Australia

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Our alarm went off early as we wanted to see the dolphin feeding before leaving for Kalbarri. We got into our shorts and swimwear and made out way down to the beachfront where there was already a crowd gathering. People were standing knee deep in the water as dolphins swam backwards and forwards in front of them. There were a few volunteers in the water with walkies and one of them also had a loud hailer. She informed us that we were waiting for a couple more dolphins to arrive before commencing the feeding.

The dolphins are fed from the beach three times a day, starting at 8am. The second and third feed are determined by the dolphins - they come back when they want to. Usually by 10.30am it’s all over and their three feeds are up.

We separated in to the crowd and watched them swim in front of us. I figured if they were going to select random people to hand feed them we both had more a a chance if we were standing apart.

A few minutes later they asked us all to step back onto the beach just out of the water as the feeding was about to begin. There were about four guides standing at intervals in front of the crowd, each holding buckets of fish. We were told that they would pick people at random to come out and give a fish to the dolphin at their side. Before I’d even realised they had started picking, the man standing in front of our end of the crowd pointed to me and asked me to come out to be the first fish feeder of the day. I didn’t have time to register how lucky I was to be chosen.

I stepped into the water in front of the crowd and took my position next to the volunteer. He told me that the dolphin wasn’t too keen on the fish I was about to feed him so not to be surprised if he dropped it. He also said this particular dolphin was only getting two fish this morning which made me feel very pleased that I had been picked out of the big crowd.

I was asked to hold the fish out by the tail and then slowly let go. The dolphin reached out and took the fish as I let go and ate it right up.

I walked back to the crowd feeling smug that I’d been given a chance to feed the dolphin - I suspected many other people had been coming back every day of their holiday to try to get picked and we’d just turned up to one and I‘d struck lucky. I was sad that Matt didn’t get the opportunity though - as our dolphin only got two fish the feeding session was over almost as soon as it began.

Feeling happy, we got in our van and reflected on our time at Monkey Mia. We had been warned that the resort was overly touristy both from people we’d met and our guide book, but we had been surprised that it wasn’t anything like we’d been expecting. The amount of wildlife was awesome - we’d watched rays from the beach and apparently a tiger shark had come right up to the shore the previous day. Although it was a big resort, it didn’t feel as touristy as anywhere we’d visited on the east coast. We’d definitely enjoyed spending a few days there and we could easily have stayed for a couple more.

On our way back to the highway, we called in at Shell Beach. This was the beach where Tim (our safari tour guide) had cut out the bricks to build the shell restaurant we’d viewed on the tour recently.

The beach was made up of layers and layers of tiny white sea shells. It was the most stunning beach I’d ever seen. It looked like the whitest sand until you got up close enough to make out the detail of the shells, and the bright clear blue of the water looked so inviting. You could count the people on the beach on one hand. It wasn’t close to any settlements so was really only used as a tourist stop for photos which was a shame as it was just beautiful.

By this time it was already 9.30am and we wanted to get on the road so that we could get to Kalbarri in time to have a look around and go sailing in the Murchison River so we had to force ourselves to leave.

On our way off the peninsula we drove through the bird suicide alley. I’d completely forgotten about it until all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I spotted a big flock of tiny birds heading right for my side of the van. I closed my eyes and heard the thumps as most of them hit the side of the bonnet and wing before bouncing off. It was a horrible feeling to know we were killing them but there wasn’t time to stop. We travelled in silence for a while after that.

As we drove south past the 26th parallel, the trees became taller and greener at the sides of the road and as we approached Kalbarri we were treated to a spectacular display of wildflowers - something that WA is famous for. It was strange to see agricultural land again, there were actually fields at last rather than desert and bush! The land was blond with hay which must suit the arid environment.

By the time we arrived in Kalbarri we were starving - a bad combination when you need to go food shopping. We did it as quickly as possible, grabbed some lunch at a café, checked into a campsite and then drove back into town where the boat hire shop was based.

We’d seen an advert for small surf cats in the tourist brochure and Matt had been really looking forward to taking one out. It cost us $35 for the hour (about £15).

Matt enjoyed sailing backwards and forwards around the mouth of the river. After a while he decided to go a bit further into the river, close to the area where the boat hirer had warned us not to go to (typical man). Unfortunately the man was right - from this point it was difficult to get back. Matt struggled and struggled. He kept turning us around and coming back at it from different angles but we just couldn’t seem to get the boat where we needed it to go. Matt was losing his temper and getting more and more angry that he couldn’t do it. I’d given up talking to him and sat patiently waiting, changing from side to side as I was told. I made a mental note not to get in a boat with Matt again as he suffers from boat rage.

I’d just moved sides when without any warning the boat flipped over. I hadn’t been prepared for it (after all we weren’t really moving anywhere!) and got plenty of saltwater in my eyes which didn’t do my contact lenses any good. We were both in the water and the upside down boat was being dragged away from us by the current. With a lifejacket on (no lifejacket, no hire said the sign on the beach) it made it difficult to swim after it. It might help you float bit you can’t swim with one on! Finally Matt reached the boat and managed to pull it back up. Then next hurdle was climbing back on - the lifejacket made this much more difficult than it needed to be.

I was pleased to be back in the boat but we weren’t in any better position than before we‘d fallen in, in fact we’d drifted further down the river.

Matt found a new level of determination and told me he was going to get us back to the beach, and not only that, he was going to get us in to the exact spot on the beach where the hire hut was based. I sat down and watched as he took us back and forwards across the water, weaving with the wind, until eventually we really did pull into the beach in front of the hire shop.

I was relieved to finally be back on dry land. Falling in while doing other sports like windsurfing is fine as you get some warning that you’re going to fall. I wasn’t at all keen on being flipped into the water with no warning.

Soaking wet, wet headed back to the campsite to have a warm shower followed by a large glass of wine. I felt lucky that I had managed to fall in without any injury - maybe my broken wrist, cracked rib and bad back over the past couple of years have been my three things and I’m safe again!

Matt spent the evening trying to figure out what went wrong to flip us over - even he couldn’t figure it out and he knew how to sail!

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