Exmouth, Australia

We slept well and after our special healthy chocolate Australian seed granola we were ready for pick up at 7:15. The early morning was dusky as the orange earth created an apricot glow in the slightly fresh yet promising warm day of 27 degrees. The bus driver who was also a crew member for the day happened to be an expat kiwi who works for Ministry of Fisheries in the Nz summer and lives at Ohiwa, and then spends winter here. LOL small world. At one guest pick up a young couple had a boisterous lab that they didn’t know what to do as the pound where they had booked him was not open to receive him for the day as agreed. No worries dog hops on bus, female crew and marine biologist (ex pat English) rings her GF who loves dogs to babysit for the day and bus detours to drop dog off. So cool and great service. It only set us back 10 minutes but said a lot about the customer service. It was so nice that they were understanding of the couple who stood to loose $800 if they couldn’t go. They had asked if they could transfer to tomorrow but it was fully booked. The pound was due to get an ear full on their return!

It didn’t take too long to get to the jetty which was on the other side of the peninsular. The foliage on the way and surrounding the coast is spindly, rough looking and somewhat sparse. There are lots of orange termite mounds looking like strange pyramids or ritualistic artefacts. They range from the small to 8 ft tall. The sea on the ocean side is a beautiful blue with lighter aqua colours in the shallows. From where we were standing it looked mostly flat, with a slight swell and gentle breeze disturbing the top layer. Clarity was not amazing, nor was it really bad – it would be fine. We were advised the next steps which was to be transferred by tender boats to our boat. There were 20 passenger on board today, most the age of our children, so we were feeling a little old. There were two other mature couples a few years older than us. Crew consisted of skipper and junior skipper, and 2 female and 2 male crew most of them marine biologist or similar. Two were Canadian, the one English and the kiwi; Pete, Dave, Kat and Sami. The workers here in Exmouth are very international. Our boat was a well equipped 45 foot long craft that was covered fully overhead so you were not going to get fried by the sun. There were also clear fold down flaps on the side to provide protection against the wind if required. Fortunate for us – but then also probably typical for the time of year here, the weather looked pretty good with not a cloud in the sky. We were welcome to roam at will on the boat, including the bow bit, or up on the top deck with the skipper and there was plenty of padded seating in all areas.

As soon as we got on board Sami offered us tea, coffee or milo, and Dave and Pete outfitted us with snorkel, mask, flippers and wet suits. Getting into the wetsuit was like trying to stuff an uncooperative sausage skin and avoiding a burst situation, however I got there eventually. We had safety briefing and were put into two teams of 10 one each side of the boat; the ‘finding nemo team, and ‘team awesome’. Due to world marine guidelines only 10 people are allowed in the water with the Sharks at a time, so we were prepped for how things would work and allocated our guides. We were with Dave in “team awesome”. There were also waivers to sign, and hand signals to learn. First plan was to snorkel inside the reef to test our capabilities before heading out of the reef to follow the spotter plane and hopefully get to swim with some whale sharks. I didn’t realise we would be venturing outside the reef – and my anxiety starting to rise.

A bit of background context here to explain my terror, well more anxiety. I believe humans were made to live above ground and breathe air through their noses. I do not subscribe to evolution theory that my ancestors came from the ocean. Accordingly above ground, breathing air is where I feel most comfortable. I did have mild claustrophobia about 25 years ago, and whilst I conquered it, it does not take much for those feelings to surface if I feel limited in my ability to escape, or breathe freely. I think you can see where I am heading in regards to snorkelling! I also do not enjoy too much being out at sea, further than I can swim back to the coast, or in fact swimming where I cannot easily touch the bottom or see the bottom and what might be lurking below. Furthermore, I do not like the idea of being swept off in a current. You might also be wondering why I would go out on a whale shark swim – I am with you on that one. Well because husband said it would be neat and I should try it. He promised to stick by me and so I booked both of us. When you book they ask if you have any special needs etc and whether you are confident or scardycat. I booked one of each.

So Dave was ready for me from the booking details and kindly took me under his wing and became my surrogate husband which was awesome. It wasn’t long and we arrived at a spot on the reef where we would do our test swim. We anchored and our team lined up on the duckboard ready to jump looking at the quite deep water with limited visibility I got a wave of anxiety and really could not bring myself to leap off. I strongly debated with myself whether to withdraw from snorkelling altogether and just observe for the day. Dave my new husband was so kind and patient and said, shall we jump together offering his hand. Holy ****, one big breath through the furkin tube in my mouth and to the count of 3 lept off together. All good, I didn’t sink too far as I was like buoyant seal in my wet suit. Dave had a little thin float device attached with a small rope to his wrist and he indicated I could hold one hand on that and just follow him around. All good, so off we went.

