Cycled into Perth with our bikes on the train, to hit the shops for a change. Didn’t spend any money though!
Treated ourselves to a meal in Northbridge – we found Nandos. I’d not eaten there before so we gave it a shot. Lisa had grilled chicken with sweet corn and salad, then I had chicken wings, with sweet corn and salad. Nothing special, very basic, we thought they would have more of a restaurant menu rather then a take away kind. Lisa found the hot sauce – the Medium Peri Peri sauce was enough though lol! Lush!
Thursday was a weird day, we had a chill day at home then went to see Pip and Keith and the boys. Liz and David go home at the weekend so we were hoping to see them before they went. Lisa was working over night til 6 in morning and for some reason I had managed to stay wide awake the whole night!
I was in one of those moods, messing about and it was mostly thanks to Burger rings and cups of PG tips!! Oh yes I was in heaven, lol. Lyndsey seemed to think that I was mixing the rings with my tea though – that would not be a good combination, plus why would I waste the beauty that is PG Tips with Burger Rings!! Haha! Funny night with long conversations with the mad Scottish one!!! Lol!
The end of the week was the exciting bit – we had spent some time searching for a car hire company for the weekend. We had decided to go south of Perth, to a place called Bunbury. This was where the Dolphin Discovery Centre was.
We had booked ourselves on the swimming with dolphin tour – wow!! How amazing, so excited!! This is why we gave up the New Years Eve boat cruise, so we could spend a little bit more and swim with dolphins!! Whoop whoop!
We found a company called Thrifty, who we could hire a car for 24hours, and at a good price. We had to be in the city for 7.30am so we could pick it up at 8am. It was Anzac Day too, so there were people everywhere who had been to the Sunrise Memorial Service. This included sailors, army and RAF personnel. Very cool to see them on parade.
We picked up the smart and stylish Hyundai Getz red beast, and tried 4 times to get out of the city! But because of the parade and one way directions, roads were closed and it took us a wee while to escape! Lol! When we hit the highway we were on our way! We had to be at the discovery centre to be on our boat for 12pm. Lisa took the main drive whilst I was on picture taking and map reading! Heading down looking for the first breakfast stop, and the only thing open was Red Rooster – this was good because we hadn’t eaten here yet lol! Shared a sub, chips and coke, for the journey!
Drove all along the highway, checking out the scenery as we passed, dry land and red sand, typical ozzie roads, looking out for stiff kangaroos on the side!! (we didn’t see any in the light!). Getting closer to Bunbury and time ticking away, we liased with our maps and a local gas station to make sure we were on track, and sure enough we were there within the next half hour! We only had 5minutes spare though before we had to jump onboard!! Close hey! Lol!
We were supplied with a wet suit and our snorkel gear, and briefed about how to behave when we get in with the dolphins. Scream, jump in, act silly and make lots of noise! Lol! We had to make ourselves interesting because the dolphins are nosey so we had to make them notice us! They took us to the first spot, where we stayed on the boat because they group were having fun on their own – oi oi yes they were mating! So we left them! No-one likes an audience!
It was cool though to see them, it was a group of about 15 of them, and they kept showing themselves coming out of the water so we could see them which was really cool, we were getting hyper now. The sun weren’t out at all though but it wasn’t cold!
Onto the part of the sea that they call the lounge, basically a part of the bay where they know the dolphins hang out and even sleep there, on the shallow water. This was where we were to get out for the first time.
Sure enough they were there. We were all in the water, and a few of them were coming up close and checking us out, then all of a sudden one swam right in between the group underneath us – wow! It was wicked. They are such cool mammals, so cute and really playful. We had Calypso and Shanty come and play, and also Chocolate and Nicky. Nicky had no fin, it was bitten off by a shark a few years ago and the discovery centre monitored her healing.
With the excitement Lisa managed to panic and swallow a mouthful of water and nearly drown! I was flapping around and I had to go and calm her down lol! What a muppet! Haha!
Wicked experience in total. We got back on the boat and was taken to a different place to get in with them, then back on the boat again for a complementary muffin and OJ! After this, our captain took us into the mouth estuary where a group of dolphins were swimming and surfing the waves and playing around right at the front of the boat. This was when we spotted the smallest dolphin ever – it was a week old one and the cutest thing you will ever see!! He was jumping in and out of the water and being a typical toddler!! Funny as!
Wicked day, definitely worth it. Back in the car to for a drive around Bunbury, and to watch the sun set over where we were swimming with the dolphins in the harbour. A quick dinner stop and then we made our way back towards Perth, via Freemantle to see Katie and Charmaine while we had transport.