We left Carnarvan and headed for Shark Bay. Our main destination was Monkey Mia so the kids could feed the dolphins. We drove for a couple of hours before taking the turn-off to Shark Bay World Heritage Area.
We drove for another 30ks before turning into Hamelin Pool. This is the home of the famous Stromatolites. They are coral like formations that have lived for billions of years. To be honest they did just look like rocks, but I'm no scientist. Again the water was spectacular....I think WA wins hands down for their coastline.
We continued onto Shell beach. The beach is made up of millions of tiny shells. The shells were once quarried as building material. Our final stop was at Fowlers camp Shark Bay. We had the camp all to ourselves, right on the beach. It was also mum and dads 46th wedding anniversary so we cooked them dinner. We finished the night off with a bottle of champagne.
The next morning was Luke's birthday. We started the day with presents wrapped in plain paper, because I forgot to buy wrapping paper. We had a nice breakfast then headed off to hopefully meet the dolphins. We arrived at Monkey Mia just as they were half way through the second feeding. The feeding happens at various times of the day, with no set schedule. This is to ensure the dolphins don't rely on the food. We listened to the rest of the talk and Ella and Lilly were one of the five people selected to do a feed. The dolphins were amazing, so beautiful. We hung around the Wharf and got talking to the catamaran cruise operator. He offered us a great price to take the cruise so we decided to go. Before leaving they fed the dolphins for a third time, so we got to see the whole presentation. This time it was Kaden who was selected to feed the dolphin. He was very brave until the dolphin went to take the food, which is when he dropped the fish. He also had his photo taken for a new promotional pamphlet for Monkey Mia,so he may appear in that.
We organised some snacks and drinks and boarded the "Aristocat 2" during the cruise we visited a pearl farm, saw some Dugongs and a shark. We had a great morning tea celebration for lukes birthday inside the cabin.The kids also got to have a go at Boom-netting. There is a net at the back of the boat and you lay in it while the boat sails. I was nervous about them going on it but they had a great time. We arrived back into Monkey Mia late in the afternoon and headed into Denham to stay for the night.
That afternoon we had final birthday celebrations at the pub, takeaway dinner and a late birthday cake. It was such a fun day and definitely a birthday to remember for luke.
Tomorrow morning we are heading for Geraldton.