Planning a holiday?
ADV REVIEW DATE: 7-JUN-2008 PAGE: W-26 ED: STATE COL: C M Y K
Gobsmacked C
Coming face-to-face with a feeding whale shark on Ningaloo Reef, off the coast of Western Australia, is a big fish story worth the telling, writes CAROLYNE JASINSKI.
Where to stay 3airline tickets 3passports
THE ADVERTISER REVIEW
JUNE 7, 2008
3travel insurance
26
? ? ?
Will Power of Attorney
Planning a holiday? www.publictrustee.sa.gov.au
Power of Guardianship
Call the Public Trustee on 08-8207 2074 for an appointment at either our city of⇒ce, metropolitan branch locations or during regional visits.
You know you’re staying in the right place when sitting across from your banana lounge at the pool is one of the country’s richest women – Janet Holmes a Court – and her family. The Novotel Ningaloo Resort, right, is one of the newest kids on the block at Exmouth on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. And it’s the only four-star hotel in a planned 102ha marina village being built. It’s not your average resort. Don’t expect large expanses of lawn soaking up precious water – think large rock gardens, cactus and native grasses and earthy tones with corrugated-iron, timber and steel apartments and studio rooms that overlook the water (sunrise is spectacular) and blend in with the surrounding landscape. The design is a continuation of the wide open spaces and it’s a
piece of artwork still in progress – only 44 of 150 rooms have been completed. At the centre is, of course, the pool, reception, bar and Mantaray’s Restaurant that serves up some great local seafood. The Ningaloo Resort has a special package during whale shark season – four nights in a two-bedroom apartment for four adults with continental breakfast daily for $91 a person a night. It is subject to availability and valid to July 31. Phone (08) 9949 0000 or reservations@novotelning aloo.com.au for details.
ALL me paranoid, but if the ocean is looking deep, dark and overwhelmingly daunting, should I be jumping in? Especially when I know that the world’s largest fish is swimming just below the surface. I’m not talking just any big sucker. Not the kind that stretches across every hopeful fisherman’s open-arm span. Think bigger. Think whopper. In fact, it’s more like the size of a boat. I have crossed the country and headed north to Exmouth on Western Australia’s Coral Coast to swim with whale sharks. To say my heart is racing and my head is a blur of mixed emotions is an understatement. I so badly want to do this. Ever since TV personality Grant Denyer waxed lyrical about the gentle giants in a TV commercial, it’s been on the top of my ‘‘must do’’ list. But let’s get serious and put things in perspective; whale sharks are huge. Those that converge on WA’s Ningaloo Reef each year between March and June to feed range in size from 3m to 12m. But they can grow up to 18m long. And when you are perched precariously on the back of an 18m boat, waiting for the all-clear to take a dive into the unknown depths, it really isn’t that easy any more. I know I’m not in any real direct danger from the whale sharks. They are filter feeders, which means that even though I might fit in the gaping 1m-wide mouth, they can’t eat me. Besides, they prefer plankton and krill and would probably just spit me out if I slipped in by accident. (Either that or they would dive for the bottom, in which case I would probably pass out before I drowned.) But I’m still a bit freaked out at hopping into the ocean with (a) a humungous fish and (b) anything that has shark in its name. Besides, the waiting is killing me. It’s been a few hours since our early-morning snorkel, checking out the coral and tropical fish on Ningaloo Reef. This brief swim was designed to get us used to the water and so that our dive masters, Mel and Danni, could gauge our snorkelling abilities (or lack of) when placed in the path of these big beauties. The crew on Kings’ Ningaloo Reef Tours have given us the full run-down on what we can and can’t do in the water as well as a briefing on the whale sharks’ habits – at least as much as they know. Whale sharks, it seems, are a little elusive and can swim so far and so deep that any attempts to tag them in the name of scientific research tend to come unstuck – the equipment breaks when the sharks dive to a certain depth. So nobody really knows where they come from each year or where they are headed to, or where they breed. (Although when they breed, it’s rather obvious as the males have two appendages called claspers.) What they do know is when the whale sharks will appear – when the coral spawns on the reef. This sets off a magical food-chain reaction; krill and plankton swarm in to feed off the coral and the whale sharks move in to take their turn at fine dining. During their time off WA’s coast, whale sharks have become a huge tourist attraction. Seven boats are on the water with us. Each has about 20 swimmers on board waiting for word from the spotter planes that a whale shark has been seen. Hours go by and we fear the long trek here has been in vain – then it all happens at once. A whale shark has been spotted skimming the surface of the 2m swell. We rush to the back of the boat – as fast as 10 people can ‘‘rush’’ with snorkels, goggles and flippers getting in the way. ‘‘Go, go, go,’’ they yell and we’re leaping into the water. There is no time to think. I’m in. This is not too bad; the water is warm and I’m actually calm. Then just as the bubbles disappear and flippers from my fellow voyeurs clear away from my face (I’m last to jump in), a dark cloud looms. At first, I think it is just a cloud casting a shadow on the water. But this shadow has spots, beady eyes, a big mouth and a few fish tagging along for the ride, and it’s heading straight for me. I wonder why
Gobsmacked C
Coming face-to-face with a feeding whale shark on Ningaloo Reef, off the coast of Western Australia, is a big fish story worth the telling, writes CAROLYNE JASINSKI.
