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All creatures great and small

Stephen Scourfield observes a mesmerising natural world and inspiring Young Travel Writers at work.

Jesse Tucek and Giulia Villa head to the foredeck of Ningaloo Blue’s charter boat and settle in the sun, surrounded by the undilutedly iridescent turquoise waters inside Ningaloo Reef, with the green line of Cape Range along the land.

They have notebooks and pens in hand, and seem to be jotting thoughts and impressions. While I’m pleased to see them taking the assignment seriously, and rather intrigued, I don’t butt in.

The point of our annual Young Travel Writer competition is to offer an opportunity for two talented young writers to experience an extraordinary part of WA, offer a little technical guidance and hopefully inspiration, and then stand back and let them tell us about the world as they see it.

Jesse and Giulia are this year’s winners, and the assignment is to Ningaloo Reef, where they have just swum with a 6m whale shark — and you will be able to read their impressions in Travel in future weeks.

It’s a good trip.

Thanks to our friends at Australia’s Coral Coast tourism, we fly from Perth to Learmonth Airport, 35km south of Exmouth, on one of the 12 flights a week between Perth and here with QantasLink, in less than the scheduled one hour, 50 minutes.

We have a hired four-wheel drive waiting at the airport (all the big-name hire companies are here). We stay at Novotel Ningaloo Resort, and dine both at the resort and Whalers Restaurant, which is now in the Exmouth Escape complex.

And, with Travel columnist Jan Bromilow and Australia’s Coral Coast chief executive David O’Malley alongside, we start to explore the North West Cape.

We drive round the cape to join Peter “Boxy” Maier at Yardie Creek Boat Tours. Yardie Creek cuts back from the coast into Cape Range, which has more than 800 cave systems, and the rare black footed rock wallabies that live on its red rock face. This area was given World Heritage status not just for the presence of the 260km of Ningaloo Reef, with its 200 species of coral and 500 of fish, but for the proximity and relationship between the reef and Cape Range.

Black footed rock wallaby. Yardie Creek, North West Cape.

We snorkel at Oyster Stacks — a glimpse in calm waters into the life of the reef.

And Jesse and Giulia do all this with the Canon SX60 HS cameras that Camera Electronic and Canon Australia kindly gave to all of our 10 finalists.

And we have now joined Ningaloo Blue on a whale shark spotting day, to fin alongside a spotted fish bigger than a minibus. It swims rather languidly with the swell, giving us plenty of time to observe it from a little more than 3m away.

It is the fifth swim of the day, which began with breakfast at Novotel Ningaloo Resort, then a 7am pickup in Ningaloo Blue’s coach, and an introduction to Rowena Golding and Naomi McDonald, who are our spotters and guides in the water, and skipper Brad Webster, an experienced man who has been with Ningaloo Blue for 14 years.

Ningaloo Blue boat. Swimming with whaleshark. Ningaloo Blue Charters whale shark day, Ningaloo Reef, out of Exmouth.

This month is the start of the whale shark season in Exmouth and Coral Bay. These “biggest fish in the ocean” can live for more than 100 years, dive to 1500m, and feed on the krill, plankton, crab larvae and other creatures that come to feast on coral spawn.

Between 200 and 400 might visit Ningaloo Reef between April and July, and from late May to July there will also be manta rays and humpback whales. There are 11 whale shark operators in Exmouth and two in Coral Bay.

With the experts of Ningaloo Blue, our first snorkel is at a pretty coral spot in fairly shallow water inside the reef, mostly to get used to the gear, to let our guides see the competency of the swimmers, but also to give a glimpse of the colourful aquarium that is Ningaloo Reef.

With a spotter plane in the air, we are soon heading towards our first, 3m whale shark. Then comes time in the water with a 4m whale shark, and then two swims with the 6m fish. And then a good lunch.

Swimming with whaleshark. Ningaloo Blue Charters whale shark day, Ningaloo Reef, out of Exmouth.

And now Jesse and Giulia are on the foredeck, processing all that and coming up with the thoughts and impressions which we will publish soon.

And me? Well, I’m just staring towards the horizon, across curiously coruscating turquoise water that turns inky blue, then wears the white string of pure-white pearls that are the breakers of Ningaloo Reef.

OUR FRIENDS WHO HELPED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Australia’s Coral Coast markets the region which includes Ningaloo Reef, North West Cape and Exmouth, and generously supported Young Travel Writer 2015. australiascoralcoast.com.au.

Novotel Ningaloo Resort is on Sunrise Beach, Exmouth. Its pool has a view over the Exmouth Gulf. The four-and-a-half-star resort’s apartments and rooms have king-size beds, air conditioning and some have private spa baths. The tones are modern and earthy, accented by sky and ocean colours. Dining is in Mantarays restaurant, or outside. And experienced manager Darren Cossill is there, hands-on running this good resort. novotelningaloo.com.au and 9949 0000.

Ningaloo Blue, Exmouth, offers full-day whale shark viewing days, including coach pickup, equipment, spotter plane, full crew, morning tea and lunch. The day is $395 for adults, $255 for children and $275 for observers. My thanks to generous owner Peter McKissock. ningalooblue.com.au, 9949 1119 or 1800 811 338.

Book Yardie Creek Boat Tours through Exmouth Visitor Centre at exmouthwa.com.au or 9949 1176, or direct on 9949 2920 or 0499 202 920. The trip up Yardie Creek is over an hour and is $35 for adults, $30 for concession holders and $15 for children. YCBT now offers a pick-up and drop-off bus service to and from Turquoise Bay for $35 per person return, including national park entry fees.

I consider the Canon SX60 HS camera the affordable “go-to” travel camera, with a massive 60x optical zoom, high-quality video, the option of shooting RAW format, tilt-out vario screen, and many other features. For more about the camera, visit canon.com.au. The 10 finalists in our Young Travel Writer competition were each given an SX60, thanks to Camera Electronic and Canon Australia. To see more about Camera Electronic, visit cameraelectronic.com.au — and to order a Canon SX60 HS for $629, visit shop.cameraelectronic.com.au and search for “Canon SX60”.

The cameras were presented not only to Jesse and Giulia, but also one each to 10 YTW finalists, at our Kings Park and Botanic Gardens finalists’ day. We are grateful to Kings Park for its ongoing support of the competition. bgpa.wa.gov.au.



The Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival is from May 21 to 24, with a float parade and family entertainment including circus shows, motocross displays, kids’ beach games and an art exhibition.

Popular Western Australian artist Morgan Bain, “Fingers” Mitchell Cullen, The Sunshine Brothers and James Abberley will entertain at a number of venues.

The Opening Festival Gala on Friday May 22 at Novotel Ningaloo Resort will be a chance to dress up, enjoy canapes and sip wine to the rock, reggae and soul sounds of The Sunshine Brothers. ningaloowhalesharkfestival.com.