Where are we now?

Where are we now?
Where are we now? Tahmoor, NSW. Updated 7th December 2011

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Day 104. Monkey Mia

Sea Shells By The Sea Shore

A wet and windy night last night, and not much better this morning. We procrastinated about getting out of bed this morning, and ended up watching a movie together in bed over breakfast. By about 10am, we decided to get up and head out to brave the wild weather. We only have one day left here, and there is still so much to do; we can't afford to sit around and regret what we might of missed when we move on.

First stop was Denham for fuel, and a drop into the bakery for some fresh bread rolls for lunch. We discovered a church here made entirely of shells from Shell Beach. We decided to try and stay out of the weather, and felt that the 'Ocean Park' aquarium might be the place to do it. This park is owned and operated by marine biologists, so we were hoping for something a little different to the usual aquariums we have visited.


Scarlett in the church made of shells
















When we arrived we joined in on the continuous tour; you just join in anywhere and jump off when it gets back around to where you started. It goes on all day, so you never have to worry about missing anything. When we joined in they were feeding the huge pink snapper in their tank. The marine biologists really know their stuff, we found the information very interesting and comprehensive. Next we moved onto the shark tank where they fed; lemon sharks, wobbegongs, black tip reef sharks and some very large fish.

Feeding a Lemon Shark


Baby Stone Fish




The tour covered the whole centre, and Shane and I were intrigued with everything. We got to meet a small loggerhead turtle, some moray eels, stone fish, lion fish and many more. We found the information provided on fish poisons and stings invaluable, as we are heading further north into the top end of Australia. Hopefully we wont ever need to recall any of it.

Juvenile Loggerhead Turtle

Next stop was 'Eagle Bluff', the best lookout overlooking Shark Bay for spotting wildlife. We ran into Jo and her crew in the car park; it really is a small town as we are both staying at different caravan parks here, but always seem to come back together. We were lucky enough to see 4 x big slow moving shadows of which we believe were dugongs, 1 x quick moving shadow, that we think was shark - possibly a tiger shark, and a couple of rays. If the weather had of been a little better with some more sun and less wind, I'm sure we would have seen heaps more.

Eagle Bluff

We parted ways with Jo and her crew, and headed off to our next stop being a special one just for Scarlett. It was 'Shell Beach', and she was not disappointed! There were millions and millions of cockle shells that go down to a depth of approx 10mtrs. You weren't supposed to take any, but try telling that to a little girl who is obsessed with shells. The water looked so inviting but was very cold, so no swimming today.

Scarlett and Nana at Shell Beach

On the way back to the van, we stopped and looked at some other lookouts. At one beach we walked out onto a sandbar right out into the middle of the bay. We almost looked and felt like we were walking on water. Today was another big day, but we saw heaps, and now feel ready to move on tomorrow.



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