Once again it was an early morning.....I'm going to get get at these by the end of this tour! We left the hostel at 0630 and made the short drive to the beach of Monkey Mia. Now at monkey mia, there are no monkeys, but dolphins, and lots of dolphins!! They come in for feeding throughout the day and we arrived to watch the sun rise over the water, and watch the dolphins getting fed....some of us getting to feed the dolphins. I however was not picked to do this :(
Now, a bit of history of Monkey Mia. The dolphins have been coming here for close to 50 years after a wife of a fisherman began feeding a couple of the dolphins as they came in from fishing. I became such a routine for the dolphins and they got so used to the people, they actually began feeding directly from the hands of the fisherman. The name Monkey Mia came from a fishing boat, Monkey, that anchored there during the pearling season, and Mia is aboriginal for shelter or home.
The sunrise was amazing and as it came up we watching pelicans cruise along the beach, turtles swimming in the water and the dolphins coming in for feeding! 13 dolphins came in that morning for feeds, and there was a TON of people at the shore watching. I didn't get a great spot on the beach, but oh well, I still got to see them and it was very exciting.
After the dolphins, we had the option of going to an aboriginal walk in the town of Monkey Mia with an aboriginal, or go on a Catamaran to see some marine life. However, the aboriginal that was to take us on our walk was in another town, so this was canceled....and at that point it didn't surprise me as it seemed that everything was going wrong! So, a bunch of us opted to go on the Catamaran. And that too, wasn't great as we didn't see ANY marine life, even the pearl boat was closed as it was a Sunday. The only exciting thing that happened was when we got on the boat, we had the option of going on 'the boom', which was a net at the back of the catamaran that you could sit in and the boat would drag you along. It was so much fun, and when they asked if we wanted to go faster, we all said yes, not realizing what could happen. You see, you get dragged in the water, at fast speeds, and not only do you get a wedgie from your bathing suit bottoms, but occasionally the tie at the back of your bikini can come undone.....and boy did I give a show to Rich and Rob who where sitting beside me!! They noticed before I did, and even one of the skippers that was keeping an eye on us, had a smirk on his face when I realized what had happened. I don't think my top had come undone for very long, but I got Rob to tie a double knot so it wouldn't happen again!! GT's (good times!)
After this we drove to Eagle Bluff, a view point along the coast that you can sometimes see reef sharks. But, just as our luck was going, no such luck! Although it was pretty! After enjoying the view, we drove to Shell Beach where I randomly ran into my friends Brid and Gethin that where traveling up to Darwin with a camper van! What where the chances! Shell beach had loads of shells, in fact, it wasn't really sand, it was ALL shells, some small and some big. A few of us went for a swim in the surprisingly cold water, and before we knew it, it was time to move on. We drove back to Hamelin pool for a quick lunch, and at this point we all knew what was needed to prepare lunch and we where all helping as a team, different people helping out with different things each day. Not everyone helped out with every meal as it would just be too many people, but we all helped out pretty evenly throughout the tour. Lunches where usually the same, sandwich, wraps, and veggies. But I didn't mind, and I usually went back for seconds!! It was free so why not :) We then hoped on board the bus and drove to Coral Bay. It was a long drive and by the time we arrived in Coral Bay (in the dark and after hitting kangaroo, poor guy) we had driven a total of 1820 km's from Perth, and this was just the end of day three!!
Now, a bit of history of Monkey Mia. The dolphins have been coming here for close to 50 years after a wife of a fisherman began feeding a couple of the dolphins as they came in from fishing. I became such a routine for the dolphins and they got so used to the people, they actually began feeding directly from the hands of the fisherman. The name Monkey Mia came from a fishing boat, Monkey, that anchored there during the pearling season, and Mia is aboriginal for shelter or home.
The sunrise was amazing and as it came up we watching pelicans cruise along the beach, turtles swimming in the water and the dolphins coming in for feeding! 13 dolphins came in that morning for feeds, and there was a TON of people at the shore watching. I didn't get a great spot on the beach, but oh well, I still got to see them and it was very exciting.
After the dolphins, we had the option of going to an aboriginal walk in the town of Monkey Mia with an aboriginal, or go on a Catamaran to see some marine life. However, the aboriginal that was to take us on our walk was in another town, so this was canceled....and at that point it didn't surprise me as it seemed that everything was going wrong! So, a bunch of us opted to go on the Catamaran. And that too, wasn't great as we didn't see ANY marine life, even the pearl boat was closed as it was a Sunday. The only exciting thing that happened was when we got on the boat, we had the option of going on 'the boom', which was a net at the back of the catamaran that you could sit in and the boat would drag you along. It was so much fun, and when they asked if we wanted to go faster, we all said yes, not realizing what could happen. You see, you get dragged in the water, at fast speeds, and not only do you get a wedgie from your bathing suit bottoms, but occasionally the tie at the back of your bikini can come undone.....and boy did I give a show to Rich and Rob who where sitting beside me!! They noticed before I did, and even one of the skippers that was keeping an eye on us, had a smirk on his face when I realized what had happened. I don't think my top had come undone for very long, but I got Rob to tie a double knot so it wouldn't happen again!! GT's (good times!)
After this we drove to Eagle Bluff, a view point along the coast that you can sometimes see reef sharks. But, just as our luck was going, no such luck! Although it was pretty! After enjoying the view, we drove to Shell Beach where I randomly ran into my friends Brid and Gethin that where traveling up to Darwin with a camper van! What where the chances! Shell beach had loads of shells, in fact, it wasn't really sand, it was ALL shells, some small and some big. A few of us went for a swim in the surprisingly cold water, and before we knew it, it was time to move on. We drove back to Hamelin pool for a quick lunch, and at this point we all knew what was needed to prepare lunch and we where all helping as a team, different people helping out with different things each day. Not everyone helped out with every meal as it would just be too many people, but we all helped out pretty evenly throughout the tour. Lunches where usually the same, sandwich, wraps, and veggies. But I didn't mind, and I usually went back for seconds!! It was free so why not :) We then hoped on board the bus and drove to Coral Bay. It was a long drive and by the time we arrived in Coral Bay (in the dark and after hitting kangaroo, poor guy) we had driven a total of 1820 km's from Perth, and this was just the end of day three!!
The dolphins coming in for feeding at sunrise
Beautiful sunrise
In the Katamaran boom, prior to the 'incident'!!
On the Katamaran
At shell beach!
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