Ningaloo Reef-Turquoise Bay

Look Nana, my snorkel you gave me

Look at that water,Crystal

Loving the sand,Miss Lily

Lighthouse

Yes, off to the Ningaloo Reef and ready to go by 8.30am, dropped by the bakery for fresh bread and  wanted to pick up an underwater camera to use while snorkelling. The pharmacy didn't open until 9 am so we had to wait. Headed out to the national park and pay the pass to allow us in $11.  There are many spots to visit in the park but we headed to Turquoise Bay , a great spot for snorkelling. You either go to the drift loop or the bay loop. We thought we'll do the drift loop , at least first anyway. Mark and boys headed straight up and out to the reef. To describe the reef is just amazing, a real turquoise / blue bay and only metres off the shore are the fish.  Oliver was back and not happy, he came across a gigantic fish and freaked out. I'm not doing that, there's so  many fish. Well that's the whole idea, Oliver , coming here. I then decided to have a go and snorkel. haven't done this since i was a teenager.  Started out and it was wow, look at all the fish,small blue ones, and even 'Dory' from the movie 'Finding Nemo'. Dylan and I stayed close together and screamed at each other when we came across a very long thin eel, which at the time I thought was a snake. Dylan kept trying to yell at me through his snorkel,'look at that,look at that'. The coral was all different beautiful colours too,purples,blues,oranges,browns and greens. I kept drifting down and trying to stay in the one spot to snorkel but due to the current was very hard. I decided after awhile to drift down and back to Oliver and Lily and even at the shore line there were fish. The boys remained in the Bay for another 40mins or so. We thought as lunch was nearing we would drive to Yardie Creek which is the furtherest in the national park and check that out as well. A lovely spot under the shaded trees on the beach at Yardie Creek and then to have a walk to Yardie Gorge only 1.2km walk. Mark had said "there might be turtles at the end,Lily", just so she would walk. No, that didnt quite happen, shoulders it was. We reached the end and it was beautiful to see the Creek and the Bay from a distance together, this is the only creek that is full all year round. We were the only ones there and then all of a sudden a turtle popped his head up, and then another. That was like Mark had ordered them to do so when we were there. Now a trip back to Turquoise Bay once again and then we'll go to the another Bay, Dylan couldn't wait to snorkel again. Lily not keen on the water even though its crystal blue like a swimming pool. Oliver tried again but he just couldn't snorkel, Mark was being a little harsh and trying to force him. He'll do it in his own good time. They thought that it was better around at the Drift loop, so MArk and Dylan went around there to snorkel once again. After about 40mins Dylan came back and was so excited to tell me, they saw a turtle and they swam with it for about 5 mins. The turtle was probably the size of Dylan's chest,its shell. He was spotted on the bottom of the water in between two pieces of coral. Dylan was saying that this has now been the highlight of his trip so far. I had forgotten to mention just after my dive, they had spotted a white tip reef shark, and Mark tried to keep up with that but it swam away. As the boys swam with the turtle,Dylan had said he could watch how he swam and he only used his front flippers as if he was flying. All I can think of is in the movie'Finding Nemo', the turtle says"Ride the waves dude". How wonderful for them to be able to do that, I was so happy for them and Dylan's smile was just beaming. We thought we better make a move back and stopped off at the lighthouse, way up on a hill overlooking the bay,so we then could see whales. We saw about 15 whales at different times and could see their spurt of water come up and then their tail come down. Now that was another magical moment. Back to camp to do the usual,dinner and as the park was beside us Lily played with the boys and Lily had met some other smaller boys that she loved to play with called NElson and Lincoln. Bed early,big day.