Where the desert meets the ocean

The latest travels took us this time to Coral Bay, 1400 kms N of Perth (see map). Coral Bay is a small cute little village off the main highway north where one can best access Ningaloo reef. This is a fringe type reef, which means that it starts meters off the coast (as opposed to barrier reef like the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland that is kms away from the coast and you will have to take a boat to reach it). What do you do during a coastal exploration trip? That's right, you explore the coast and the waters and all its inhabitants. 

Aastavahetuse paiku otsustasime s6ita p6hja uudistamaks kohta nimega Coral Bay, mis asub u. 1400 km Perthist p6hjas. Coral Bay on v2ike kylake, kust on k6ige parem ligip22s Ningaloo riffile, kus saab mugavalt ja lihtsalt kaeda seal elavaid kalakasi ja koralle.

 (map source: http://www.perth-getaways.com/exmouth.html)

We were told that it is called Shark Bay world heritage area, because there are indeed  lots of sharks there! I saw for the first time about 10 reef sharks, which were only about up to 1 m big and are apparently harmless to people.

 

 First place on the way to Coral Bay where we made a longer stop was Monkey Mia which is well known for its dolphins' sighting. Little did i know that it isn't a town, but the whole place consists of one resort that has plenty of accommodation for different budgets and other amenities, but you need to pay a small fee to get in!

Esimene koht, kus me teel Coral Baysse pikema peatuse tegime oli Monkey Mia, mis on kuulus oma delfiinide poolest, kes kartmatult madalates vetes ujujaid uudistavad. Huvitav oli aga see, et tegemist polnud tavalise v2ikese linnakesega, nagu me ootasime, vaid terve Monkey Mia 'asula' koosneb vaid yhest suurest majutuskompleksist, kus on nii poekesed jm taoline ning sissep22s on tasuline!

Dolphins are not the only exciting creatures in Monkey Mia, though, emus were quite abundant as well. Delfiinid ei ole ainukesed vaatamisv22rsused Monkey Mias, emusid oli seal ka piisavalt.

I like the nature in that photo, especially the sky. 

 

 Another local - the roo!

Triplets!

And the main act - the dolphins!

Where the desert meets the ocean is a reference to Carnarvon,which apparently is the town where exactly that happens. Continuing our trip further north, we passed Carnarvon - the fruit capital of WA - which is part of the Gascoyne region. Thanks to the Gascoyne river all that fruit can be grown. Well, when we drove by there, the entire river had dried up. Quite an eerie view!  

Edasi p6hja poole s6ites s6itsime l2bi kohast nimega Carnarvon, kus kasvatatakse enamus L22ne Austraalia puuvilju. Terve regiooni nimi on Gascoyne, sealse j6e j2rgi, mis muudab pinnase viljakaks intensiivse puuvilja kasvatamise tarbeks. Huvitav oli aga n2ha seda vaatepilti, kui terve j6gi on praeguse kuiva perioodi jooksul kokku kuivanud ning sild seisab seal n2iselt tarbetult.
 

Below i'm standing in the river bed on the bridge foot near the tape that indicates in wet season the depth of the river, it went up quite a few meters (maybe 4-5).

Continuing our exploration we drove further north and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn!

Soon after crossing the Tropic of Capricorn we arrived to Coral Bay -uh la la, i was in love from the first sight! All you do there is snorkel, snorkel and then snorkel some more.

Ja l6puks j6udsimegi Coral Bay'sse, millesse ma armusin lihtsalt ja tervenisti 2ra. Mida me tegime seal? Snorgeldasime, snorgeldasime ja siis veel natuke rohkem snorgeldasime.

 

 Spot a snapper or two!

  

So finally, in Coral Bay,  it became all clear to me regarding the biology of corals. Well, actually our 15 year old guide explained it to me. You see, i became always confused when snorkeling in Great Barrier Reef and now in Ningaloo Reef regarding the lack of color and shape of these corals. I was always expecting to see some vibrant funky shapes and colors, yet  mostly saw brownish variations of the corals. Yes, i know, that bleaching is a problem and that is definitely a case in the Great Barrier Reef. Yet, Ningaloo is among the healthy ones, so where is all the color?! Turns out, silly me, the soft corals that can be found in equatorial waters are the colorful ones. In the waters around Australia, these are all hard shell corals that come mostly in brown, purple and blue colors and what they lack in color they definitely make up in shape! Below is a huge mushroom coral which surface was about 2-3 m in diameter!

