Friday, 23 May 2014 155kms
It was another perfect morning in paradise. Nanny and Poppy were off to town to get some supplies, so we decided not to let the millpond conditions slip by and headed out in the tinny. On the way south to Pilgramunna and the opening to the ocean, Hendrix spotted a dolphin fin. Then there were more, and they were playing, so we cruised slowly over to them and then killed the motor. We drifted around watching this pod of dolphins teaching the young to jump and spin and tail slap and lay on their backs. It was insanely awesome. I was kicking myself for not having my big camera with us, but made use of the phone and videoed them and took some photos. Elokin also got a few photos on her camera too.
We then left them and headed for the opening. Just inside the lagoon Nath spotted a tall shark fin sticking out of the water. The depth was shallow so this monster shark would have had to have his belly scraping along the coral. We never got close enough to see what he was, but Nath suspects a hammerhead shark given the long dorsal fin.
Out in the Indian Ocean we trolled along the back of the reef, heading north. The water was so still and the visibility so good that we could see the bottom 20-30 metres down. We trolled up to South Mandu where we saw what we think to have been 3 or so marlin when we stopped to flick a popper around. Being such curious creatures I saw the fins come for my popper and follow it towards the boat as I retrieved it. Again, they kept a wide berth so we couldn’t make a visual confirmation that that is what they were, other than the dorsal and tail fin. We then turned west and headed to some deeper water before trolling south. We saw fish chopping up but again couldn’t get anything to take a lure. As we were cruising along I looked down and could see the bottom again. Then I saw a school of fish so we stopped to throw the popper around again. Moments after stopping we looked down and could count 5 sharks circling under us. With no chance of bringing a fish to the surface now, we continued on towards the opening at Pilgramunna.
Once back in the lagoon we headed south towards the point to try to find some bombies Nath spotted the other day to go for a snorkel. The water was so clear we could see everything below us. We found a Tawny Nurse shark sleeping under a bombie, schools of fish and tonnes of coral.
Eventually we located the bombies we were looking for and dropped anchor at the first two. Nath and I jumped in for a look while Elokin and Hendrix waited in the boat. Nath found a big wobbegong under one of them. He was very cool.
We then got back in the boat and cruised over to the next bombie. Elokin and Hendrix decided they wanted to join us this time so while they were getting ready we got into the water to have a look around. Under this bombie Nath found a Barramundi Cod and a big painted sweetlip. Both Elokin and Hendrix practised going down to touch the bottom which was about 4 metres deep. We were so proud of both of them for doing so well. Nath then got them to go and practise next to the bombie and have a look under it. They both got to see the barramundi cod and another massive fish that we are not sure what it was, but it was huge. Both Hendrix and Elokin did so well diving to the bottom. They have become little fish themselves. Elokin was going deep enough for it to start to hurt her ears!
We then got back in the tinny, although the water was warmer than out, and headed for the next bombie. Hendrix and I sat this one out as I was too cold and he didn’t want to go in, but Elokin was keen to go with Nath. They saw a white tip reef shark sleeping under the bombie. Then Hendrix and I saw the pod of dolphins from this morning coming towards us. We let Nath and Elokin know and they swam towards us and the dolphins. At one stage all 7 dolphins lined up in a row about 20 metres from the boat heading right towards us. It was so cool. Unfortunately the visibility here wasn’t very good so Nath and El couldn’t see them. They stayed in the water chasing after them for a bit until Nath called it and they returned to the boat.
We then returned to camp for a late lunch at 4pm of bacon and egg sandwiches. Just before we sat down to eat Nanny and Poppy returned from big day in town. They had had a nice lunch and also enjoyed the view from the lighthouse.
In the evening Poppy and Nath went to the beach to have a fish. Poppy caught a dart and kept it for bait for tomorrow. The man next to Poppy caught an emperor, too small to keep, and then had a huge shark fin coming right towards him on the beach like a scene out of Jaws. Nath thinks it was the same Hammerhead shark that we saw this morning. Pretty scary!
Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.