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Published: December 21st 2010
Hello everyone,
Michael and I are off overseas again - we have already left home and are currently in
Western Australia visiting with our girls. I say Western Australia loosely as we planned to catch up with the girls in Perth while they were on their R & R from their work in the Pilbra - but I am starting this blog from the beach at Monkey Mia.
It has been a busy couple of days - we left Perth and spent our first night in Cervantes where the highlight of that area was The Pinnacles. The Pinnacles consist of thousands of limestone pinnacles ranging in size from up to 5 metres tall and 2 metres thick at the base.
They were formed thousands of years ago when ancient plant roots formed a weak cementation of calcite within the dunes and have been exposed by wind and shifting sands. You can drive around amongst them or take a walk through the area. You could spend days there looking at them all from different angles and ave some fun naming them.
Overnight at the local caravan park and we set off early the next day and headed to
Monkey Mia. I never thought that I would get here - it is always something you see in a travel brochure - after a very very long drive here we are. We travelled through several types of landscape in a matter of 500kms. We started off at the coast (sand and dune country) and then went into cattle and wheat growing area (around Geraldton) and then when we turned off the highway into the Shark Bay World Heritage area which consisted red sandy soil and low scrubby bushes with the occasional emu and goat to distract the driver. It was a 150km drive from the highway to Monkey Mia and while we were driving in a "boring" landscape the occassional glimpses of the ocean were very exciting. We had lots of opportunities for photos and I am really experimenting and trying to learn how to use my new camera before heading off overseas.
Tired and hot we booked into the backpackers at Money Mia and went for a swim. We had been dreaming of getting into the water all day and while it was a little cool it was really refreshing - always followed up by a nice cool
beer or one or two white wines. Of course the main reason for being here is to feed the dolphins. OMG they are soo cute and like everywhere else there was a hugh crowd for the first feeding - all trying to get the best seat in the house - and slowly over the next couple of hours the crowds left and it was down to about 50 of us - so we had a nice up close and personal with the dolphins and good photo opportunities.
On our way out from Monkey Mia we took time to visit some of the other sites in the area - Hamelin Pool where there is the largest and oldest fossils along the shore of the pool. We also saw some smaller similar fossils at Cervantes. Stromatolites are colonies of micro-organisms that resemble the oldest and simplest forms of life found on earth arount 3.5 billion years ago. This colony is believed to be about 3,000 years old. The stromatolites grow in this pool because of the extreme salinity of the water, the occurrence of calcium bicarbonate and the limited circulation of the water.
Shell Beach doesn't have any sand but
is completely covered in millions of small white Coquina shells. Eagle Bluff offered a great view of the surrounding area and this is where the Dugongs hang out during the winter months. We did sight our first (small) shark in this area.
We made our way down to Dongara-Port Denison for the night and off early next morning to meet Lucy's flight in from the Pilbra, which was delayed a couple of hours so we decided to have a bite to eat at Gin Gin.
Anyway, as for our overseas trip - we leave Perth flying to Bangkok on Monday - and Tuesday fly to Bamako in Mali (Western Africa) spending about 3 weeks in Mali culminating with attending the Festival of the Desert (music festival) just out in the desert from Timbuktu - yes there really is a place called Timbuktu. Then on the return we stop off in Ethiopia for a further five weeks.
Note from Bangkok: arrived here late last night and currently relaxing in a hotel close to the airport - catching up on e-mails etc. Had a great time with the girls and their friends - mainly going to their favourite places -
Peta's was The Flying Scotsman; Lucy's was The Garden and ours - as usual - can't visit Perth without going to Little Creatures - see the similarity between all these places - lots of good conversation and drinks.
Love and best wishes to you all - hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas - Roslyn
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Linny
non-member comment
The adventure begins!
Wonderful to read your blog! And the photos are great.... The new technology seems to be working well. Keep well, have fun (and a white wine for me) and have a truly wonderful Christmas. Love Linny xx