Wed 17/06/14 On the road by 9am for the 400kms plus to Monkey Mia. Long day driving, with lunch stop at The Billabong Roadhouse. On our way into Shark Bay we stopped to see the 3000yr old stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. Information boards are great...though much enthusiasm / fancy talking required in attempt to have cherubs appreciate what they were seeing. Arrived to a beachfront site (40mts from water) to see jumping dolphins. Michael was abandoned to start van setup alone, as the rest of us zipped down to the waters edge in time to have two dolphins cruise back & forth within a metre or so of us. The species here are indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins and they only grow to approx. 2mts long. Feeding of the wild dolphins is tightly controlled by Parks & Wildlife to ensure the animals maintain their hunting skills and pass these on to their calves. There are only 5 female dolphins who are fed and are identified by their dorsal fins - Nicky, Surprise, Puck, Piccolo & Shock. They often bring their calves in with them, although the babies are not fed at all. They are offered approx. 10 percent of their daily requirement, being 3 small fish each = to 500gms, 3 times between 8am & noon. There is a strict "no touch" policy, but they like you to chat & wave to them... and it's ok if they decide to 'touch' you.

Thu 18/06/14 Girls woke me at 6:40am and were dressed & "milo-ed" in 5 minutes flat to make sure we didn't miss the morning feeding session at 8am. Michael had a sleep in (due to soccer again - Aus vs Netherlands) & Lukas had to "finish reading a good bit ", as he devours Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince, before L&M joined us. Waited for an hour or so for some dolphins to come into shore. Alexis was lucky enough to be chosen to feed a fish to "Nicky".; very special. Kids befriended our neighbour, Megan, and they spent the day roaming the beach with her - collecting jellyfish, starfish and mussels and popping in/out of The Dolphin Information Centre. KB caught up with laundry and blog, MB had a restful morning with a DVD before going fishing late afternoon. Weather is perrrrfect!

Fri 19/06/14 We have met two lovely families here They are from Sydney on a 3 month trip together, heading in the opposite direction to us. Megan's and her parents, Lisa & Ken and their cousins, Natalie & Anthony and their daughters, Emma and Sarah. Kids very happy to have some friends to play with. These helpful folks gave us some great tips about places to see and stay up north, as they have just come through there. An interesting aside - Ken served as a submariner on The Ovens Submarine that we recently toured in Fremantle...how bizarre... the only submariner we've ever met happens to have worked on the only submarine we've ever seen; random! Took a drive through Denham, the western-most town of the Australian mainland. Visited the glass wall memorial to the 360+ lives lost on the Australian Warship HMAS Sydney II, which sank in battle off the coast of Denham in 1941. Next took a drive to Little Lagoon - greeted by signs warning of the venomous stone fish that reside in the shallow waters - leave your shoes on! Had to stop and wait for a cheeky emu to take his sweet time SLOWLY strolling across the road on our way back to resort. Emu's everywhere around these parts and apparently they regularly try to rob backpackers' supplies left in the camp kitchen. Arvo / evening spent fishing & chatting with our new acquaintances on the beach, watching another amazing sunset. Woodoven pizza for dinner at "The Monkey Bar"....yummo.

Sat 21/06/14 Waited for the second dolphin feeding slot today and Brodie was lucky enough to be chosen to give a fish to Nicky; yay! We discover Nicky is the cheekiest dolphin and makes noises to complain if they take too long bringing the fish! She had her calf, Missile, with her - very cute. Of course, we now have family imbalance....1 child having not fed a dolphin.....there are always loads of people waiting for a turn, so not sure if we'll be lucky enough for all 3 kids to be randomly selected.; fingers crossed! Hired a peddle boat to cruise around the bay for a while in the afternoon..."crew" were not a lot of help with the pedalling! A little before dinner time a new neighbour, 5y/o Emma, invited herself into our camp and proceeded to instruct Brodie & Alexis on making "pizza & ice cream" in the shells under our awning, singing all the while - the girls of course giggled themselves silly and were repeatedly chastised by our guest "it's not funny, this is serious!".

