We had a bit of a sleep in this morning as the sun rises a bit later now that we are further west and further south. The 3 younger children were awake around 6.30 but I didn’t get up until after 7.00. They had breakfast and got through their jobs quickly and went on the playground for a while, which I could see from the van. So I had my breakfast in peace and quiet, as Michael and Lauren were sleeping in more. Michael got up about 8.30 and took over keeping an eye on the kids while I went for a bit of a stroll over to the small shopping arcade across the road. Then we arranged to meet up with David and Janenne and we all headed down to the beach around 9.30. We took our snorkelling gear. David and Janenne have their own kayaks so they also brought them down to the beach. I was pleasantly stunned when I reached the beach to see how clear and aqua blue the water was and how calm and protected the bay was. We all got wet in the shallows first and then David and the kids started using the kayaks. They had a single and a double (which could take an adult and 2 children). Sam spent some time on the single for a while and David took Hannah and Bethany out on the double, which they really enjoyed.
The reef off Coral Bay and the whole peninsula, at which Coral Bay sits at the base, is a fringing reef. This means it is only just offshore from the beach. From the main swimming beach at Coral Bay, you can swim out and snorkel over the reef just 50m from shore. So snorkelling is what we did next. David took Bethany for a snorkel in the shallows and she saw some big fish there. Then David, myself, Lauren and Sam went snorkelling out deeper – Michael paddled the double kayak out there so we had a ‘platform’ to hold on to if we needed to rest or to adjust our goggles or something. We saw some great coral and fish out there. Then we swam back in and warmed up in the sun for a while (the water out deep was quite ‘fresh’). Then Hannah wanted to snorkel out deeper, so Michael took Sam and Hannah out in the kayak and both of them snorkelled around close to the kayak. Hannah thought this was great. The rest of us enjoyed time sitting and chatting back on the beach. It really was an idyllic morning. 2 and a half hours passed by very quickly. Then it was time to get out of the hottest part of the day and go back for lunch.
Us and the Hays went our separate ways for lunch and a ‘rest time’ for a couple of hours and then the Hays had offered to do something with the kids in the afternoon so Michael and I could have some time together on our own – very thoughtful of them. We didn’t say no to this opportunity. So around 3.00 the kids went back to the beach with David and Janenne (without the kayaks this time) and had another swim, took part in the fish feeding which occurs in the shallows at 3.30 each day ( the children can get right in among the fish and virtually touch them), took a walk to the shops for an ice- cream and generally had Alice time. Meanwhile Michael and I enjoyed some time together, including a trip to a cafe for an iced coffee. It was lovely.
Then between 5 and 6pm we had booked the tennis court at the van park. So Michael took the kids over there and Hannah and Beth had a hit for a while until it was time for them to come with me to the showers. David joined Michael, Lauren and Sam for a hit for a while.
After finishing the tennis at 6pm, we took a walk to the cafe/restaurant at the front of the van park and all had a meal together of pizza and desserts. Once again it was a lovely time spent with the Hays. After dessert, Bethany lay her head down on my lap and promptly fell asleep! It was good that she was able to do that, rather then getting too tired.
We wandered back to the van about 8.30 to put the kids to bed. We were planning to leave Coral Bay tomorrow and head up the peninsula to Exmouth, so said we would have a brief goodbye with the Hays before we left in the morning.