Where to stay 3airline tickets 3passports
THE ADVERTISER REVIEW
JUNE 7, 2008
3travel insurance
26
? ? ?
Will Power of Attorney
Planning a holiday? www.publictrustee.sa.gov.au
Power of Guardianship
Call the Public Trustee on 08-8207 2074 for an appointment at either our city of⇒ce, metropolitan branch locations or during regional visits.
You know you’re staying in the right place when sitting across from your banana lounge at the pool is one of the country’s richest women – Janet Holmes a Court – and her family. The Novotel Ningaloo Resort, right, is one of the newest kids on the block at Exmouth on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. And it’s the only four-star hotel in a planned 102ha marina village being built. It’s not your average resort. Don’t expect large expanses of lawn soaking up precious water – think large rock gardens, cactus and native grasses and earthy tones with corrugated-iron, timber and steel apartments and studio rooms that overlook the water (sunrise is spectacular) and blend in with the surrounding landscape. The design is a continuation of the wide open spaces and it’s a
piece of artwork still in progress – only 44 of 150 rooms have been completed. At the centre is, of course, the pool, reception, bar and Mantaray’s Restaurant that serves up some great local seafood. The Ningaloo Resort has a special package during whale shark season – four nights in a two-bedroom apartment for four adults with continental breakfast daily for $91 a person a night. It is subject to availability and valid to July 31. Phone (08) 9949 0000 or reservations@novotelning aloo.com.au for details.
ALL me paranoid, but if the ocean is looking deep, dark and overwhelmingly daunting, should I be jumping in? Especially when I know that the world’s largest fish is swimming just below the surface. I’m not talking just any big sucker. Not the kind that stretches across every hopeful fisherman’s open-arm span. Think bigger. Think whopper. In fact, it’s more like the size of a boat. I have crossed the country and headed north to Exmouth on Western Australia’s Coral Coast to swim with whale sharks. To say my heart is racing and my head is a blur of mixed emotions is an understatement. I so badly want to do this. Ever since TV personality Grant Denyer waxed lyrical about the gentle giants in a TV commercial, it’s been on the top of my ‘‘must do’’ list. But let’s get serious and put things in perspective; whale sharks are huge. Those that converge on WA’s Ningaloo Reef each year between March and June to feed range in size from 3m to 12m. But they can grow up to 18m long. And when you are perched precariously on the back of an 18m boat, waiting for the all-clear to take a dive into the unknown depths, it really isn’t that easy any more. I know I’m not in any real direct danger from the whale sharks. They are filter feeders, which means that even though I might fit in the gaping 1m-wide mouth, they can’t eat me. Besides, they prefer plankton and krill and would probably just spit me out if I slipped in by accident. (Either that or they would dive for the bottom, in which case I would probably pass out before I drowned.) But I’m still a bit freaked out at hopping into the ocean with (a) a humungous fish and (b) anything that has shark in its name. Besides, the waiting is killing me. It’s been a few hours since our early-morning snorkel, checking out the coral and tropical fish on Ningaloo Reef. This brief swim was designed to get us used to the water and so that our dive masters, Mel and Danni, could gauge our snorkelling abilities (or lack of) when placed in the path of these big beauties. The crew on Kings’ Ningaloo Reef Tours have given us the full run-down on what we can and can’t do in the water as well as a briefing on the whale sharks’ habits – at least as much as they know. Whale sharks, it seems, are a little elusive and can swim so far and so deep that any attempts to tag them in the name of scientific research tend to come unstuck – the equipment breaks when the sharks dive to a certain depth. So nobody really knows where they come from each year or where they are headed to, or where they breed. (Although when they breed, it’s rather obvious as the males have two appendages called claspers.) What they do know is when the whale sharks will appear – when the coral spawns on the reef. This sets off a magical food-chain reaction; krill and plankton swarm in to feed off the coral and the whale sharks move in to take their turn at fine dining. During their time off WA’s coast, whale sharks have become a huge tourist attraction. Seven boats are on the water with us. Each has about 20 swimmers on board waiting for word from the spotter planes that a whale shark has been seen. Hours go by and we fear the long trek here has been in vain – then it all happens at once. A whale shark has been spotted skimming the surface of the 2m swell. We rush to the back of the boat – as fast as 10 people can ‘‘rush’’ with snorkels, goggles and flippers getting in the way. ‘‘Go, go, go,’’ they yell and we’re leaping into the water. There is no time to think. I’m in. This is not too bad; the water is warm and I’m actually calm. Then just as the bubbles disappear and flippers from my fellow voyeurs clear away from my face (I’m last to jump in), a dark cloud looms. At first, I think it is just a cloud casting a shadow on the water. But this shadow has spots, beady eyes, a big mouth and a few fish tagging along for the ride, and it’s heading straight for me. I wonder why
