Hello again - We've been back home for over 2 months now but I have some unfinished business... the last blog! Prepare yourselves... it's quite the long one.
After leaving Perth (and unfortunately the quokkas) we flew north to Exmouth - a small town on the edge of the desert. More importantly it is the gateway to the Ningaloo, Australia's largest fringing coral reef and the only large reef in the world close to land. So close you can swim to it from shore at certain points. Flying from Perth over the red desert to Exmouth was our first glimpse of the true outback. Can confirm there isn't a lot in between Perth and Exmouth... and they are 12 hours apart by car. Once we got closer to Exmouth seeing the contrast of the red dirt meeting the crystal blue waters was quite a site to behold.
Ningaloo Vlog
The main reason this blog took forever... procrastinating compiling over a 100 clips from our GoPro haha. Here's a summary of our week on the Ningaloo in video format:
Around Exmouth
Exmouth as I said is a small town on the edge of the outback, with just over 2000 permanent residents. In high season the tourist definitely outnumber the residents but we came in the shoulder season. The center of town is about 45 minutes from the Learmonth airport and has several shops, grocery stores, and restaurants. There's also lots of tour companies as the Ningaloo is famous for the Whale Sharks that migrate here every year and of course snorkeling / diving.
We didn't go a day without being in the ocean for the week we were here. We would either be picked up by a tour bright and early or head off on our own. Then we'd pass out early and do it all again :)
Beautiful sunrise outside our resort
Exmouth may be known for the Whale Sharks but the true blue resident is the emu! We'd never seen an emu in the wild and ended up seeing one almost every day in Exmouth. This one below walked through our resort while we were waiting for the dive bus to pick us up :) He wasn't too interested in us, just casually strolling around. We would see groups of them in town.
Unfortunately we did not get an emu selfie, which apparently is even trickier than the quokka selfie :) I began to feel slightly guilty for having that emu burger back in Melbourne...
Diving the Ningaloo
We knew going back to Australia we had to include the West Coast, and one of the main attractions for us as divers was the Ningaloo. It's Australia's West Coast version of the Great Barrier Reef and definitely lives up to the rumors we heard on how pristine it is and full of sea life. Unfortunately the week we were here there was a cyclone way off the coast to the northwest... it did impact our visibility underwater but can't control that. We still enjoyed all of our dives! Apparently rain is very rare in Exmouth so it was pretty fun to see the locals enjoying it so much (including the emus)... we saw kids kayaking in the ditches along the road haha.
The dive shop we chose offered three different double dive outings so we decided to try out all three. Our first excursion took us to the Muiron Islands, a pair of islands northeast of Exmouth headed away from the Ningaloo. The Muiron Islands are known more for their coral structures and we ended up seeing lots of nuddibranches, sailfin catfish, and more. Again visibility was just lower than normal with the cyclone.
The next day we hopped on the boat again and dove the Ningaloo! We saw tons of fish, a couple rays, a wobbegong shark, turtles, etc. Oh yeah... and a sea snake?!? Have to admit I freaked out a little when I first saw him swimming around... I mean it looks like an actual snake just underwater with you and it was probably 3 feet long. Definitely not my favorite underwater sighting but it was a first haha.
So cute
So not cute
The third dive the company offered was the Navy Pier dive and it's said to be one of the top ten dives in all of Australia. Sounded pretty impressive so we knew we had to do it! The Navy Pier is an active Navy Pier used by the US Navy so we had to follow strict guidelines to get on the pier... bringing out IDs and keeping our phones in our bags since no photos were allowed above the water. It was pretty funny when our bus pulled up to the gate and called the main office to let us in the guy said "you guys wanna go swimming?" haha.
The Navy Pier has become an artificial reef and we'd never seen that much variety of sea life in one spot! It was incredible swimming by schools of different fish left and right, turtles, wobbegongs, reef sharks, sailfin catfish, etc. Definitely an unforgettable dive we want to go back and do and hopefully have better visibility.
Showing part of the pier structure
Wobbegong shark
The pier itself has an interesting history... in 1967 the US Navy commissioned the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Station. The US Navy planned to build 13 radio towers that would provide low frequency radio transmissions to the US Navy and the Royal Australian Navy ships and submarines. In order to bring the materials into this remote region of Australia the pier was constructed first.
View of the Navy Pier from above
There were very few Australians in the region at the time so it was even more isolated than it is now. In order to make it feel more like home during the years of building the radio towers the Americans also built a bowling alley, bar, and more. All the cars drove on the right hand side of the road and US dollars were used as currency. Eventually the management of the base transitioned to the Australians but the US Navy still supplies the fuel for the towers during their annual visit. Diving the pier is obviously not available when a ship is in port :) Thankfully that isn't very often! It was interesting how Exmouth kind of began that way and more people moved there to help run the base.
