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Published: September 26th 2009
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Day 2 of our roadtrip had us driving up to Monkey Mia which is a small tourist resort in the Shark Bay Marine Park famous for the daily feeding of bottlenose dolphins.
As we began our drive North of Geraldton we began to notice the difference in our surroundings. The wildflowers that we had been driving through the day before were beginning to thin out and were replaced by the great Australian bush. We were also beginning to drive for longer distances without passing another person on the road; at some points the road stretched out for miles ahead of us without another single vehicle on it. The temperature had also begun to change; we had finally left the grey skies of Perth behind and were driving into beautiful sunshine...and heat. On the long stretches we could see the heat on the road ahead of us, giving it the appearance of a mirror glinting in the sun. At times it was hard to see where the road ended and the sky began.
With the disappearance of traffic came the appearance of the famous yellow kangaroo warning signs. As we scanned the bush on the look out for suicidal kangaroos
who may wish to jump out in front of us we saw a variety of animals roaming along the side of the road. At one point or another we had to slow down to let goats, sheep, cows, and rabbits cross the highway infront of us. We even had emus strolling across the road.
At Monkey Mia there is only one resort, so it caters for all styles of travellers and budgets. There was a campsite (where we parked wallaby for the night), a hostel and villas; all of which were a short stroll onto the beach. The resort had a great feel about it; it was really laid back and although it was very busy, it did not feel at all crowded and of course the beach was amazing. Even though I have now been to several different beaches during my time in Australia, I still love the whiteness and softess of the sand and still get struck by the crystal clear colour of the water.
The resort had a lovely beach front restaurant serving seafood platters which of course we had to try. So as we sat there listening to the ocean and watching the sunset,
the waiter brought out a GIGANTIC platter that probably could have fed four people. It had lobster, crab, morton bay bugs, two different types of prawns, three different types of oyster, salmon, smoked salmon, scallops, crab cakes, snapper, teriyaki fish, squid and chilli mussels! It was delicious.
The next morning we were up early to see the main attraction of Monkey Mia; the feeding of the bottlenose dolphins. Although there is a no touching policy, you are allowed to wade into the water before the dolphins are fed and they swim up very close to you. When the volunteers enter the water to start the feeding everyone is asked to stand back on the beach to protect the dolphins and only a handful of people are given the opportunity to actually feed one. Of the 100 or so people that were gathered on the beach, I was one of the lucky ones that was selected. I was thrilled. I waded into the water and took my fish from the bucket and a beautiful dolphin took it from my hand. It was definiately a highlight of the trip for me, and the perfect way to end our visit to Monkey
Mia.
Total Distance Travelled = 870 Kms
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