another Ningaloo trip

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rusty

another Ningaloo trip

Post by rusty »

I have been wanting to spend a few days surfing at Red Bluff, one of the classic spots up the coast at Ningaloo,ever since i first heard of it back in the 1980's. So I have been planning since before my last trip to make some time to go there on a break after the work on my recent May trip. It worked out to be a great few days, I managed to convince my buddy Ryan from work to stay for this part of the trip.
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The only trouble with travelling in this part of the world is the roads, which are badly corrugated. After a few hours travel you start to get carpal tunnel syndrome of the butt. Its a bit better if you let some air out of your tires. Also a bit of a blessing since it keeps a lot of people away, always a good thing.
The only trouble with travelling in this part of the world is the roads, which are badly corrugated. After a few hours travel you start to get carpal tunnel syndrome of the butt. Its a bit better if you let some air out of your tires. Also a bit of a blessing since it keeps a lot of people away, always a good thing.
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The locals were really upset when the promoters of the pro surfing tour wanted to stage an event in the area this year, fortunately it looks like they were successful in getting them to go somewhere else.
The locals were really upset when the promoters of the pro surfing tour wanted to stage an event in the area this year, fortunately it looks like they were successful in getting them to go somewhere else.
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This is one of the locals overlooking Red Bluff. Dont ask me how he managed to hold a spray can.
This is one of the locals overlooking Red Bluff. Dont ask me how he managed to hold a spray can.
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this is the campground at the bluff, its kept pretty basic, tho they do have fancy safari tent accomodation if you want to do things in style.
this is the campground at the bluff, its kept pretty basic, tho they do have fancy safari tent accomodation if you want to do things in style.
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The view from inside our humpy, whose main function is to provide shade. Not too shabby
The view from inside our humpy, whose main function is to provide shade. Not too shabby
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This is the little cliff where you jump in, its all old coral reef from a few thousand years ago when the sea level was a few meters higher.
This is the little cliff where you jump in, its all old coral reef from a few thousand years ago when the sea level was a few meters higher.
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I managed to get a few waves. Conditions were like this most days, really nice tho we were hoping for slightly bigger.
I managed to get a few waves. Conditions were like this most days, really nice tho we were hoping for slightly bigger.
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We went up the road to Gnaraloo station one day to check out some stuff and talk to the station people about some of our results. Its real desert country.
We went up the road to Gnaraloo station one day to check out some stuff and talk to the station people about some of our results. Its real desert country.
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We caught a couple of these sharky mackeral by casting slices under birds up at gnaraloo bay.
We caught a couple of these sharky mackeral by casting slices under birds up at gnaraloo bay.
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Not all of the mackies made it to the boat in one piece! The sharks up there have grown to learn that they can get an easy feed by following boats. We had one chase the mackeral all the way up to the boat on the surface. It was a couple meters long and got a really big shock when it nearly ran into the inflatable. It must have thought we were another bigger shark, which was lucky since it allowed us to land the fish. This is Ryan, who I work with.
Not all of the mackies made it to the boat in one piece! The sharks up there have grown to learn that they can get an easy feed by following boats. We had one chase the mackeral all the way up to the boat on the surface. It was a couple meters long and got a really big shock when it nearly ran into the inflatable. It must have thought we were another bigger shark, which was lucky since it allowed us to land the fish. This is Ryan, who I work with.
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We travelled inland to Lake McCleod where Rio have a salt mine. Its about 25km in from the coast. Along the way there are a lot of dunes that you have to cross where you do see some bigger vegetation once you get away fromt he coast a little.
We travelled inland to Lake McCleod where Rio have a salt mine. Its about 25km in from the coast. Along the way there are a lot of dunes that you have to cross where you do see some bigger vegetation once you get away fromt he coast a little.
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The reason we wanted to get to the lake is that there are "blue holes" there that are lined by mangroves. Must have been isolated from the sea since the last high sealevel stand that produced the coral cliffs above red bluff. These lakes are at about sea level, I still need to find out if they are connected to the sea (rumoured) or come from terrestrial aquifers. The water is salty but not briney
The reason we wanted to get to the lake is that there are "blue holes" there that are lined by mangroves. Must have been isolated from the sea since the last high sealevel stand that produced the coral cliffs above red bluff. These lakes are at about sea level, I still need to find out if they are connected to the sea (rumoured) or come from terrestrial aquifers. The water is salty but not briney
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round the margins of the salt lake you can see a lot of fossil shells exposed. the big one here is a little baler shell.
round the margins of the salt lake you can see a lot of fossil shells exposed. the big one here is a little baler shell.
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The blue holes have fish in them, these are juvenile flagtails, related to jungle perch. they should also have to get to the sea to breed, and may have been isoloated for a long time. The only other fish in the lakes were tilapia, which some idiot must have introduced. There were some big ones. WE snorkeled around a bit until we started coming across dead goats floating around, which made me worry about my numerous coral cuts getting infected. They come in for a drink, i guess they can survive on salt water, and get jostled and pushed in.
The blue holes have fish in them, these are juvenile flagtails, related to jungle perch. they should also have to get to the sea to breed, and may have been isoloated for a long time. The only other fish in the lakes were tilapia, which some idiot must have introduced. There were some big ones. WE snorkeled around a bit until we started coming across dead goats floating around, which made me worry about my numerous coral cuts getting infected. They come in for a drink, i guess they can survive on salt water, and get jostled and pushed in.
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This is the setup at the point. we got up early every day to beat the crowd
This is the setup at the point. we got up early every day to beat the crowd
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Michael
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Re: another Ningaloo trip

Post by Michael »

Look awesome. My surfing buddy sent me this link.

http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=754456
MM \m/ike MM
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