Whale Sharks
Outside of the amazing diving on the Ningaloo our #1 priority was to see the whale sharks that migrate here every year! Apparently the ones that come to the Ningaloo are mainly juveniles, but even the small ones are 20-26 feet long with some getting up to 40 feet long!
In order to see the whale sharks you can only snorkel with them, not dive. The reason for that became clear when we got out there and experienced how fast they can swim! No way you could keep up with them diving. There are many snorkel boats but all of the companies worked seamlessly together so we all were able to take turns and see the sharks. Definitely a smooth operation but quite a long day.
Justin in his stinger suit :)
The tour started off with a practice snorkel since everyone has different experience levels and the guides wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable in the water. Not 5 minutes into the snorkel we ended up seeing our very first octopus hiding on one of the corals!
Justin getting a video of the octopus
All of the snorkel companies share two spotter planes that locate any sharks near the surface. It's kind of a game of luck in that the boat has to get to the shark while the shark is still at the surface. A whale shark can easily get a little frightened and dive down very deep where they are impossible to see. So it took a few hours to actually get close to a shark and get the whole group in the water... but wow... it was totally worth it! I will never forget the guide saying "look down!" and popping my head in the water to see a 26 foot whale shark coming right towards us. It was incredible... they are such beautiful giants!
We were given instructions to stay a certain distance from them as not to spook them, and the idea was once their side fin passes you to start swimming to keep up with them. It was a workout! haha. It was amazing just swimming alongside them looking at their beautiful patterns and taking in just how big they are. One of the crew members was a professional photographer and got some awesome shots.
Whale sharks only feed on plankton so they are usually swimming with their mouths open, which is a little wild looking when they are coming towards you!
That's Justin and I in the background!
It was an incredible day out on the water swimming with the whale sharks! The afternoon ended with a nature cruise through the Ningaloo with more facts about whale sharks and some champagne to top it off :)
Coral Bay
On one of our non-tour days we drove out to Coral Bay to snorkel the Ningaloo from shore. Coral Bay is about a 90 minute drive from Exmouth and you are literally driving through the desert... passing nothing but termite mounds to get there. It made for a LONG drive with no references haha.
And when I say termite mounds... they are giant termite mounds! If you remember the Pinnacles from Perth, I was joking that these are the pinnacles of the Ningaloo haha.
But once we made it to Coral Bay the Ningaloo greeted us with the turquoise colors I was hoping for! It was kind of cool seeing the blue skies on one side and the dark clouds off in the distance. Silver linings :)
Looking out over Coral Bay
The flies also greeted us... slightly less welcome than the turquoise water though I will say lol.
To get out to the further mooring lines we decided to rent a double kayak... it was pretty neat hooking the kayak to the mooring and jumping in to snorkel. One thing we didn't think about is how hard it is to get back on said kayak ahaha. I literally had a bruise on my leg from slamming into it too hard.
We'd heard from the dive masters there was a coral formation called "Ayre's Rock", a play on the actual Ayer's Rock... the big red rock in the middle of Australia. After getting a heading from the kayak person and swimming around asking other snorkelers we finally found it... it was huge! You can see it better in the youtube video I made.
Cape Range National Park
The day we'd originally planned to dive the Navy Pier we got all the way
out to the pier and the dive master decided it was a no go... she
couldn't see her fins the visibility was so poor. Not wanting to waste
the day we borrowed some snorkel gear from the dive shop and drove around the north end to Cape Range National Park. From this side you can access the north end of the Ningaloo, further north from Coral Bay. There is a turtle nesting site (we just missed the season), tons of beach access points, and camping areas in the park.
Turquoise Bay (+ stormy clouds)
The weather was threatening to rain on us the whole day but it was kind of neat to see the storms out in the distance with how flat the terrain is. Turquoise Bay wasn't quite as turquoise as I was hoping but we were still able to enjoy it and gives us another reason to return! We did a drift snorkel there from one end of the beach to the other.
The rain finally hit when we were about to snorkel a site called the oyster stacks, so we waited out the rain in the car and ventured out after. The entry to the water here was tricky as it was all rocks, kind of a rock wall with the tide moving in and out. The best time to snorkel the oyster stacks is at high tide but we could still see them from shore they were so built up!
