A Whaleshark Adventure

Last night I found it hard to sleep because I was so excited, we were going to swim with Whale Sharks.  We got up at 6:00am and started to pack our things into the backpack.  When we were ready we drove to the boat ramp, while dodging the Kangaroos (one Kangaroo narrowly missed us).  We pulled into the carpark and waited for the others to arrive, and as soon as they did we got split into 2 groups and went onto different boats.  Our boat was called Nedo-K and to get to the big boat a guy named Tyler came and picked us up in a little blowup boat.  Once we arrived on the boat we got told the rules and got our equipment.  The crews names were Tyler, Tara, Liv, Elle and M J.  We had a few morning snacks and then sailed to a snorkelling spot and had a quick snorkel.  The place was beautiful and we saw some very large fish and some interesting ones including a Boxfish.  We also saw new types of coral, such as  Anemones like in Finding Nemo.  After we finished snorkelling we had a Hot Chocolate and headed out on to the bow which is the front part of the boat.  

As we were cruising along the shallows we heard the good news, our spotter plane had spotted a Whale Shark for us to swim with!  We had to cross the reef and on the other side it was so deep that you cant see the bottom.  The water was really choppy and Kade got sick so he didn't get to enjoy it too well.  When we arrived at the location of the Whale Shark, half the boat (not us) jumped in to the water to swim with the Whale Shark, but they were back quickly because the Whale Shark had dived down deep into the blue water.  So the spotter plane went out and spotted another nice and quickly and this time it was my groups turn to have a swim with the Whale Shark.  I put on my wetsuit, fins and mask and sat on the back of the boat ready to slide in.  As soon as I slid into the water, I didn't feel worried anymore.  We waited for a little while and out of the blue came a giant spotty body 7 metres long.  As soon as half of its body passed me I turned and started to swim next to it, I swam as fast as I could and it was tricky to keep up and the Whale Shark looked like it was going as slow as it could.  After a minute or 2 the tail of the Whale Shark disappeared from view.  It was an unbelievable experience and it didn't seem real, it felt like staring at a giant movie screen while running as fast as you could.  We made our way back to the boat and then mummy was sick.  I was exhausted after I climbed back into the boat and I collapsed on the ground.  The other group had a swim with that Whale Shark and then we hopped back in. This time I felt like I experienced it more, and the Shark just swam peacefully along while we kicked wildly next to it.  After we got out we went in search because the spotter plane said there was another Whale Shark near us.  We bumped along the churning ocean and I started to feel a bit seasick and I normally don’t.  When we found the next one the first group had their go and then we jumped in but mum and Kade stayed behind.  This Whale Shark was a 5 metre, 5 year old (teenager) boy and he seemed to enjoy us swimming with him.  When we hopped in dad and was sick so it made us swim a bit faster though we didn't feel well.  Then we got to have one last lovely swim, but by the end dad and I got a bit tired so we got a quick lift to the rest of the group from Tyler.  

It was a expensive trip but defiantly worth it.   We had lunch, I had a few carrot sticks, a small drumstick and a cheese, turkey and chicken stuffing half sandwich.  We had another snorkel after we got back on the shallow side of the reef.  When we got moving again, I climbed up the ladder to the drivers cabin and had a look to see if I could spot anything.  When we went to the bow, some people saw a turtle (I didn’t) and we saw a skinny fish dance across the water and some thing in the water that was either a Dugong or a shark.  We put down the anchor and caught the blowup boat back to the little jetty and we were on land again!  We drove back to the campsite and got in the caravan just in time time to take cover from the wind and trickles of rain.  What a day!!