Wow! Monkey Mia was one of the best experiences of my life! As you can see from the photos we were so close to the dolphins (including getting headbutted by them if they got impatient for fish). We learnt how to recognise the different ones that came to shore. My favourite was Nicky, a 29 year old female. She was really stroppy and would make popping noises at you if she was bored of waiting and was the bossy one of the group, not letting some of the otehrs get too close! We were there for a week and found it really hard to leave. We were finally convinced it was time to move on by another girl who was volunteering with us, Suzi. She had hired a mini bus to take her and her friends to the Swan Valley wine region for a festival called 'Spring in the Valley' and invited us along with them so we sadly left Monkey Mia, the dolphins and a really cool hostel where they let us fold sheets to knock some money off our rent! The hostel also took us to this wicked natural hot spring hot tub in the middle of the bush. We went there at night, and I wasn't sure as it was pretty cool by the time we set off. It was amazing though, just this big hot tub in the middle of no-where which we all sat in with a beer looking at the stars.

Leaving monkey mia back on the easy rider we went to a little aquarium with sharks and turtles and a place called eagle bluff which was a viewpoint on top of some cliffs where the water below was so clear you could see tiger sharks swimming about below. Stayed a night in Kalbarri, a little town north of perth before getting back to Perth on Thursday. Got my haircut on the Friday for the first time in forever- was really wierd as it was sooooo long!

Saturday we went to Freemantle, a little coastal town 30 mins from Perth on the (very cheap) train. Went round the markets and tried to sunbathe, but kept getting dive bombed by magpies! Apparently this is common during mating season if you're near their nest, but we moved 100's of metres and they just kept following and dive bombing us! It was scary! You'd watch them for awhile and think they'd left you alone, then you'd lie down and swooosh- they'd glanch your head! The little b*****s! Sure they got bakc to their tree and laughed with their mates 'he he, did you see that one!' etc.

Sunday we met up with Suzi and her firends at her house in perth for a champagne breakfast before heading to Swan Valley. It was a wicked day out. All the wineries and breweries had bands on and cheap wine in bear gardens in the sunshine. Even got dressed up in fat sumo suits at one point and had a wressling competition- great fun. Krys has got a sore neck from playing a bit too hard though! Boys. 

The following morning we realised the mistake of booking a kayaking trip that we had to leave at 7am for! Wasn't easy to get up but we made it and had lots of fun in the end. We went to a place just south of perth called Rockingham. Got in these two person kayaks and within a few metres of shore this huge sea lion swam up to us and starting jumping around the kayak. Really funny when at one point it surfaced right nixt to me then flapped it's flippers together to create a massive splash that hit me in the face! I thought it had been a funny accident, but apparently they're really intelligent and knew exactly what they were doing. We went snorkelling and about 4-5 came up and were doing loads of jumps out the water and playing. They copy what you do, so if you dive, so do they and spin round if you spin. Krys swam with them for ages, but I got a little freaked out as they were so huge! Was alughing ayt one point when Krys was swimming around looking for one and I could see it hiding and swimming slowly behind him, then jumped up in front of him to scare him- hilarious. Never realised they were that playful or interactive. Also saw dolphins and cute penguins on the trip so was a brilliant day.

We head of south tomorrow to explore what we haven't yet seen- including more wineries and a chocolate factory- yay! 

Lots of love,

Toni and Krys x