Holiday day 5 Denham to Monkey Mia

Today we headed across the peninsula to Monkey Mia, famous for the dolphins and dugongs that gather there for the plentiful seagrass beds. Our first activity was a boat cruise in the Aristocat II, one of two catamarans that take people out to watch the marine life in the bay. They did not disappoint; they knew where to go to spot the animals, by habit but also by communicating with other boats and their boss up above doing air tours. The dolphins were happy to play near the boat, and several of them even seemed to be playing with the boat. 

The dugongs were more elusive; they spend about 12-15 minutes under water and only come up for one to three breaths quite briefly in between. But once you have found one, you can usually keep it in sight and catch it coming up for air a few times, by which point you feel as though you have got a good look because it shows its nose and then dives down and shows the rest of its body as it slides back into the water. 

The tour also took us to a pearl farm where we learned just how delicate is the process of growing pearls – it takes at least seven years to grow a good sized one, and requires several human interventions. Rio got to eat some pearl meat and found it quite tasty, so he is hoping to get another taste of oysters before we leave the coast. Sol was tempted but they didn’t have a lot on offer so he didn’t get to try this time.

The final excitement of the boat trip was the 'natural jacuzzi' effect; they let down a net at the back of the boat and people hang on for dear life. I was still nursing my cold so I didn't jump in for the experience, but Chris and the boys enjoyed some body splashing fun.

Back on land, we finally got to enjoy the warm ocean waters without a cool ocean breeze interfering. Monkey Mia’s beach is the glorious tropical kind we were hoping for in the north west; sandy, warm, clear green-blue waters, and the bonus of lots of marine animals around. There are pelicans that hang around the beach quite unconcerned by the tourists; we saw a couple of turtles, and the dolphins like to come around just frequently enough to be exciting but not impossible to spot. I finally felt well enough to join in the water play, and started to learn why the boys are addicted to the Waboba ball – it really is quite fun to play for long stretches at a time. So much so that my arm is quite sore today from the Waboba session yesterday.