073 - Exmouth (Whale Shark Day) (8/6/17)

With limited reception at our current location, this blog will be without photos until we hit Broome next week. I have managed to squeeze this one through the bandwith though. Most shots are already on Facebook though, so you'll get the gist until I post the pics later.

So we’d had James’ Day, Evie’s Day, Dad’s Day and now it was time for Mum’s Day!!

Now, if anyone was excited for “their” day, it was B. She probably had pipped James and his flat out fanaticism for Mt Barker. For today was the day that B would get to go swim with whale sharks.

For a little bit of back story, B had celebrated the 10^th anniversary of her 30^th birthday last November and as a gift the family, on some reasonable hint giving from yours truly, had shouted B a swim with the whale sharks. And ever since that day in November, B hasn’t stopped talking about how excited she was.

And it seems that excitement was very well justified.

Our day out on the boat was amazing for all, but particularly for B who it seems had an item on her bucket list without even realising it. I think it’s proven to be one of the greatest experiences of her life, which is quite a feat given her travels and, well, the fact she married me really.

One thing I’ve loved about our trip is the way that everyone in the family respects the importance of a person’s special day. We all bound out of bed with excitement and hit the day with gusto. This was no different with breakfast done and dusted and the family waiting for the bus to pick us up nice and early.

A rare sight... the Whites, all ready to roll and out and about at 7am... I'd be lieing if I said we hadn't adjusted to life on the road well...

All the cool kids sit at the back of the bus....

Waiting for the "boat for the boat"

On the "boat for the boat"... All the cool kids sit at the front of the boat.

Once onboard the bus we headed around to the boat ramp. The bus host and whale photographer turned out to be a Welsh lass called Sian (pronounced ‘Sharne’ for all my bogan friends out there) who was extremely excited to have another Welsh lass onboard her tour. I think B had found her dream job, but I pointed out there probably was only enough room in the town for one Welsh whale shark swimming professional, and Sian had first dibs.

We were taken out to our boat for the day, where we were introduced to the rest of the crew. Josh the skipper, Seth the #2, Daphne one of the group swimmers, and Simmo the tour leader and 2^nd group leader. They were a great bunch who were great all day. I think these guys really know the value of the tourist dollar and were nothing but accommodating all day. In particular towards the kids, which I found extremely appreciative.

On with the skin suits for everyone and matching flippers, goggles and snorkels. It is quite funny watching people so unaccustomed to this kind of gear, myself included, try and navigate their way around a small-ish boat trying not to trip over each other or fall overboard.

Bob not so sure, but I reckon we rock the Skin Suits... I was lucky not to be harpooned by a passing whaling ship I reckon...

It was then we found out that the promise of being able to upgrade my attendance on the boat from ‘observer’ to ‘swimmer’ was not going to be possible. There is a legal limit of only having 20 people on the boat swimming with the whale sharks (10 per group) and we already had 20 swimmers. I must admit, I was pretty shattered. Had I known this, we would have upgraded on the phone weeks ago when we rang to confirm details. Still, in the end it probably worked out for the best given the fact that one of us would have to remain on the boat with the kids at any given time which would have meant splitting B’s whale shark time in half. I’m glad I didn’t have to do that, as listening to her talk about the experience, as jealous as I might be, fills me with joy and happiness. If you ever need to see her smile in the future, just ask her to describe her time with a whale shark. Boom! Instant happiness.

But we were going for a swim and a snorkel beforehand to prove to the crew we could do both. Sam and B leapt in with little apprehension whilst I tailed at the back ready to jump in with James. Evie, or so we thought would be fine given she’s a little super fish, but had decided now was the time for a meltdown. It seems, and perhaps understandably, she has a real fear of deep sea water (although it was only 4-5m deep at this point). Not wanting to stress her out and ruin everyone’s day, we pulled her from the water sharply and so ended her time getting wet for the day. James, already in, saw Evie get pulled out and he too thought that was the better option, and hopped back on the boat. I was allowed to jump in and snorkel around the buoy 15m off the boat to prove I could do it, which I did, before rejoining the kids on deck. I must admit, my first venture at snorkelling was a little shorter than planned!

