Monday 12th March 2012 Cruise to Woody Island.

You have heard me mention the  "Recherche Archipelago"  several times in the last few days...It is known by the locals as the Bay of Isles, the Recherche Archipelago is pristine wilderness at its best.

Nearly 130 untouched islands make up the stunning  views...From land, the bay is one of Australia’s most beautiful seascapes. Pure white sand melts into turquoise water with islands scattered here and there. Many of the smaller islands are granite outcrops while one of the largest, known as Woody Island, offers camping, bush walking, fishing and swimming.... and that's where we are heading today... on a half day cruise...

John at the helm

We picked the perfect day as it's going to reach 42 degrees today.. so no better place to be than on the water...

We are expecting to  see amazing wildlife including sea eagles, and colonies of sea lions and fur seals which come here to breed.. and we were not disappointed...

The cruise took us around a few of the islands and the captain did a great commentary on the surrounding areas and history of Esperance.

The seals were just so cute and we were able to get so close to them...

We landed on Woody Island which is perfect for nature lovers. There’s plenty of native bush, stunning lagoons for swimming and snorkelling, and a variety of wildlife including bandicoots and wallabies. It is open for camping between September and April and offers excellent facilities  which range from basic camp sites to safari huts with views over the bush to Shearwater Bay... beautiful.  

Woody Island

They provided morning tea for us fresh scones and cream and home made cookies.

After morning tea, you had a choice of going for a bush walk or snorkelling in the bay or just relaxing on the rocks and in the water, John had a go at snorkelling but it was too rough so he didn't stay in too long.

We also got a view from the water of Frenchman's Peak ... where we were yesterday...