On our way out of the park I noticed something moving on the side of the road so we slowed down... it was a dingo! This was the first wild one we've seen but we heard there are packs of them especially in Cape Range National Park. Apparently you can hear them at night. I chose to stay in the car for these pictures :)
Sunset
We heard from the locals a must do is to see the sunset from Vlaming Head Lighthouse. After snorkeling all day we cleaned up and headed back out to the lookout point. The lighthouse offers an uninterrupted view of the cape with ocean views all around... it was stunning.
It was actually our last night on the Ningaloo and it was the perfect way to end the week... we absolutely loved our time here. Everything seems to slow down around here with a lifestyle centered on being in the ocean as much as possible. The dive crew members dive and snorkel on their days off, never getting enough of what awaits on the reef. While we were there I kept thinking in another life I could see myself living here as a dive instructor... just soaking in each day out on the water. It's almost a more natural(?) existence... living so close to nature in such an isolated part of the world. I find when I'm outside every day I'm so much more focused on the present moment, not worrying about the things that often take up your mind space that aren't as important (like clothes/shopping/etc). Not a worry in the world on the Ningaloo except if there's a dingo nearby!
Looking out over Cape Range National Park
And really... does it get any more beautiful? I love the contrast of the red earth and the blue water.
Yep... in this moment I never wanted to leave this place...
Ningaloo Scenic Flight
I know I've mentioned the weather a lot but with the cyclone way off the coast we didn't get to experience the Ningaloo's turquoise waters as much as I was hoping. It's uncontrollable but if there are options to make it better well, why not? The weather was literally perfect the day we were leaving so we booked a last minute scenic flight ahead of our flight back to Perth... and I'm soooo glad we did. It's one of the best ways to see the area and take in how gorgeous the Ningaloo is from all angles!
There's that turquoise water... I love seeing the desert meeting the reef. The icing on the cake was that we actually saw 4 whale sharks down below! The plane we took does the spotting for the tours in the afternoons so we were able to see what they see and how they spot the sharks. The whale sharks look pretty small from up above :)
Ahhh I really didn't want to leave! I was tempted to cancel all our plans and stay another week but it was time to start making our way back home... this isn't goodbye only see you later Ningaloo :)
Sydney
To get back to Raleigh from Exmouth would be quite the journey... you'd fly back to Perth, then to Sydney, then to LA or Texas, and finally back to Raleigh. It would be an almost 40 hour long journey. Um... no thank you. So of course our solution was to stay in Sydney again, I mean are you surprised?
Sunrise at Bondi
We didn't do anything crazy, we were honestly so tired from the Ningaloo jam packed week that we took it easy in Sydney. In fact the weird thing is it felt like coming back to a home away from home. We now recognize street names and neighborhoods, and could get somewhere without looking at google maps in certain areas. It was fun just feeling like a local for the last week there.
View from our airbnb
We enjoyed waking up for sunrise one morning, walking from Bondi to Bronte and back. This coastline will never get old, if I lived here I'd walk it every day.
Our week here went by fast, and again it was bittersweet to have to leave Australia. Half of me was wanting to be back in Raleigh obviously to see everyone and get back to some normalcy, and the other half of me was really sad to leave this country. Honestly it's been so unexpected how much we love Australia, but not all that surprising now that we've been. I think it was going into that first adventure in 2016 not knowing what to expect that it kind of took us by surprise.
With this second adventure our love for Oz only grew... exponentially. I know it's a place we will continue to return to for the rest of our lives. It really is that special to us and I'm so grateful for the time we've had here so far. Distance is not an issue when you love a place this much! So, it's not goodbye only see you soon Australia :) We can't get enough of you! There's still so much more to see (and things to see more than once)!
Maui
This is turning into one giant post on how we got home lol. From Sydney the perfect halfway point is Hawaii, and you don't have to twist our arms to stop there. However, we did decide it's not the best on the way back as it means taking two red eyes... one to Hawaii and then from Hawaii back to Raleigh. We chose to return to the resort we stayed at in Maui for our wedding.
First stop... Foodland poke!!
I really enjoyed experiencing the resort this time from a different perspective... it was nice to just relax and enjoy it purely as a guest and without the wedding in the back of my mind. Granted it was also sad because we missed everyone... definitely not the same without the company.
We didn't want to plan much for our stopover so the only goal was the Road to Hana. We picked the mid-point of our stay in Maui so we would have the most energy lol. We drove our rental car and I bought an app that guides you through the drive as you pass certain checkpoints. The app added a lot to the journey learning little bits of history and cool facts along the way.
The drive itself was very relaxing... definitely not scary like some of the reviews I'd read. Maybe we've just driven on a lot of different types of roads but the switchbacks here were not bad at all. We also got to the start around 9am so that helped to beat the traffic.
