Last week I started my internship by visiting Exmouth. I had the opportunity to meet the general manager and staff at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort which is the major client I will be working with throughout my internship. I will be working for a boutique consultancy where Novotel Ningaloo Resort is their client. The purpose of this visit was to see the resort, its surroundings, the town of Exmouth, to liaison with the client and to attend a function. The event was a fundraiser auction for the Whaleshark Festival 2011. This function was held at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort and I met the members of the Whaleshark Festival Committee, Barry Hass, federal MP, a marine biologist, Dr Brad Norman who researches and tracks whale sharks and records them through photo identification, and many people from both the business and communications areas. The Whaleshark Festival is a major event for Exmouth which only has a population of 2,400 residents but the visitors swell the numbers to 8,000 in on season.

I found this trip very helpful as I have been doing work for Novotel Ningaloo over the last year and it was great to finally see the resort and meet the people. I was able to ask many questions and listen to experiences from people in the communications industry. As an event, this fundraiser was very successful with many attending and contributing to the auction that will help for the 2011 Whaleshark Festival. That night the “Exibalds” an annual art exhibition was launched at the resort. The work was through local and regional artists.

I was fortunate enough to swim with the whale sharks and snorkel off the Ningaloo Reef. I swam with an approximately eight metre whale shark that had been recorded as returning the area over 25 years. This was a great experience to swim with these gentle giants and I recommend it to everyone. A fun fact for people is that the whale shark is a shark not a whale. The animal gets oxygen from the water whereas a whale takes in oxygen from the air.

I’m looking forward to continuing my internship and gaining more real life experience.