After a much calmer night , we watched as the sun came up looking from the bedroom window . Up for breakfast , then a walk along the beach . As we passed the lagoon behind us , we could see shovel nose rays swimming around ( they were only about 400mm long ) . There were many fish as well , they can only access this small inlet at high tide .
As we walked , we found some fishing line , sinker , hook & swivels washed up on the beach , so we picked that up to put in the bin . We also found a steel - knife sharpening device - washed up on the beach , we brought that back as well . The amount and type of sea shells is amazing here , there is also a lot of small coral and the occasional large piece of coral as well .
The sand on the beach made it a bit of a workout , there appeared to be nowhere that you could walk on firmer sand , with your feet sinking 5 to10cm into the sand with each step .
As the day was looking good and there was very little wind , we headed off to Yardie Creek again . It was good weather for being in the kayak . The terrain as you drive down is stunning , with cliff lines & hills to the left and low scrubby flat areas leading to the ocean on your right .
Arriving at the boat ramp , we unloaded and set up , within 10 mins we were off up the creek - with 2 paddles and it wasn’t that creek !! The orange walls also glowed in the sunlight and was an amazing paddle .
As we got further up the gorge , the walls got taller , you could see where birds have been making their nests for a long time . There were 2 osprey on top off the cliffs as we went past, they flew down and into their nest a bit later . Rock wallabies were visible occasionally, but the reflections of the walls in the water was terrific !!
We reached the end of the water and turned & came back , letting the light breeze and a random paddle from us , move us down the creek back toward the ocean .
Back to the boat ramp , we decided to check out the entrance to the lagoon protected from the main ocean by the reef , before we knew it we were out in the lagoon and crashing through small waves caused by the tide - all was good untill one of the waves crashed on the front of the kayak and straight onto Lyn’s lap !!! we had a bit of a laugh about that one !!! at least the water was warm and it was a nice day ! We don’t do very much ocean paddling , probably for that reason , and a few others hahaha .
Heading back in we even got to catch a couple of the small waves to assist our trip back in - added to the excitement a bit !!
That will go down as one of our most enjoyable paddles - it was only about 1.3klms up and then back , and also out into the lagoon , but it was super quiet up the end and really peaceful with great scenery !!!
We had lunch with a couple of people from the campsite , who were down for the creek cruise -they cruised past us .
Time to change from on the water to in & under the water . We drove first to Oyster Stacks - a popular snorkelling site - but went further to Turquoise Bay and snorkelled the Drift trail a few times. This photo is Oyster Stacks .
On entering the water , the first thing I noticed was the current - you didn’t have to swim just let the current take you over the coral , and it did just that ! There were thousands of fish , tiny to quite large and lots of different varieties as well . There was a lot of variety in the coral as well , with some soft coral there also - the photo’s can explain it better .Look for the camouflaged fish in the 2nd photo !!
With that done , we headed back for the day and had a nice shower . Chatting to some of the campers and playing a game of Clop , the afternoon disappeared into the sunset , which was pretty good as well . Our friends Suzie & Colin arrived finally , with Tim & Leanne - they were a day late due to breaking an axle on their camper out in the middle of WA somewhere - but weren’t going to miss the cruise tomorrow .
Stay tuned !!!
No comments:
Post a Comment