Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Pilbara, Australia

The Pilbara is a desert area in the Northwest of Western Australia, predominated by mining communities and "fly in fly out" workers. However, the area is beautiful in it's own right and has many attractions other than it's mining prospects.

That'll teach the boys for angling - out of 5 fish caught, 100% were snatched by swarming sharks before we could land them! It was quite entertaining. This one was huge! 


Note the limp fishing line. I hope he doesn't choke on the hook ;-)
Dared to put my camera and hand under the water...




On the same day, we had a pod of Humpbacks put on a magnificent show for us





The entire coastline is rich with coral reefs and associated tropical fish

Sea snake - he had been happily sunbaking on the surface until we rudely poked him into consciousness, assuming he was dead!

Reefwalking at low tide with turtles at a "secret" Pilbara location - you need a 4 wheel drive, local knowledge and good luck to find the place and avoid being blockaded from entering by the road's owners! 


A turtle and a tiny baby moray eel - Jackpot



There were about 20 turtles just floating in the mangrove shallows at this location

"The Jump Up", an inconvenient obstacle standing between one and the stunning Burrup Peninsula. Taken on only by those who have great faith or little love for their vehicles, and even then only if they have a very high wheel base.
The Reward: Land-accessible isolated white sand beaches with crystal clear water
Mudskipper! These gobies can breathe air through their skin so long as they stay wet, and can use their fins for mobility on land. They can even jump 60cm into the air. 

Pools at Marble Bar, the hottest town in Australia



The Marble Bar tourist centre is about as modern as it's sign, hehe


An Olive python found by some friends in their chicken coop. He was fairly friendly, we all had a cuddle before I drove him to a nearby stream and released him back into the wild

The Staircase to the Moon - a phenomenon only visible at certain times of the year at Hearson's Cove. At low tide, the light reflecting onto the water from the moon resembles a staircase. Locals and tourists gather on the beach to watch the event, and the colours and morphology change by the second.






For every human killed by a shark, two million sharks are killed by humans. Please help. Educate and spread awareness to everyone you know. We need our sharks..we need our oceans.