I managed okay, with the odd moments of really feeling anxious and not liking this breathing through my mouth business alternating with interest and pleasure at the varied coloured fish and coral formations. It was also quire deep. We did our circuit or two before heading back to the boat and my next challenge of getting back on board quickly and gracefully, fully kitted without holding everyone else up. FAIL! There was no ladder on the back of the duck board so you had to heave yourself up with your arms and turn backwards at the same time. For this part I needed help of the staff with arms to pull me up – fortunately I was not the only one. Then backwards up the next part – also no ladder to speak of when you have flippers on, then stand up on deck and walk backwards to your seat. Just for more challenge the sea was moving a little too.

We spent a bit more time heading down the reef, finding an exit point and then out to ‘sea’ waiting for the plane to direct us to some action. Eventually we got the call and then it was all action. Before any team got in Kat would jump in first ‘spot’ and photograph the markings of the shark and test safety, then the signal would be given for the first team to jump. She loads the photos up on a global site where they use information of the uniquely marked sharks to track and hopefully learn about them more. Team Nemo went first and we had to be lined up ready for out turn – they rotate the teams about every 6 minutes as the sharks can be shy and you may miss out otherwise.

As I waited, I again had to debate with myself the benefits of jumping off in a big leap of faith into the ocean verses enjoying the view from the deck. Then the call from Dave pulled me into the present ” team awesome – go, go GO! I looked at him, he looked at me enquiringly and I leapt pretending I was cool and calm when I was bursting with the pressure of rising panic inside! I swam over to my ‘floater’ which was like an umbilical cord attached to Dave who represented life and sanity. I put my head down and commenced the silent echo of breathing through the snorkel and opened my eyes to the wonder of the big fish a couple of meters away from me, heading right for me. At the same time I heard Dave calling out – team move to the left, she is coming right for us! It wasn’t scary as they are gentle giants, but it was thrilling and my flippers pumped quickly as I moved to the left and we swam silently past each other closely.

It was thrilling and great to see such a creature in the wild, and in it’s environment. For me it was not ‘amazing’ or ‘spiritual’ as it was for some – but certainly a special experience and I am very pleased I had the opportunity to do it. It was Vernon’s bucket list and he was very happy to have done it and really enjoyed it. I was also very happy that I had Dave, and that Vernon didn’t have to worry about me, and could get the most out of his encounter. When we got on board – this time I managed it unaided – must have been all the adrenaline – we were both a little out of breath for a couple of minutes from the thrill and physical exertion. We sat out the next spotting just to relax, recover and bask in the experience – expecting more opportunity to come.

We had 5 more spotting but 4 of those quickly went under whilst Kat was doing her pre check, before a team could get too close. I decided to sit out a few of them as I was pleased with my efforts and the sea was getting a bit choppy with less than ideal visibility. It was also quite exerting jumping in and out! Vern went in for one more – and whilst the shark went under really quickly the team got a bonus by seeing a Minky whale who hung around for a bit. I was preparing for one more swim, but then no more opportunity came. I felt very fortunate that I took the leap of faith when I did – as I would have missed out otherwise.

All these thrills and swimming built up a good appetite and lunch on board was late due to shark hunting. When we did get to eat it was very good – an array of healthy salads and grains, chicken, ham, cheese and salami and bread rolls for those that chose it. Tea, coffee and juices available and more cakes and slices left over from what they brought around in-between swims. We ate and then leisurely headed back into the reef area and home. As we got closer to the coast they brought out bubbly wine and we enjoyed it as the sun sunk lower. The trip back in and up the coast took about an hour and it is easy to see why these tours cost $390 each if you think of the plane, boat, crew, pick up bus, transfer boat, and all the distance travelled over a full day.

When we got back we freshened up and planned where to go for our meal out. We hoped to go to the Novotel and use my discount card but they were booked out, so we chose a place virtually next door called the BBQ Godfather which was Italian influenced come American rib house. We had a nice woodfire pizza of which I could only manage half, and slow cooked beef brisket with special bbq sauce. Washed down with an Italian beer. Nice and big portions but dining here is a premium, with most dishes around $30 – the pizza less at 28, but came with a free beer.