Escape to the Coral Coast

[JohnM]

And, as the good Lord intended, the sun setting PERfectly - over the ocean...

 

[VPS]

Those skies look very blue. What maps are you using?

 

[JohnM]

Que?

‘tis normal here...

 

[Major]

Any more Crays yet ?

 

[JohnM]

Any more Crays yet ?

Ningaloo Reef is WH-listed and is a marine sanctuary. Beside that, I think this is too far north for crays.

The inner gulf is a significant prawn production area.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Great stuff. We did some Optical Disk Touch Screen interactives for Ningaloo and the marine park many years ago and I've always wanted to visit that area. Maybe one day.

 

[Daver6]

Any more crays yet ?

Ningaloo Reef is WH-listed and is a marine sanctuary. Beside that, I think this is too far north for crays.

The inner gulf is a significant prawn production area.

There you go then. I fixed the original question to cater for the available wildlife.

 

[JohnM]

And as I was saying...

 

[drron]

No this is a big prawn.
.

30 feet high weighing 40tons it has the title of the World's largest artificial prawn.
Originally built in 1989 on top of a service station it was meant to be demolished in 2009 because the highway by passed the town.

The public wanted to keep their prawn so it now sits with another Australian icon-Bunnings at Ballina.

 

[RB]

No this is a big prawn.
View attachment 221098.

30 feet high weighing 40tons it has the title of the World's largest artificial prawn.
Originally built in 1989 on top of a service station it was meant to be demolished in 2009 because the highway by passed the town.

The public wanted to keep their prawn so it now sits with another Australian icon-Bunnings at Ballina.

Was pretty faded the last time I saw it in Ballina (been in the sun too long )

 

[JohnM]

The boat ramp and jetty at Tantabiddi on the W side of the cape. This is where the whale shark tours leave from.

I’m swimming with them tomorrow.

 

[JohnM]

OK, my activities are starting to run way ahead of my capacity to post on the go.

I’ll largely clear today, then mostly put things on hold until I get home and can sort stuff and catch up.

I drove as far south from Exmouth as is generally practicable on the west coast, to Yardie Creek.

The area is a great osprey habitat and reserve.

 

[JohnM]

I then worked my way back north towards Exmouth, calling in to a few of the beaches/excellent caravan/campgrounds in the Cape Range NP.

 

[JohnM]

Then to what is generally regarded as a Ningaloo highlight - Turquoise Bay. After that, back to the caravan park at Exmouth for an inspection by the Kovid Kops...

 

[JohnM]

Sorry, things just went haywire. Any sort of delay in upload of pics sends AFF into orbit.

I finished the day by doing a microlight flight. Now, I’ve had the odd commercial flight, plenty of light aircraft and helo flights, several hot air balloon flights, a glider flight and an aerobatic flight in a Pitts Special - but let me tell you, a microlight flight is just f* AWESOME!

I chose the 90 minute flight right round the Cape: Fly Microlights in Ningaloo Perth Western Australia

Gavin, the owner, was my pilot. Sensational guy with 10000 hours in these things.

What a blast! We saw dugongs, turtles, whale sharks, humpback whales, various sharks, Manta rays, as well as just the most spectacular views. Altitude ranged from 500 to 4500 feet. Just stunning!

The great thing is that these flights are classified as ‘introductory flights’ so I got to fly the baby.

The thing really just flies itself. Quite amazing.

Then, on approach, probably around 2000 feet, Gav cut the motor and we glided in for a neat landing. Brilliant!

Just THE most unique flying experience. Make sure to try it!

Gav had a GoPro out on the wing that was taking a pic every 5 secs, so I have a lot of sorting to do.

Here are a few pics of the bird before and after the flight. Gav also does the spotting for the whale shark swim tour I’m doing tomorrow.

He’s recently bought and had certified a microlight with pontoons. This will mean that he can do low-level flights over the reef. Surprisingly, the conventional microlight has a glide ratio of 1:8, so getting a little way offshore to the edge of the reef means keeping up fairly high in case a glide to land is needed if the engine fails.

If you go to Exmouth, I’d recommend asking Gav to go on the pontoon bird over the reef.

JUST DO IT!

 

[Daver6]

Agree about microlights. I got to experience one in Kauai about 15 years ago!

 

[get me outta here]

I agree, these micro lights are wonderful especially when you’re gliding in after they cut the engine. I went up in Dick Smith’s with his pilot. (Beats a Tiger Moth any day).

 

[JohnM]

Thanks to @support, the shambles at post #34 is sorted.

Relying on mobile comms, even with 4G, is clearly problematic with pics.

After the microlight flight yesterday and today’s spectacular whale shark swim (about 8 swims with 3 different whale sharks - plus a humpback whale sighting and snorkelling), I’m overloaded with pics to sort through and insufficient time and capacity to do so on the go.

I’m holding station until I get back to PERfection.

 

[craven morehead]

Sorry, things just went haywire. Any sort of delay in upload of pics sends AFF into orbit.

I finished the day by doing a microlight flight. Now, I’ve had the odd commercial flight, plenty of light aircraft and helo flights, several hot air balloon flights, a glider flight and an aerobatic flight in a Pitts Special - but let me tell you, a microlight flight is just f* AWESOME!

I chose the 90 minute flight right round the Cape: Fly Microlights in Ningaloo Perth Western Australia

Gavin, the owner, was my pilot. Sensational guy with 10000 hours in these things.

What a blast! We saw dugongs, turtles, whale sharks, humpback whales, various sharks, Manta rays, as well as just the most spectacular views. Altitude ranged from 500 to 4500 feet. Just stunning!

The great thing is that these flights are classified as ‘introductory flights’ so I got to fly the baby.

The thing really just flies itself. Quite amazing.

Then, on approach, probably around 2000 feet, Gav cut the motor and we glided in for a neat landing. Brilliant!

Just THE most unique flying experience. Make sure to try it!

Gav had a GoPro out on the wing that was taking a pic every 5 secs, so I have a lot of sorting to do.

Here are a few pics of the bird before and after the flight. Gav also does the spotting for the whale shark swim tour I’m doing tomorrow.

He’s recently bought and had certified a microlight with pontoons. This will mean that he can do low-level flights over the reef. Surprisingly, the conventional microlight has a glide ratio of 1:8, so getting a little way offshore to the edge of the reef means keeping up fairly high in case a glide to land is needed if the engine fails.

If you go to Exmouth, I’d recommend asking Gav to go on the pontoon bird over the reef.

JUST DO IT!

View attachment 221147View attachment 221148View attachment 221149View attachment 221150View attachment 221151View attachment 221152View attachment 221153View attachment 221154View attachment 221155

Nice to see you had Lounge access

 

[jb747]

Great to see that Carnarvon came to its senses and stopped the tracking station from decaying away. When I was there in 2007, the local tourist industry basically ignored it, and was pushing a pier as their main feature.

I visited Harold Holt in 1978. There was so much stray electricity in the transmission room, that if you held a light tube at each end, it would light up between your hands.