As usual, Tina was out of bed before me, and before the dawn. I staggered out sometime after her in my usual fashion and headed for the shower. On the way back, with the sun starting to make an appearance, I got myself some breakfast. Shortly afterwards, with Tina making her breakfast, there was activity in the tent next to us. A zip whizzed open and Alex stuck her head out. "Good morning Tina" she said brightly.
Feeling rather bad for my dismissive attitude the previous evening, I sheepishly tried to explain about the lantern and the darkness and such. They took my explanations with good grace and broad grins. After discussing the coincidence of them camping, of all the places in the Coral Bay, in the pitch right next to us, and having assured ourselves that they weren't actually stalking us, we agreed to meet up later that morning to have a go on those kayaks we'd seen down by the beach.
Kayaks look simple. Two people sat on (as opposed to in) a narrow, longish boat, each with a single oar with a blade at each end. Keep the oars in time, get a rhythm going, and progress is smooth and rapid. In theory. In practice they're a lot harder than that, having, for a start, no obvious means of steering. Tina and I wobbled off wondering how Alex and Brendan were managing make it look so easy. We headed for a green buoy some way out to sea, since we'd been told that those were the public moorings and were all in good spots. It took us a few minutes to get to the closest one, and once there we pulled on masks, snorkels and fins (no easy trick in a boat which is no wider than your bum) and flopped over the side.
The coral here was a lot better than close in to the shore. Less people about, and the deeper water offers it protection from rough seas. Wonderful fish too. After 20 minutes we clambered back onto the kayaks, which is even harder than getting off of them. With nothing to push against you sort of have to haul yourself up, and since the boat has no stabilisation at all it just tends to turn over. Each time I tried I ended up hanging onto one side with my flippered feet rising to the surface on the other side of the boat. Eventually we all got on board, pointed enthusiastically towards another green buoy further out to sea and off we went.
This time Tina and I made better progress, soon leaving Alex and Brendan trailing in our wake. Well, by a few metres anyway. Then there was a yelp from behind us followed by a loud splash. We looked back and, oh dear. Somehow they'd capsized. They said later that they both spotted something in the water, and both leaned over to get a look. That's all it takes to roll one of these things. It's not dangerous, since you're not tied onto the kayak in anyway. It's just bit of a shock to suddenly go from warm sunshine to cool water when you're not expecting it.
Tina and I turned to paddle back to see if they needed help. Unfortunately, they hadn't secured all their gear and Alex's dive mask had gone overboard. Masks tend to sink rather than float so now it was somewhere on the bottom. Brendan and I jumped in to look for it while the girls secured the kayaks. It took ages to find the thing because the current kept pushing us along the coast. I knew the mask had to be somewhere between the two green buoys, and after 20 minutes or so I spotted it. Fortunately it wasn't in deep water, having snagged on some coral. It was plenty deep enough though, and the coral was sharp, so it took us a few goes each before Brendan managed to grab it. Relieved, we got back on the kayaks and resumed the journey towards the next green buoy.
By the time we got there an tourist snorkeling boat had tied up to it. Tut! Talk about taking the easy route. The good news was that they'd been throwing food into the water to attract fish, and they'd done a great job. The water was teaming with fish of all sorts of shapes and sizes. It was surprisingly claustrophobic being in such a large group of fish, especially since many where a couple of feet long and quite aggressive, at least towards each other. I loved it, but Tina soon headed off to quieter waters.
After another 20 minute snorkel we paddled, thankfully with the current, back to the beach, then headed back to our camp. Tina and I were leaving for Karijini in the morning so we put all our stuff out to dry, then repacked the car with the wetsuits in the middle and the walking boots towards the sides where we could get to them. This change of priorities sorted out, we invited Alex and Brendan over (i.e. to drag their chairs 5 metres) for a couple of games of dominos (Carina's once again) before turning in.