First swim done and dusted... Reward... carrot cake.

The smile at 80% and we hadn't even seen the whale shark...

But with both groups of ten proving their capabilities (some better than others) the boat headed for a break in the reef and out the back into deep waters where the big fish were waiting.

The kids and I were invited up on to the captain’s deck for the rest of the day where Josh and Seth showed us the intracies of whale spotting, communicating with spotter planes and the hand signals used. This was incredibly interesting and I learnt a lot more about the art of whale shark swimming than I thought. Highlights for us included Josh getting the spotter plane to do a low fly by, dipping his wings just for our kids, seeing an array of turtles, sea snakes and fish, and off course getting a great birds eye view of the big whale sharks from high above the water. I must admit, as disappointed as I was not to be getting in the water, the day turned out to be very rewarding, enjoyable and entertaining. All without needing to get a nosefull of sea water to boot.

But the highlight continued to be, not the whale sharks, but B’s smile. Every time the jumped out of the water, she was like Luna Park. Some swims were better than others, but the smile remained constant and rewarding.

The photos we got from the group were pretty cool, and I loved how they made an attempt to get shots of everyone with a whale shark in the background. It actually proved to me that the whale shark was the only thing in the water that day with a mouth and smile bigger than B’s.

Incredibly graceful and majestic creatures, they float around without a care in the world. Daunting in size, but never at all intimidating the are like colourful ‘elephants of the sea’ who appear to play and let us swim around them without worrying too much. However, perhaps like elephants, you get the impression that if you ticked them off, you’d be ‘told’ in no uncertain terms which could result very badly for us humans. They were after all, about the size of the boat we were sitting on.

On occasions they dived and proved to be elusive, but we got a couple of really good ones, the first being the best right near the break of the reef. With the water shallower, the whale shark wasn’t able to dive to “get away” so we were able to circle it for the hour the law allows before having to “let it go” and find another to swim with.

Yep... they're big. REAL big...

This is now B's wallpaper on her phone and she delights in asking anyone (and everyone) "have you seen this photo?". Gotta admit, Sian nailed it.

B and her "spirit animal"...

A photo with Sam at the start... not sure what they were asked to do, but it's certainly weird...

No doubt about it... they're awesome.

This is how close you can get to these gentle giants...

The smile at 100% full bore...

And so was the day on the boat. The kids and I laughed and talked with Josh and Seth whislt the chaos downstairs of people jumping on and off the boat willy-nilly proved why it was probably best the kids weren’t involved. You had to move quick at times as Josh pulled u-turns and chucked donuts to swing around in front of the fish that often just popped out of nowhere.

Sam feeling the wind in his hair... before we chopped it all off the next day.

Lunch was good, but nothing to rave too much about given the price of admission, but no one went hungry. The endless carrot cake proved to be a hit with the munchkins that’s for sure.

Following a final snorkel within the reef, a day was called.

Sam out for one more snorkel on the reef... The kid is a natural.

B was still smiling (actually, she hasn’t stopped since) and there in lied the proof that she too got her Superpit-Mount Barker-Monkey Mia moment.

Due to the swell, and my probably over protective nature to keep the kids out of the way on the boat, the camera didn’t make a big of an appearance as it probably should have. Still, there’s enough great shots to know the day was definitely one of the best.

A family shot up on the captain's deck. It really was a brilliant day.

Champagne to celebrate the Whale Sharks!

I walked over to the 4x4 shop where the truck was getting a service (handy to have the car out of action on a day we didn’t need it) and we headed with the Butchers, our travelling buddies, over to the pub where we watched the socceroos continue on their way with World Cup qualification.

It turned out to be a late night for the kids and early for B as they all went to bed at the same time. Still smiling she was wrecked from the effort and excitement.

That, as they say in the classics, was one for the ages.