Our WA road trip

28th November: Coral Bay, WA
What have I done today? I woke up to beautiful blue skies which developed into 38 degree sunshine. I walked along the most incredible beach with soft, white sand leading into deep blue sea interspersed with coral reef. Jealous yet?

I've driven up to Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef with my friend Em. We started in Freo near Perth, loaded our backpacks, day packs, smaller bags and ourselves into our two door Hyundai rental car and set off on our Thelma and Louise style adventure. We drove through suburbs and winelands, miles of arrid, bare earth varying from grey to brown to yellow to red.

We've stopped in small towns, at stunning beaches (one made entirely from cockleshells - the aptly named Shell Beach), at weird stone formations in the desert (the Pinnacles) and, thankfully, at petrol stations in the middle of nowhere where you expect tumbleweed to blow past at any moment. We've seen some strange creatures, especially in those random roadhouse petrol stations!

Fortunately, the only kangaroos we've seen have been roadkill. That's fortunate for me, not the poor deceased roo. Much as I love spotting wildlife, I really don't want to spot it splattered across the windscreen. The animal death toll on these roads is massive. Surely someone can teach the green cross code to wildlife.

I did a fabulous snorkelling trip where I swam with a manta ray - just amazing. Then I dived with a turtle and got nibbled by shoals of emperor fish. The other day I paddled with wild dolphins. Today we saw baby sharks swimming by the shore. Each day this week I've been blown away by natural beauty - and I don't mean the surfers!

We've reached our northernmost destination and it's time to start heading south again. On our Thelma and Louise adventure, we haven't yet shot anyone or encountered Brad Pitt but there's still time!

If reading this has made you a tad envious, there is a fly in the ointment. In fact, pesky flies are everywhere and they're incredibly persistent. They land on you and stay. Currently, one is on my eyelid and another on my lip. I may be buying a hat with corks yet...