Well today has been one of the best days of the trip and one that pushed my comfort zone around a little. I have always loved the idea of snorkelling and especially over coral with lots of pretty fish but of course you don't really get that in Tassie. I have snorkeled a couple of times at West Head but found it scary and you can hear me hyperventilating through the snorkel from the shore. We have also been keen to give sea kayaking a crack but how many hobbies and toys can you have? Anyway we booked in for the full day kayak and snorkel tour with Capricorn Seakayaking and we were the only two booked in so had the guide all to ourselves and it was brilliant!

We were picked up at 8am by Nerri our guide for the day in a minibus just for two, our kayaks were on the trailer with all the other gear and off we went for the 40min drive around to Neds Beach in the Cape Range National Park that borders Ningaloo Reef. The morning was perfect for kayaking, very little wind, no swell to speak of and just a little cloud. We were supplied with everything for the day including rash vests, hats and food, all we needed was water, bathers and sunscreen. Nerri gave us a run down on what we would do for the day and how to use the kayaks and also some safety info. We were fitted out with snorkel gear and we were ready to go. Col and I were in a double kayak by the way I was in the front and Col in the back and controlled the steering.

Preperations.

We are off…not my best profile.

The plan was to paddle to a beach called Lakeside about 7kms down the coast to a snorkelling spot accessible from the shore and to have a snorkel from the kayak on the way about 1km off the shore. Within 20mins of setting off we saw some dolphins barely 25meters away, Nerri said they were Indo-pacific humpback dolphins and they were quite docile for a while until they woke up to us and moved off. When we arrived at the snorkelling spot I was quite apprehensive about jumping out of the kayak, I couldn't get my head around getting my fins on while in the kayak, getting out of the kayak and then how was I supposed to get back in again. Of course Col knew this was going on in my head and told Nerri to get me out first! I got my fins on easy enough and kind of slid over the side as Nerri was holding our kayak to steady it. I hung on for grim death for a bit till I got my snorkel sealed and put my face in the water and as usual I sucked in some big ones till I got settled and then let go of the kayak. It was amazing down there so much coral and fish life and even a white tipped reef shark chasing some tucker. I kept Col close by me and hung on to him if I freaked a little. My only issue in the end was a bit of water leaked into my mask which I promptly swallowed so had a splutter and cough and a little freak out but regained composure quite quickly. We floated around for a while and then got back in which was quite easy in the end or I fluked it, you had to bob down a bit then kick as hard as you can to jump up on the side of the kayak while twisting and getting your bum in your seat…..see easy!!

Yep I'm still hanging on to the kayak!

Happy paddlers.

We paddled on further up the coast and landed on a beach at 11am for morning tea, corn chips and dip, fruit and blueberry/banana loaf, all promptly devoured because we were starving. The view from the beach was beautiful. We were actually kayaking in a lagoon and across the other side of the lagoon you could see breakers crashing down where the reef starts. There were a couple of charter and tour boats out to sea chasing the last couple of whalesharks of the season around. After eating everything that Nerri put out for us we jumped back in the kayaks and worked our way down to Lakeside and beached again.

Lakeside is a camping area and also has the best shore accessible snorkelling in the area. It's also a sanctuary zone so you can't take anything from the water or beach or fish, this means there is an abundance of marine life meters from the shore. We put our masks and fins on again and minutes later we were looking at huge amounts of fish and coral of all shapes and sizes. There were tiny bright blue Damsals, huge Trevally, a massive Rock Cod, Queen Fish, schools of Mullet and so many more we couldn't name or remember. After about half an hour I started to get cold which I found really odd as I had a long sleeve rash shirt on and board shorts but I came back to shore to warm up in the sun and Col and Nerri swam around for a bit longer.

Black Tipped Reef Shark

Rock Cod

Turtle off the starboard bow.

Lunch was served in the shade shelter on the beach and again we devoured everything, all this sea air and exercise was making us hungry!! We eventually climbed back in and paddled out towards the breakers and some sea grass beds looking for Dugong but unfortunately we didn't see one. We did see a Tawny Nurse Shark that was thrashing it's lunch around on the surface of the water to subdue it before eating it. We did see a huge amount of Turtles surfacing for air thoughout the day, they would pop up for a breath, see us and then take off. They are prayed upon by Tiger Sharks so when they pop up they can't see very well but notice the shape of the Kayak and swim for their lives.

Lunch stop.

My security balnket.

We eventually paddled back to our launching spot very tired and a bit sore but incredibly happy and satisfied with the day. Nerri was a fantastic guide and I think she had a nice day with just the two of us and not a big group. Col took some photos during the day with the Samsung phone but it was in a plastic bag to protect it so the pics are a little washed out. Nerri took some as well to put on their. facebook page. I'm fairly sure that when we wake up tomorrow we are going to be sore but it was totally worth it!