Saturday - heading South; Monkey Mia to Northampton

A lay in this morning after our 5:30am starts...today we got a whole hour extra and didn't have to get up until 6:30am!!  After packing up our stuff and chucking it in the van we headed down to the beach to see if the wild Dolphins had come in for their breakfast yet.  A habit started back in the 60s when the local fisher men used to throw the wild Dolphins fish, it still continues today and the 3 feeds that take place each morning are frequented by tourist as well these days!

As we took our place along the shore, paddling in the shallows the 7 Dolphins swam leisurely up and down the coast.  The 2 baby Dolphins were not allowed to be fed as they had to learn to hunt in the wild, and the adults that were fed only were allowed a certain amount of fish which made up a small percentage of their daily food intake, so they also didn't start to rely on humans for food.  A great experience to watch, as the animals were very graceful and beautiful to watch - a real privilege!

Another great experience that day was the Aboriginal bushwalk we went on afterwards, something both of us wanted to do whilst in Australia the guide came highly recommended - 'Capes' was a very interesting character to meet and spend time with.  He walked us round the local bushland and told us that if you listened to the land it would tell you where food, water and medicine was.  He then spent the next couple of hours showing us plants and what they supplied (water, food, medicine), animal tracks, shelter, tools and taught us about the aboriginal way of life, language, law and culture.  A great insight into the Aboriginal traditions and customs!

An hour of chilling next to the beach before lunch (another Aussie BBQ of burgers - yum) and then we packed up and started our drive south.  Before getting on the road though we headed to Shark Bay, where from our viewing platform 150 metres up we saw sharks, turtles and stingrays.

Once on the road we retraced our path south, stopping once again at the Billabong Roadhouse, and then finally arriving at our stop for the night a Farmstay in the Aussie Outback!  A real treat for us both as we were literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by open country, Kangaroos, and Emus!

It was a working farm, and we were housed in the bunkhouse, and ate in the old sheep shearing shed.  Must not forget our torches though as the path from the bunkhouse to the sheep shearing shed was not lit and there were snakes!!  Dinner and ping pong before going to bed.