Outback meets ocean paradise in Australia's Ningaloo Reef

The Ningaloo Reef is one of the world's last great marine sanctuaries juxtaposed with a sunburnt hinterland

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The Australian hinterland exudes a brutal monotony. Desert and shrubs, shrubs and desert, now and then interwoven with some strands of tarmac that get lost in a mirage towards the horizon. That is it.

The termite mounds resembling prehistoric fertility deities initially offer some distraction on the plains.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 15, 2018, with the headline Outback meets ocean paradise in Australia's Ningaloo Reef. Subscribe