We finally had a whole free day to do what we pleased. Most took a snorkel trip to see manta rays. For the tour, a plane would fly over the reef, searching for large rays, then sends GPS coordinates to the boat. The group saw sharks, turtles, manta rays, tropical fish, and magnificent coral. Everyone on the tour absolutely loved it. The six of us who stayed behind just hung out on the beach and snorkeled and sunbathed. I did get to wade a bit in the water and enjoyed the cool water on the hot day.
Friendships were beginning to form. Although the group got along well as a whole, various subgroups were forming. My group was the two Dutch girls, Eline and Mirte, Steve and Chris the Brits, Reelika the Estonian, and Frank the German. We were the few of the group left behind from the snorkel tour. (Well, left behind sounds harsh. We elected not to go along.) We also started adopting nicknames. I was dubbed "Riggs" (my original nickname, "Indy" due to my recklessness was ditched after my injury. Indiana Jones would never dislocate his shoulder.). Riggs was apparently a character from Lethal Weapon who dislocated his shoulder at some point. Other adopted nicknames due to their resemblance to famous TV characters (i.e. Screech from Saved by the Bell and Charlotte from Sex and the City) My choice favorite was Mirte's "Gouda" because she happened to grate cheese on the first day of the tour and is dutch.
During our short drive to the Northern end of the peninsula, the tour guides decided that we all needed to learn John Williamson songs, complete with hand gestures. It was a hoot and we were destined to sings his lousy stupid songs for the whole week.
We spent the night in some lovely air-conditioned cabins in Exmouth. It was quite a luxury, given the high-90's temperatures at night. We all stayed up chatting and drinking box wine (which the Aussies call "goon"), going to bed much too late.
Thanks to Mirte for the photos.
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