L6puks ometi selgitas mulle yks 15 aastane plikatirts/giid, mis vahe on korallil ja korallil. Tuleb v2lja, et ilusaid v2rvilisi koralle n2eb valdavalt ekvaatori l2hedastest vetes. Austraalia ymber olevad korallid on aga k6vad korallid, mis on enam-jaolt punase, pruuni ja siniste varjunditega. All pool on pilt seen korallist, mille 'kybara' diameeter oli umbes 2-3 m. Syrreaalne elukas.

Glass bottom boat that allowed us to see all that underwater beauty!

Klaasp6hjaga paadist oli hea nautida ilusat korallivaipa!

What else do you need for profound happiness?

Mida veel on 6nneks vaja?

I could got not get enough of spending time in the water amongst all that funky and colorful fish i saw. 

 

 Happy people!

And so it went, a week of adventures and 2800 kms later all i can say is that i want to go back there! :) But all is good as tomorrow we embark on another 3 day adventure down south this time, which i will report about later, hopefully!

Ja nii see l2ks, 2800 kilomeetrit hiljem tahaksin minna tagasi sinna paradiisi! Aga pole hullu, homme j2lle minek seiklema, seekord l6una poole. Raporteerin kindlasti!

Kia ora, New Zealand

Kia ora t2hendab Maori keeles "tervist". Novembri l6pus 6nnestus meil l6puks 2ra k2ia Uus-Meremaal, t2psemalt siis p6hjasaarel. P6hjasaare keskosa on muuseas ka koht, kus S6rmuste Isandat filmiti. Uus-Meremaast r22gitakse alati yliv6rdes, eriti v6i emajaolt kui r22gitakse loodusest. T6epoolest loodus oli

vapustav: kitsad-k22nulised teed m2gede vahel, lopsakas loodus, kus vaheldumisi kasvavad nii s6najalg- kui ka okaspuud ja muidugi lehmad, mis yletavad teed nii nagu neile sobib ja millal sobib. R22gitakse, et l6unasaar olevat veel ilusam kui p6hjasaar. Eks meil on siis p6hjust j2rgmine kord ka l6unsaarele minna. Seekord aga vaatame siis, mis p6hjasaarel tegime.

Kia ora is a Māori language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It means literally "be well/healthy" and is translated as an informal "hi". At the end of November we finally got the opportunity to visit New Zealand for the first time. We visited the north island, to be precise. For those of you who love fanatsy movies, The Lord of the Rings was apparently shot in a location on north island. I've always heard people speak in imperatives when they mention the nature of New Zealand. Finally, i do understand why. It is absolutely beautiful: the narrow and winding roads, lush vegetation that is a mix of tree-ferns and gymnosperms and of course the holy cows that cross the road when and wherever they wish. Evidently south island is even more beautiful compared to north island. Well, we will have to find out next time. This time, i'll focus on our travels on north island.

Uus-Meremaallaste ikooniline lind kiwi on all oleva m2rgi peal. Kahjuks meil ei 6nnestunud seda n2ha, kuna see on enamasti aktiivne oositi.
New Zealands iconic kiwi bird is on the sign below. Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to see a real one as it is nocturnal.
 

Waipoa mets saare loode osas on aga see koht, kus saab n2ha v2heseid allesj22nud "kauri" puid (Agathis sp). Kunagi olevat nad v2ga levinud olnud, kuid inimasustuse tihenemisega raiuti enamus puid maha. 6nneks m6ned j2eti alles ja nyyd on see mets kaitse all. Kauri puud on huvitavad. Mulle meenutavad nad k22buseid: kasvavad vaid umbes 20-30 m k6rguseks, kuid on j2meda tyvega, ja oksad/lehed on puhmas tipus.
Waipoa forest is the place in north west where one can see what's little left of once widespread kauri forest. These trees remind me of giant dwarfs, they are rather short for such old trees, reaching only about 20-30 meters, but have a thick trunk with branches in a bundle on the top.

All oleval pildil poseerin minu m2letamist mooda 4 kauri 6ega. 

On the photo below i am posing with 4 kauri sisters. 

Teepealt avanesid ilusad vaated. 

Nice views from the road.

Auckland vaadatuna Edeni m2elt.

Auckland as seen from Mt. Eden.

 

T2n2peaval kehtib ytlemine, et igas sadamas on v2hemalt yks eestlane. L2bi juhuse, 6nnestus n2ha okos6dalast Kadri Kallet linnakeses nimega Rotorua:) Oli vahva kohtumine.

Nowadays you could say that in every port you can meet at least one Estonian. Accidentally, we met ecowarrior Kadri Kalle in Rotorua. Was a great re-union.

