Exmouth (18 - 22 May)
By the time we returned to Exmouth, Popo and I were snorkel-ready for the Swimming with the Whale Sharks tour. Apart from the tour, we visited the Sunday market, Charles Knife Canyon and the SS Mildura shipwreck. We also showed Popo our favourite Cape Range beaches (where Justin managed to sneak in a final windsurf) and Justin took a gyro flight which showcased the rocky ranges and the reef from the air.
On the whale shark tour, Popo and I found ourselves outside our comfort zone in the choppy waters with only a solitary pool noodle for support. The tour operator’s website said there would be “other flotation aids”, but this clearly was not the case. I also underestimated how regimented and quickly we had to enter the water and form a human line (so that we would be in position to view the whale shark as it swam past). Needless to say, I failed to reach the line and had to be supported back to the boat as I floundered in the water. As Popo had to be strongly encouraged by Justin to get into the water, the whale shark had already come and gone by the time she jumped in. As a result, none of us saw the mammal on our first attempt.
On our second attempt, the guide swam me out to the human line as I clung onto her flotation device. She pointed out the whale shark as it swam past, but I must have been too pre-occupied with trying to stay afloat and breathe to see it. Fortunately, Justin and Millie saw the mammal whilst Popo decided to sit this one out. The swimming partnership permutations continued into our third attempt with Justin supporting Popo as Millie sat this one out. On this occasion, Popo and I finally encountered our first whale shark!
As we did not realise we only had four swims each, Popo and Millie remained on the boat on what would be our final attempt. By now, I was pretty adept at getting ready and shuffling on my bottom to the end of the boat to wait for my signal to jump in (even though I never really got over my nerves). I splashed into the water and Justin dragged me out to the human line where we waited in anticipation for the whale shark to swim past when, all of a sudden, 10-year old Poppy let out a terrified scream. We turned around and realised that the whale shark was, in fact, passing behind us at such close proximity that we could almost touch the mammal. It was the perfect sighting to end our tour notwithstanding poor Poppy had to confront the whale shark’s large mouth head-on. In fact, Poppy (and her little brother, Benji) would become good friends with Millie as our itineraries later collided again.