleshark, which is MUCH larger than I even imagined and everyone gets all excited and the masks and snorkels and fins go on and the first group lines up and everyone's adreneline is pumping and in you go!

Except, (as readers may remember from my Great Barrier Reef blog) C likes to sleep a lot when we are on vacation. And so for the first little while I sat in the cabin with a little boy sound asleep on my lap. It was still exciting and after T returned from the water, out of breath and grinning from ear to ear, it was my turn. I passed our son to him, suited up, and in I went.

The boat tries to drop you beside the whaleshark, but also ahead of it, so that you sort of see it while it swims by and you are to swim along side. But, it's a whaleshark and it can go where ever it wants. I entered the water, got my bearings, and put my mask in the water. Hello whaleshark! I was right smack in front of her. It was an uncomfortable feeling and anyone hovering directly above my snorkel would have heard some choice words of surprise. But the guide was right beside me and so I quickly swam with him to place myself in a better position.

We took turns, T and I, going in the water and trying to keep up with our whaleshark. We were in 75 meter deep water so there were waves and not ideal conditions for the kids so they stayed aboard the boat.

You can see the whaleshark in this photo above, the gray shape in the water, with the people swimming around it. The guide would show us where to be by holding their arm straight up out of the water. You can see the outstretched arm of our guide below. Follow her!

Mac liked the little whaleshark so much, we're on a quest to find one at the store.
Once our time with the whaleshark was up, they served a great buffet lunch, and we went to more shallow waters for more snorkeling. The group on the previous day had seen dugongs in the area so we tried to find them again, but no luck.

Day 3: We hit the beach and saw a wonderful sunset.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a drive from Exmouth to some of the nicer beaches in the area. We drove to Cape Range National Park and discovered Lakeside Beach. It was a nice place for the kids to play and the parents to snorkel.

D out for a swim.