Sun 22/06/14 Junk weather meant skipped dolphin feed this morning. Gusty winds and rain = home school all day. Lukas finished Harry Potter #6 - Half Blood Prince yesterday, (thus earned watching the movie), so everyone had to power through schoolwork so he could claim his prize before dinner time. B&A happy to do so, as they in turn got to view horsey DVD "Flicka". After movies we chatted with Alex the German backpacker in the Monkey Bar (kids observed he was wearing his shorts over his pyjama pants - it's cold), before heading to the Boughshed Restaurant for a well earned delicious dinner.

Mon 23/06/14 No luck with selection at dolphin feeds today. Windy, windy, windy = more homeschool = maths day, everyone's favourite. Mum made pancakes for lunch and Dad made lemon slice for snacks/dessert to sweeten up the day.

Tues 24/06/14 Spent the morning reading books on the beach in between going to each of the three dolphin feeds - only Surpirse turned up at each - Lukas still waiting. Headed into Denham for lunch and then took a drive for the afternoon. Visited Shell Beach - 120kms of beachfront consisting of not sand, but tiny, white Fragum Cockle Shells. Pristine, clear, clean, COLD waters. Then onto Eagle Bluff, a clifftop walk.

Wed 25/06/14 Up bright and early...beautiful sunrise....four dolphins with calves in for the morning feed and ....success! Lukas chosen to give a fish to Puck...balance is restored; very lucky! Kids and MB played tennis for an hour, KB had a relaxing read, then a sunny 26oC and with smiles on our dials we headed out for a day of touristing in Francois Peron National Park. First stop was the historical Peron Homestead. Display on history of the area, indigenous practices, impact of introduced feral species - wild goats, foxes, feral cats and rabbits - and "Project Eden" eradication program. Checked out the old station shearing sheds, cooks kitchen and shearers quarters, then over to the old artesian bore thermal hot tub - 40oC- hot! M gave it a miss, K&A only legs in, but L&B decided to strip down to jocks and simmer for 5 or 10 minutes...Luey even went one step more & stripped right off for a skinny dip...cracked himself up; hilarious! They had to rinse off then air dry to cool down. Next we went 4WDing through the red sands of the national park...great fun. Well organised set-up with info boards / tyre stations at the entrance for letting down / pumping up your tyres on your way in & out. M drove us in to Big Lagoon...more crystal clear, super cold waters - here the 4 dills decided to take a breathtaking dip in their undies - the 'photographer' way too smart to enter the chill. K had a turn driving back out through the sand tracks.; fun fun fun. Home in time for a quick snack before going on the Shotover Catamaran sunset cruise; very relaxing watching dolphins bow ride while the sun went down (Alexis managed to stub & cut her toe requiring minor first-aid). Back to The Monkey Bar for a pizza and then took in the "Kidz Night" talk from Dr Eric Patterson, one of marine the researchers based here, on marine animals in Shark Bay - fantastic. Magic day!

Thu 26/06/14 Light rains early this morning....woke to a super still day in shades of grey. Our last day here, with an early departure planned for tomorrow, so van clean, semi pack up and journals updated before M took LB&A fishing on the beach to leave K to a day of catch-up photo downloads and blogging. The 'excitement' for the afternoon was Alexis (again) becoming panic stricken that she had a fly stuck in her ear that wouldn't stop buzzing. Coming from the "DIY doctoring school of Wazza".... (and the fact there is not really any close-by medico up here)... K, with ear pulling assistant L, proceeded to locate and eventually remove the offending insect using the hi-tech tools of a torch, eyebrow tweezers and toothpick (sharp ends removed). The "fly" turned out to be a miniscule winged bug...panicked patient back to calm. M cooked Rogan Josh for dinner, but he was the only one who could handle the spice.....everyone else settled for plain rice!