Dreams do come true...

Left Kalbarri this morning heading to Monkey Mia.  I was the driver for the first part of the trip pulling us in for a morning tea stop at Billabong Roadhouse.  This place was like stepping back in time.  They had music playing a loud mix of Paul Kelly and Elvis Presley one song after the other - surprisingly the 2 went well together.  It was the daggyest place on earth but so cool at the same time.  One of the things that amazed me the most is that I have struggled to buy gluten free bread and food in town centres and yet here more than 100km in either direction from any form of civilisation they have gluten free bread, toasties, pies, cakes and rocky road.  The lady there was so friendly too.  Its these kind of experiences that make the days on the road never boring!

The road today was long and straight with a few overtaking bays, an easy road to drive on.  Not much traffic and very few road trains.  The dirt by the side of the road in many places was so red.  I didn't think it possible for it to get any redder than what we saw in the national park in Kalbarri but it did!

There were a few sight seeing things to see on the way into Monkey Mia...

First stop Hamlien Pools for the stromatolites.  there was a 1.5km walk that took you though the old shell quarry and then down to the stromatolites.  As you walked through the quarry you can see where they cut the shells to make the blocks.  In the early days there wasn't any timber to be used to build houses etc so they used the shells.  when it rains small quantities of calcium carbonate dissolves in the rainwater and then dries to become glue which binds the shells together.  In the tiny town of Hamlien Pools there are still buildings that are constructed from the shells.  Today the shells are only used for maintenance of the historic buildings in the area.  Being a shell fanatic I found all this quite fascinating.

Walk down a bit further and you pick up the boardwalk that takes you around the stromatolites..

Stromatolites grow here as there is a large sandbank about 45 kms off shore that has been formed over the past 6000 years.  As a result of the sandbar the water that comes into the bay evaporates very quickly leaving the water that is there very salty.  As the water is so salty the sea snails that would normally eat the cynobacteria can't exist so the bacteria is left for form and grow and that's where the stomatalies are formed.
Stromatolites dominated the earth for more than 2 million years and were responsible for raising the oxygen level to 20% of all atmospheric gases therefore allowing for other air-breathing life forms to evolve.

We were then heading to Shell Beach.  On the way we passed through a grid - there are lots of these in various places, they are there to stop the wild animals - dogs etc going where they aren't wanted.  Well as we were passing this one Dave spotted an emu.  He quickly pulled over to the side and I grabbed the camera and ran back to take a photo of it.  As I approached the grid I noticed there was more than 1 of them so very excitedly I carefully negotiated the grid and camera aimed was ready to take a photo of the emu.  Unbenowance to me (I am very much a city girl) next to the grid is a speaker that when it senses movement barks loudly like a dog.  Supposed to scare animals away - well it scared the heck out of me - I thought the emu was after me and I quickly ran back over the grid to hide behind the safety of the fence.  I set the camera up so that I could peer between the wire of the fence to get the shot of a lifetime.  I was so excited it wasn't just 1 or 2 emus it was Mum and her babies out of a walk!!  In my excitement I lent against the fence to take the photo, little did I realise it was an electric fence and I zapped my leg on it.  Still I didn't realise it was an electric fence until a little while after whilst rubbing my leg I said to Dave something hurt my leg - he looked at me like I was stupid and said "Yep that would be the electric fence you just tazered yourself on!"  Anyway I got a good photo out of it.....  We got back in the car and then Dave pointed out to me the 3 foot x 3 foot sign that warns you about the electric fence - I was too busy with the emu to look out for such things.

Excitement over we headed to Shell Beach.  The beach is made up of tiny shells approx 10 metres deep.  The water is super clear and the shells are so white it really was very beautiful.  jade found a hermit crab amongst the shells in the waters edge which was amazing spotting amongst all the shells.  Dave and I had a swim - the water was so warm!!  I would have loved a scoop or 2 of these little treasures to bring home but sadly your not allowed to take them...

Left Shell Beach and off to Eagle Bluff.  This is a walk way that goes around the headland up fairly high so that you can look down onto the water below.  The water is crystal clear so anything that is swimming below you can see - we saw heaps of rays and a couple of sharks.  Jade in particular thought this place was so fantastic she was so excited at all the marine life we could see!!

The little island that you can see in the picture is very flat and bare - there are lots of bird on it but not really visible in the photo.  Apparently in the mid 1800s the island was covered in bird poo (called guano). Guano was almost as valuable as gold and ships came from as far as Europe to remove the phosphate rich fertiliser for farms on the other side of the world.
It was then onto Monkey  Mia, as we pulled into the National Park an emu ran out in front of the car.  We pulled up and flashed our holiday pass that we bought back in Pemberton only for the man to tell us it wasn't valid here.  We gave him our sob story that we only bought it believing it was valid here and that we were told it was when we bought it (all the truth!!) and he very kindly gave us a free pass into the National Park here - worth $30!!  So generous we were very happy!

Checked into the caravan park and were negotiating our way to our site.  We are staying right on the beach at Dolphin Beach Resort and we had to stop and wait an age for a large family of emus to cross the road and work out where they were going - now why did I stop and electrocute myself by the side of the road I can take all the emu photos I like right here from the lounge in the caravan!!  They have visited us a couple of times already this afternoon.  A very unique experience.  Tom is a little scared of them but Jade is just so excited, she keeps wanting to go emu spotting in the park to find out where they are and what they're up too!

We went for a walk around the park and down onto the beach to find out about the dolphins etc.  The beach is just beautiful.  We have enquired about a couple of cruises on a sail boat out on the water where we may see dugongs feeding in the morning and then you get a free sunset cruise in the afternoon.  There are glass bottom boats, sea kayaks, pedal boats and all sorts to hire - we just can't decide what to do first...

Many people have told us that Monkey Mia is over rated and that there is nothing here and don't waste your time.  We love it!!!  We would love an extra day or so here - we will be getting the maps out to see if we can rework our trip home and cut a day out somewhere else so we can spend another day or so here.

I have dreamt about coming here for years, just goes to show sometimes dreams really do come true.  I feel so incredibly lucky to be here and to be sharing it with the most special people ever - my family!!