The next stop was Bunbury home of the dolphin discovery centre and this was one of our reasons for choosing to spend a couple of nights in this town. We arrived late so it was a Chinese meal and a chill out night for us before our sightseeing the following day. We spent the morning driving around some of the sights including a viewing tower over the town and the beach area before heading to the dolphin centre. We were booked onto the 12.30 boat tour which included spotting dolphins from the boat and if the situation allowed we would be able to get into the water with the dolphins. The tour was an eco tour which basically meant that the primary objective was to educate us on dolphins allowing us close interaction when and where the dolphins felt like it. In other words they wouldn't feed them or interfere with their natural behaviour in any way to allow us a closer encounter. If the dolphins didn't want to swim with you or even come to the boat then that was your tough luck! We had to check in about 45 minutes before the tour left to fill out all the necessary paperwork and waivers before being given our wetsuits, flippers, snorkels and masks. Its always our favourite part of any swimming trip trying to wrestle ourselves into our wetsuits so we always make sure we are given the size smaller than we need to make the shoulder dislocating pleasure even more enjoyable!! Once in our wetsuits we had a short walk from the office to the boat and then we were on our way. It was an interactive tour where everyone onboard was on dolphin alert and withing 2 minutes of leaving the bay we already had a pod of 5 dolphins around the boat! This pod was special because it contained 2 neonates who had been born in December and you could clearly see they were much smaller than the other dolphins although just as curious. They were all swimming around the boat on both sides and at the front. It was lovely to see them and for the mothers to bring their babies over to let us see them. Unfortunately one of the rules of the eco tour was that we were not allowed to get into the water with babies so after watching the families entertain us for a while we moved on in search of another pod. We soon spotted some more dolphins not to far in the distance so we set of in search of who it was. Again it was another family pod jumping in front of us and swimming around the boat. Whilst it was lovely to watch them interacting with each other and with us we were unable to enter the water so we were literally all dressed up with nowhere to go! After watching their show for a while we had a tip off about an area that was frequented by some male and juvenille pods hopefully giving us the opportunity to get into the water for a closer look. Lady luck was however not on our side because as we got closer to the pod it was clear they were feeding as there was a lot of splashing, fish jumping on the surface of the water and flocks of birds hovering just above the surface meaning there was a dolphin feeding frenzy in progress and with the dolphins wearing their aggressive feeding faces it was too dangerous for us to get into the water at that time! After watching the feeding and dolphin activity in and around the boat for about 20 minutes we went off in search of another spot for swimming. There was an area of reef wall that was renowned with the guides as being the place where the dolphins would come to hang out and relax when they weren't feeding. This was an area where no boats were allowed so we dropped anchor just outside of the area and as a last ditch attempt to engage the dolphins we all jumped in the water for a swim. The hope was that the curious nature of the dolphins would bring them to us and allow us the much wanted close encounter with wild dolphins in their natual habitat. If you wanted the dolphins to come over we were told to make ourselves as interesting to them as possible so plenty of singing and underwater dancing which sounds ridiculous however we were so desperate to see the dolphins that many of the girls were singing in chorus as soon as we hit the water. Much to our disgust the dolphins were far more interested in the boat moored in the "forbidden zone" feeding the dolphins over the edge!!! Needles to say I was less than impressed as there was apparently no law against this it was just "frowned upon"!!! (what a load of s***)!! It will come as no surprise to know that we didn't get any close interaction with the dolphins and had to head back to the centre 3 ½ hours later feeling more than a little disappointed and if the truth be known a little cheated with the old eco tour that allows everyone else to do what they want with the dolphins while we have to sit at the back and not participate! We were a little bit blue for the rest of the day having been looking forward to seeing them since our arrival in Australia and of all the places to experience dolphins we had chosen this one and it hadn't paid off. We just had to keep reminding ourselves of all the other fantastic things we have seen and done that perhaps others missed out on. For whatever reason this wasn't our time to experience dolphins we just have to hope the next time we are given the opportunity we have a little more luck!