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Published: January 26th 2009
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As a treat we decided to have a very lazy morning so slept in until almost 10am. I felt so guilty but it was worth it!
We made ourselves a fry up breakfast/lunch and then it was already time to go to the next trip. This one was a nature cruise aboard the Shotover - a large, luxurious catamaran.
The weather was hot so we had on our hats, sunglasses and sunblock ready as there was little shade aboard the boat. We took a seat and waited excitedly, thinking about the types of wildlife we might encounter.
The two crew members introduced themselves we got the sails up and moved off.
We were all given polarised sunglasses to wear as we were told these would give better visibility. When I put them on the colours around me changed completely - the water became brighter turning from blue to aqua and I could suddenly make out the sea grass on the surface that before was hidden when looking through my normal sunnies.
Almost immediately a pod of dolphins came up alongside the boat next to where we were sitting. I could see them clearly jumping up out
of the water.
A few minutes later Matt spotted our first dugong. It looked to be on it’s own as it rose to the surface to take a breath.
With both sails up, we made our way to the dungong protection zone about an hour away We enjoyed the feeling of the wind in our hair and the sun on our backs while looking out across the water with our cameras poised eager to get the perfect shot.
It wasn’t long before we came upon a group of dugongs, including some babies (although they still looked big to us). I tried in desperation to get some photographs but it wasn’t easy - my eyes saw them in the aqua water through the polarised lenses immediately, but the camera viewer only saw the deep, dark blue of the ocean. I resorted to pointing in the right direction and snapping away in the hope that I pick something up. I did manage to capture some lumps on the surface but none of their faces as they came up for a breath. It was so funny being surrounded by a rare animal which we’d never heard of only five days
previous. How could we not have heard about an animal this large before?
In between the dugong encounters, green and loggerhead turtles kept raising their heads. We didn’t know where to look next and found ourselves scouting the surface backwards and forwards.
When the dugongs had passed by we move on a bit further and some dolphins appeared. There were lots of them playing out in front of the boat. This time I managed to get quite a few snaps as their fins stuck out of the water making them much easier to find through the camera screen. They moved quickly so I found myself constantly snapping away taking consecutive photos as the pods moved around.
I felt so blessed that we’d been able to see so much and felt very envious of the people who get to take the tours out and see this every day. On the way back there were some occasional distant sightings but we were homeward bound so it was really the end of the show for us.
Three and a half hours after setting off, we arrived back at the Monkey Mia jetty. It had been one of the best
trips we’d done (since the awestronomy and safari tours that is!).
We felt as though we’d had a day on the beach, with our hair full of salt and our skin feeling tight from the sun.
There was enough time to go back to our van for a very quick dinner of soup before grabbing some beers and crisps and going back to the jetty to go on our ‘free’ sundowner cruise that came with the tour package we’d bought.
This time we were one of the first ones on the boat so got a prime position at the front of the boat. We settled in, cracked open our beers and got ready for the ride. The weather had changed - although the sun was still hot, there was now a strong wind. The crew had previously warned us that it if got up too much there was a chance it might not run, but when we arrived they told us that as so many people had turned up they’d give it a go.
The trip started with us watching the green turtles surfacing around the jetty while chatting to the English couples we had on
either side of us (this part of WA seemed to have more English families visiting than anyone else we‘ve been!) As the boat got further out, the sound of the wind made it almost impossible to hear anyone so we enjoyed the view of the ocean and drank our beer. It wasn’t long before we were warned that we would get wet - it didn’t bother us one bit as it was still so hot even in the wind.
The kids sitting in the trampoline got the worst of it, along with their mum who was sitting on a seat along one of the sides. We kept stealing looks back at them every time we heard their screams and they were drenched. Although we got some big gushes of water in our faces we managed to stay relatively dry. We made sure that we protected our beers by putting our thumbs over the end of the bottles! I debated about getting the crisps out but realised they’d be blown out of our hands.
I felt happy. I was loving Western Australia, I was loving the different wildlife we’d encountered, I was loving the colour of the water, the
whiteness of the sand and feeling like I had no worries. It had been a great day - one of the best on the trip so far.
The cruise had to go back earlier than usual as the crew started getting worried about the wind speed. They invited everyone back for a free sail again the next day but unfortunately we’d be on the road again then so wouldn’t be able to come back.
There was just enough time to get back and have a coffee and shower before the evenings research seminar started. Tonight it was about turtles.
It was the same lead researcher again doing the talk - a young guy from a US uni. He put on a film that showed cameras being attached to turtles so that their behaviour could be better understood. It turned out that one of the main reasons that loggerheads are more prone to shark attacks is because they stay on the surface for much longer than green turtles and that‘s when the sharks tend to attack.
As with the astronomy tour, we were loving sitting in a classroom, learning and asking questions. The more we learnt, the
more we wanted to find out. I thought back to how ignorant we’d been about marine life and the environment before leaving home. Coming on a trip like this hasn’t only been life changing in terms of the places we‘ve visited and the things we’ve learned, more importantly I think it will impact on how we live the rest of our lives.
I started to feel sad thinking that in a couple of months we’ll be home and there will be no chance of seeing turtles, dugongs, dolphins, sharks or fish any more until the next holiday. Given how big our credit card bills are likely to be that might be quite some time off!
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