NINGALOO

The otherworldliness of a creature so enormous ascending from the depths. To be in its presence. Fleeting moments of utter beauty that will remain with me for the rest of my life. There are no words…

The Ningaloo Reef runs for more than 250 kilometres along the coast, and in places you can walk straight off the beach and into one of the most biodiverse marine environments in the world. But it was swimming with the whale sharks that has stayed with me most. Out in the deep blue, everything suddenly felt very small. Then, almost impossibly, a shape began to materialise from below — enormous, silent and completely at ease in the water.

Back on land, the same sense of otherworldliness followed us into Cape Range National Park. The country changes almost immediately from the brilliant blues of the reef to a landscape of red limestone cliffs, dry riverbeds, spinifex and deep, winding gorges.

What struck me most was the contrast between the two worlds — an incredible abundance of life beneath the water, set against the stark emptiness of the landscape above. After Cyclone Narelle, the fragility of it all was hard to ignore. The coast had been battered, with damage still visible around Coral Bay and Cape Range, and the impact on the reef still unfolding. It was a reminder that these extraordinary places are shaped by forces far greater than us, and that even landscapes that feel timeless are constantly changing.