Rotorua l2hdal asub selline v2gev koht nimega Wai-O-Tapu, kus saab n2ha looduse v6imsat j6udu: nii geisreid kui ka kuumavee allikaid. All pildil on n2ieteks Shampanja bassein (diameeter on 65 m ja sygavus 62m), mis on umbes 700 aastat vana ja mille vee temperatuur on 74C. Vees olevate mineraalide hulka kuuluvad nii kuld, h6be, elavh6be jne. Basseini l2hedal seistes tugevama tuule korral oli kohati aurusauna tunne, nii tihe oli see kuum aur.
Near Rotorua is a place called Wai-O-Tapu that has geisers and hot springs. Below is a picture of the Champagne pool, which is the largest spring in the district (65 m in diameter and 62 m deep). It is estimated to have been formed 700 years ago by hydrothermal eruption. Minerals contained in the water are gold, silver, mercury to name a few.

Vee temperatuur ja ylim happelisus ei heiduta seda lindu (Himantopus himantopus). 

The Pied Stilt seem quite unconcerned about the acidic waters in which they wade.

Naturalistid seina vaatamas-nuusutamas: mis siin kasvab?

Naturalists being curious about the rock wall nose first.

Ringi s6ites nagime sageli valget auru, mis tuli keevatest j6gedest/allikatest. V2ga mystiliselt ilus vaatepilt.

While driving around we would often see the white steam coming from boiling rivers/streams. Very mystical/magical view it was.

 

P6hja saart kylastades kindlasti soovitaksin k2ia 2ra Waipoa metsas Aucklandist p6hjas n2gemaks vanu hiiglasi kauri puid ja Rotoruas (Wai-O-Tapus) Aucklandist l6unas, et saada selge ettekujutus Uus-Meremaa geotermilisest aktiivsusest. Muidugi on p6hjasaarel veel palju palju muud vaadata, aga  no k6ike ka ei j6ua teha, eks ole?

If you are visiting north island, i would definitely recommend visiting aforementioned places.

The beauty of the beast

It has been a long long time since i have posted anything in here. Well, my recent trip to the Helena and Aurora range in Great Western Woodlands in Western Australia can not be kept in secret. Below are some photos that will talk for themselves and some snippets of background information from the following 'official' website (http://helenaaurorarange.com.au/) where you can find extensive literature on the location, conservation, geology and heritage. All photos are done by me.

" The Helena and Aurora Range (Aboriginal name 'Bungalbin') is a magnificent banded ironstone formation (BIF) range in Western Australia that has National Heritage values" (see map below).

 

 (map source: http://helenaaurorarange.com.au/)

"Helena and Aurora Range (Bungalbin) is made up of a series of long extensive, often convoluted, hills (or ranges). The highest point is 704 m above sea level. Within Helena and Aurora Range the only hill with an official name is Bungalbin Hill, located at the south end of the range.Banded ironstone formation (BIF) (or banded iron formation) has been described as iron rich chert.  The chert being predominantly silica. The banded colours occur due to different amounts of oxidised iron contained in the minerals. Minerals that contain iron are: haematite, magnetite, grunerite, limonite, siderite and pyrite.  The bands also include the shale and chert which are very low in iron content (iron poor).  BIF is considered to have formed during the Precambrian, 2,000 to 3,000 million years ago or more. BIF is a sedimentary rock, formed from sediments under the sea. Hence the layering or bands in the BIF rock."

 Example of the BIF rock

 

 Eucalyptus woodland with red soil and predominantly grass cover consisting of Neurachne annularis (protected grass species under category P3)

There were many tracks in the woodland...below could be a legless lizard or a snake? 

 Ptilotus nobilis 

 

 Grevillea georgeana (protected species under category P3)

Eucalyptus sp.

Banksia arborea ( protected species under category P4)

Melaleuca nematophylla

 

Eucalyprus woodland with yellow annuals

After spending a month in this place, this was the first instance when we saw some exciting wildlife. Spot a wild bull in the middle of a photo below:). He ran in front of our car and stopped for a sec to observe us right in front of us. But by the time i got my camera out he was already retreating. It was an amazing sight and I couldn't believe how huge he was. I definitely felt safe observing him from the safe distance and being in the car and thank god that our paths didn't cross while i was doing work everyday in that woodland. That would have been quite scary indeed....

On the way to the Helena Aurora there is this wonderful place called Westonia. I'm sure it rings a bell with all the Estonians and estnofils.

 Our magnificent dream team in front of the exploration camp at the end of the long and exciting 13 days of 'work' that consisted mainly of bushwalking and ridge-climbing (photo by MH)

 It is a place definitely worth visiting and conserving! Find out more here  http://helenaaurorarange.com.au/.