Day 128 – Saturday 11th May 2024

Today was a day of mixed fortune.

On the good side my excursion was happening, which has bought to an end my run of cancellations. Away from my room at 07:00 for the 07:15 meet at the Eco Tours headquarters; I was early and the first to be fitted for wetsuit and fins. A short wait, and then the group doing the Whale Shark tour were transferred to the boat that was our home for the day.

I had no idea of times today as I’d left my watch in my bag that was placed in a dry box. The first stop for the day was inside the Nigaloo reef, where we practiced the process of leaving the boat (or sliding in) to snorkel, and then how we get back onto the boat when we were done.

At the back of the boat was a  platform just above the water, and when instructed we enter the water feet first, and to reboard the boat we kick hard and propel ourselves back onto the platform. Easier said than done, there were folks waiting to haul us back onboard unceremoniously of we couldn’t quite get onboard ourselves.

The first snorkel involved a tour around the reef; we saw a turtle, and there was an octopus ‘hiding’ on top of a globe shaped coral that was spotted by our dive guide, and when the photographer went down to get a shot it retreated and changed colour. (note, the photos today are courtesy of the on board photographer)

Once we were back onboard from the first practice dive, we headed north outside of the reef in search of the Whale Shark; the biggest fish in the ocean. We weren’t alone; there was a spotter plane looking for the creature as well.

I took up a position on the upper deck near where the skipper was piloting the boat from (it was out of the sun and out of the exhaust fumes which were giving me a bit of a  headache) as we headed north, but no sightings of a Whale Shark. There were reports of a whale in the locality, but we didn’t find that.

Just before lunch, we had a dive outside of the reef to cool down a bit, and to practice the process for getting off and onto the boat for when a Whale Shark was spotted. Lunch was served, and we started to head southwards, but still no sign of a whale shark was reported.

We encountered a pod of dolphins, but they didn't want to play with the boat today; the crew suggested that they probably had young with them so weren't willing to interact with us.

Finally in the late afternoon we received a report of Manta Rays inside the reef; still no Whale Sharks had been spotted. So we found a Manta with the help of a drone, and had three dives to watch it feeding.

That was about all for the day, and we made our way back along the coast to dock and return us to the meeting point at around 17:00. It had been a fantastic day on the ocean, but unfortunately we hadn’t encountered the Whale Shark; the main reason for the excursion.

So, no Whale Sharks …. there is a bucket list item that remains unfulfilled. Had I not encountered a Manta Ray in Bora Bora, that would have been a bucket list item for today, but I’d already ticked that one off.

Once back onto dry land, I headed for Bill’s bar where I had a beer (OK; I may have had two!) before getting a pasta takeout from the local supermarket. Then back to the room; I managed to miss the sunset this evening.

So, it’s been a fantastic day on the Indian Ocean; I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it despite the reason for the trip not being met. However, I fully accept that if there are no Whale Sharks in the locality then it’s rather difficult to dive with them. It’s not through a lack of effort though; the spotter plane was visible all day, and they did point us in the direction of the Manta Rays inside the reef as a last resort.

And so, some reality comes home to roost. This time in two weeks I’ll be back at home. It doesn’t seem possible, but it’s where we are. Mum did say as a parting gambit on 4^th January that it’d be finished before I knew where I was, and she’s not wrong (as usual!). But the trip isn’t over, and probably won’t be over when I do arrive home ….. I’ll need to mentally  ‘unpack’ everything that I’ve done and seen as it all seems like one big blur at the moment.

But that can wait for a bit; I still have two weeks of memory making still to go, and no stupid daily distances left to drive. It is a bit strange that I’ve known my plans up until now, but for the last two weeks I’ll need to look at the plan to know what’s next. Is that a case of me not wanting to contemplate the final two weeks of my big trip?