Backpacker Buzz

Exmouth is the final stop on the backpacker bus trip I took up north - on the northwest coast of Western Australia. Luckily I changed my plans from beelining to Exmouth to include a three-night stop at Coral Bay, just south of here. Exmouth is said to be the gateway to the Ningaloo Reef, which some say rivals the East Coast's Great Barrier Reef. I was down with that - I like reefs and the word Ningaloo is fun to say. Coral Bay is right on the coast, a small holiday town with few amenities but a nice hostel, some caravan parks and one heck of a beach. Exmouth, on the other hand, is slightly inland from the eastern side of a peninsula, meaning you've got to drive to get to the coast. Oh but it's got two IGAs.

March and April are the tail end of the low season in Exmouth (and most areas north of here), because temperatures are just too high to draw in many visitors. It's been sunny with temperatures in the high 30s the past two days I've been here, but the real downside to Exmouth is that there just isn't anything to do if you don't have a car or a few hundred dollars to spend on a dive trip. Mix that with a severe shortage of other travellers (likely due to the low season), and you've got yourself a pretty dull time. With limited funds, I can't convince myself to rent a car for the day ($55 for 100 km) or to pay for a snorkel trip to the reef, which I visited while I was in Coral Bay. Even the whale sharks that visit the reef for a few months of the year haven't shown up yet. 

Luckily I tracked down the hostel's second pool (the one that isn't under renovation), where I plan to spend most of today, while I wait for the next bus through town to arrive at 9:50 pm. Twenty hours after that, I'll arrive in Broome. 

I'm fully aware that my experience in this town is what I make of it, but when I've found myself in other underwhelming places (though there have been few), there's always at least something to do. So failing that, I guess I just take this as my cue to sit back, relax, save some money and move on.

The thing about this part of the world is how drastically things can change from season to season. A river roaring in January can become a completely parched valley by June, so maybe that's the case with Exmouth. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, because I hope this parched little town gets a chance to roar at some point.

Ever found yourself in a place you just didn't like? What's your exit strategy?