Earlier in the trip my laptop lock screen was this beautiful picture of rainbow trees. Looking at the location it said they could be found in Maui and are called the Rainbow Eucalyptus - I immediately added it to my travel wishlist :)
They were so beautiful in person too! They really are rainbow colored, such a beautiful mix of hues going all the way up the trunks. The app actually helped us find them since they are just on the side of the road or down a small nature walk.
We stopped at the Keanae Lookout, the views back towards the road were beautiful and we picked up some of the famous banana bread :)
Somewhere along the road
Another stop just past the halfway point is the Upper Waikani Falls, there are so many waterfalls just along the road to Hana which is pretty neat.
One downside of our early journey was we got to the Nahiku Marketplace too early for lunch... so we picked up some smoothies and coconut candy. So yummy!
Just after that marketplace we officially made it to Hana! It's definitely about the journey not the destination - Hana is a very small, quaint town with not a whole lot to see.
We stopped at the Waianapanapa State Park just inside Hana to see the famous black sand beach. The coastline here was so unique... all black volcanic rock. By the way it really sucks to stub your toe on volcanic rock... which I did more than once *sigh*.
Honokalani Beach
It was pretty wild seeing a black sand beach, the sand itself was very coarse so didn't stick to you like normal sand. The other weird part was because of the contrast you could see a small line of plastic where the water line was. It's probably on all beaches but typically blends in.
We continued along the volanic rock coastline (this is where I continuously stubbed my toe... still worth it). I would suggest not wearing flip flops.
I really loved the contrast of the black rock and bright green foliage.
Haleakala in the distance
After the black sand beach and stopping for delicious fish tacos, we drove around to a spot where I thought we'd be able to hike for a bit. We ended up on a shorter hike near Kauiki Head, and found a red sand beach along the way. The red sand was coarse like the black sand beach.
Next the road led us to Hamoa Beach... The coastline kind of opened up here after all the volcanic rock into a large sandy beach. It was beautiful!
From there we headed to the Pools at 'Ohe'o hoping to swim in them, but unfortunately they were closed. Still cool to see though and do the short walk walk to get to them.
The pools are typically the end of the Road to Hana, our app suggested we turn around and head back the way we came. I did a lot of research and I'm not suggesting everyone do this but we decided to keep going onto the unpaved part and around the back side of Haleakala. I'm so glad we did, it was really cool to see that side of Maui. This is where it started to feel like a more adventurous drive haha. Definitely would not be safe in the rain or if it had rained recently though. The switchbacks took us around steep rocky cliffs that had the metal grating along the sides to prevent rocks falling on the cars.
The landscape then opened up and led us through an interesting part of Maui... much less tropical and lush. It reminded me more of the Big Island.
Island goats!
This part looked like New Zealand
We loved the Road to Hana... it's a full on day though and took us over 10 hours from Kaanapali. We spent the rest of our time on Maui relaxing and more low key.
The photographer himself <3
Can't beat a Maui sunset!
Goofing off at the pool :)
We headed back to the south end of the island and stopped at Wailea Beach this time as I was curious about the resorts there. I didn't like that there was really one main beach and it doesn't connect as well as the boardwalk in Kaanapali. Still beautiful though! From there we spent the rest of the afternoon at our favorite beaches we've found in Maui... Big and Little Beach :)
Wailea Beach
Makena Cove
Every evening these birds would come say hi to us :)
On our last evening we got takeout from the fish market and headed to the beach we got married on for sunset. It was the perfect ending to this journey.
Ironwood Beach at sunset
Not even sure how to end this... I like calling it a journey instead of a trip. I get so emotional with goodbyes no matter what type - jobs, people, trips, etc. This was no different even though we were both excited to be home to see our friends/family. It's hard to explain sometimes but it's the feeling of wanting to be in two places - to be home and on this adventure at the same time.
This is how that feeling is expressed haha
I thought before this second journey to Australia it would never live up to the first, I mean how could it? I was so wrong. Both were unique like any trip, they were equally incredible and life altering. This time we were more experienced, two years older, and went about the actual logistics of the trip in a different way in terms of staying in each place much longer. I will never forget either that's for sure. So incredibly grateful for being able to do this again, thank you to all of you who followed our journey! Come visit us next time we go back :)
Heading into the final flights
I will end this as I did last time... I'm so happy to be home, and so happy to have been. Australia... you're a legend!
💙
Sarah
"You may not end up where
you thought you were going,
but you will always end up
where you were meant to be"
~Unknown
