We continued our journey down the Coral Coast after departing Exmouth. It’s a big section of coastline, with heaps to do. We knew we’d missed the peak season for Whale Sharks, but as we’d found so far, the Coral Coast still has plenty to offer.
Coral Bay
We arrived in Coral Bay early to pack in as much as we could. We had only booked two nights and were not sure it would be enough. Coral Bay has plenty to do so we got cracking straight after setting up. It was a pretty windy afternoon so we decided that some shorebased activities would be in order.
We took a short trip around town to explore the place, stopping at the sand dunes to get a great view over the whole area. We were able to spot the prime snorkelling spots and figured what we could and couldn’t do. There were quite a few options, but several were only accessible by boat.
Shark Sanctuary
A short beach walk along from the Coral Bay settlement is the Shark Sanctuary. It was a pretty windy afternoon, so we’d hoped it wouldn’t be in vain. It’s a very pleasant walk along the shoreline before it opens into the sanctuary.
We knew that our timing wasn’t going to give us the hundreds of sharks that can be seen during the prime season. But despite the late season, wind and reflection from the sun we still managed to spot a handful of Lemon Sharks. Talking to others out there they recommended a morning return as the sun and wind can be a bit more favourable.
We took their word for it and returned on our last morning. The viewing was certainly better and we were able to spot several more sharks. This time we also were able to spot a couple of the larger sharks, up towards the 2m length.
Coral Crisis
Coral Bay is named for a reason, with a series of coral reefs, both close to the shore and some further out. After some challenging snorkels at Cape Range, we’d hoped for a slightly easier time at Coral Bay. There are three sites accessible from the shoreline; a gentle drift snorkel along the beach, the lavender patch and Ayers Rock.
We started with the drift snorkel and it was certainly more gentle. But it was a shock; the entire coral bed we dead. It was coating in a thickening layer of algae, with the coral hard and white. We were initially unsure but by the time we’d completed the drift we were certain, it was all dead. There was still plenty of fish life, but what would have been otherwise spectacular was dull and saddening. Not a single piece of colour or coral had survived.
We exited and on our walk back asked the kayak kiosk what was going on. We learned the whole sorry tale, the entire inshore reef in the Coral Bay had been killed during a bleaching event earlier this year. If we wanted to see the coral in its glory, we’d need to pay for a boat. The only small consolation was it was a (very unfortunate) natural event, but the coral had at least a five year recovery time ahead. We didn’t’ bother with the lavender patch or Ayers Rock, there would be nothing to see. Interestingly (but perhaps unsurprisingly) the locals weren’t really talking about the bleaching, but there were more than a few disappointed folk around.
Carnarvon
Carnarvon was one of the larger spots we have been in for quite some time. We have been learning as we travelled the more remote parts of Australia that size is a relative thing and with a full size supermarket available was enough to qualify and decent sized for us.
The town itself was nice enough, but we couldn’t really understand how it worked. There was a huge abundance of accommodation, but very few people. We were told even in peak season it rarely is filled. It’s like the glory days have passed. It was a very odd feeling.
We explored some of the historical sites in town, but it was all rather run down. The jetty was closed after falling into disrepair, the historical museum had a couple of mildly interesting things to see from afar, but on closer inspection much of it also looks ready to collapse. We did a small trail behind there, which gave a very interesting of a completely failed meat works and the incredibly sad story of how the local indigenous population was shipped away at the jetty.
Space Centre
The highlight of Carnarvon town was definitely the Space Museum. It turns out Australia has played an important role (in more ways than we realised) in the exploration of space and the missions to the moon. Carnarvon was right at the centre of making these missions a success and the tracking Station was established to support NASA through their space exploration.
What remains has been turned into a great little museum, which does a very good job of telling the story of the space race and the Carnarvon contribution. There was a large amount of original equipment, videos and interviews with people involved and the history of the space race. There were interactive experiences and even a scale model of a lunar landing module.
We spent the best part of a morning there exploring it all. The latest section includes a science and technology section which kept us all entertained. For a volunteer run organisation they have done an excellent job in establishing, maintaining and sharing this history. Even if you cannot stop long in Carnarvon, this would be your one thing to do.
Quobba Point and the Aquarium
Our last activities in Carnarvon were just to the north, where we spent a full day exploring the Quobba Point area. We really focussed on two parts; the Quobba Blowholes and the Aquarium.
The blowholes are pretty self explanatory. In the cliffs there are a series of blowholes along this section of coast. The tide and waves surge in, forcing the water and air up through the rock and into the open air. There is a main blowhole, which erupts the largest and most spectacularly. There are also a series of smaller blowholes, which only erupt on the bigger surges. They seem to blow up from a lower level and need enough pressure to blow through the water itself. We stopped twice, on our way in and out and were able to get plenty of eruptions. The most reliable blowholes we have ever seen.
The remainder of our day was spent at the aquarium. It’s the name given to a relatively shallow and sheltered lagoon which is (surprise, surprise) great for snorkelling. Given our patchy lucky with the snorkelling so far, the Aquarium was great. Being so sheltered made it very pleasant. It was so safe and sheltered we could let the girls snorkel independently and explore for ourselves. There was a good mix of corals and fish, as well as clams, sea stars, anemones and sea urchins. Everyone snorkelled for the longest we’d managed before getting too cold. We had explored almost the whole area before exiting.
The other advantage was it was a nice beach and coastline. So the girls played in the shallows and sand while they warmed up and the adults got a beach walk in. The whole place was quiet to, with only a few others to share the space.
Our time on the Coral Coast was great. We came to snorkel and were certainly able to do that. Although the weather might have been better (the strong winds continue to haunt us) and visiting earlier would have coincided with the whale and shark season, the quieter period meant we were not crushed by the crowds. A worthwhile trade-off in our view.