MONKEY MIA, OCEAN PARK AND CORAL BAY

Denham was so still and beautiful when we got up. We drove across to Monkey Mia, a place where wild dolphins come in every day to feed. Naturally this has become a tourist attraction and they have volunteers to feed fish to the mummy dolphins while the little ones play and splash. We were not allowed to touch them but it still felt like a display case where the dolphins paraded in front of snap-happy tourists... We chilled out on the beach for a few hours which was nice.

Then to another type of wildlife sanctuary, but for marine creatures. We met our German tour guide called Chris, and saw manta rays, sea snakes, loggerhead turtles - one of Chris' friends was pointing at a loggerhead while he was diving at the Great Barrier Reef, and it bit off his finger! He is now known as stumpy. They had a special tank full of baby fish, barely the size of my fingernails! And I have small fingernails!

Several times as we approached a new tank, Chris looked down suspiciously, grabbed a pair of rubbish tongs and pulled a dead fish out of the water. We were watching snappers in a pond and one was sitting worryingly still, even after food was thrown violently at its head, so I said perhaps he had killed it.

"Are you the Swiss one?" was all I got in return. Maybe this was an insult for Germans?

Next up: SHARK POOL oooh how exciting. There were Lemon sharks, Nurse sharks, something else sharks and a huge cod thrown in there for kicks. Chris fed them a fish head with a home made fishing rod and we got to see them flail theatrically for the flesh. Apparently, if a shark has it in its head that it's going to eat you, it will eat you. Nothing you can do.

That whole afternoon was spent driving and driving and driving. The bus was full too, so no stretching allowed either...

We passed the Tropic of Capricorn and all piled out to take photos. Even though it was already dark.

Finally pulled into Coral Bay, where we went out for PIZZA, followed by a few beers on the beach. The full moon gave the place a strange turquoise light, and the soft sleep-inducing noises of the waves made it all so surreal!