Friday 16th May
The group of people who were leaving Coral Bay on the ER bus to Exmouth had a snorkel outing to the beach planned before moving on later in the morning. We were on the beach at 08.00 and headed out into the water to take a look at the sealife and coral that sits only metres from the shore. It was cold and the wind didn't do much to help but the coral was amazing, especially for somewhere so accessible without the use of scuba diving gear. It was a pity, but the conditions meant that I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping, and so I planned to come back later in the day to have another go when it was warmer.
After we got back to the hostel, the Easy Rider bus with Evo, Jimmy and a bunch of the guys who we had some great laughs with since leaving Perth a few days ago left to continue on their journey north towards Exmouth. I was sorry to see them go, and Phil and I waved them off before we went for some lunch and got some groceries. It was tuna and instant noodles on the menu for me that night as I was feeling particularly lazy and it would serve as an easy way into cooking my first meal for about six months.
We hung out on the beach for a few hours in the afternoon, did some snorkelling, and this time it was a lot more enjoyable and the water was a very pleasant temperature. The light was also a lot better for snorkelling and the visibility was a big improvement on that of earlier in the day. The beach was also really nice, it was quite busy but also quiet and a great place to relax. Later in the day, we were joined by some of the other ER guys: Emer, Sean, Gemma, Sanne, Sandra and a few others. We stayed on the beach until later in the afternoon, returning to the hostel to get changed and make some dinner.
My meal of canned tuna and instant noodles (chicken flavour) looked as pathetic as it sounds, a very poor effort for someone with half decent abilities in the kitchen. It didn't taste too bad and I tried to put on a brave face in front of the others, but I convinced myself that it would take small steps to get back into the routine of making food, having been out of action for so long.
We spent the rest of the evening playing ping-pong, just messing about and passing the time. It was actually a lot of fun and some of us sat up for a few hours having a good old chat, but it wasn't a late night for anyone this time.
