We were up and at it early this morning for the dolphin feeding down on the main beach. There was no way I was missing it and the kids were well and truly warned that they would be left behind if they weren't ready. We arrived down there just before 7.30am and there were already about 300 people waiting. The rangers estimated that there were about 350 people on the beach for the first feed.
The dolphins came in and swam around, waited for their feed and then off they went. Not much more than 10 mins later they were back in again for their 2nd feed. The crowd was a lot less for the 2nd feed but still very busy.
Shortly afterwards - maybe 30 mins or so they were back in again for their 3rd and final feed. Two of the dolphins have baby calves one is 4 weeks old and the other is 6 weeks old so the interaction sessions had to be cut down to 15 mins each so that the mothers can take care of their babies. The babies at this age often feed from the mothers every 10 mins.
The volunteers bring buckets of fish down to the waters edge and people are chosen at random from the crowd to feed the dolphin 1 fish. The dolphin has to be fed the fish head first as they swallow them whole and this way they can't get the bones stuck on the way down.
The rangers provided lots of great information regarding the dolphins in each talk that they did prior to the feeding. A female dolphin when she has a young calf doesn't sleep for the the first 4 weeks after the calf is born - this is because she has to have 1 eye on her calf at all times and the other one on the watch for danger. Normally when dolphins sleep they shut down one half of their brain at a time so that they other eye is on the lookout for danger, also dolphins are conscious breathers so they can't shut their whole brain down at once or they won't be able to breath.
Anyone who knows me well will know the excitement I have when I see dolphins. I have screamed loudly with excitement many a time whilst walking the breakwater wall at Port Macquarie with Mum and Dad and jumped up and down at the beach when they have been there shooting the waves. I took nearly 300 photos of the dolphins this morning, I'll just show you some of my better ones. It was absolutely amazing watching them. They come in so close and look you in the eye and almost smile at you - they are just so beautiful - words just can't describe the way I felt when this cheeky one called Surprise looked me in the eye and posed for the photo. I would love to be chosen to feed one but if not I'll still be happy with just being so close to them. I'll be down there front and centre for the feeds again tomorrow morning that's for sure!!
After the last feed we headed off to the pool for a swim. The pool water is freezing, there is also a hot tub which is filled with bore water and is a little smelly but a lot warmer. Whilst the kids were having a swim the emu family came for a swim of their own in a filthy puddle of water. They were so funny to watch - their legs bend the wrong way when they want to lay down so they kind of just fall down and then when they get back up again again they shake the water off themselves like dogs - hours of entertainment!!
The mango man came around around lunch time - like the milkman or the ice cream van but selling mangoes instead. Jade is in heaven, nice juicy ripe mangoes for $1 each!!
Jade has been desperate to hire a water craft of some description since we left home and we promised her she could choose from the pedal boat, glass bottom boat or kayaks available here. She chose the 4 person pedal boat and so off we went.
We are so lucky, the kids are getting reasonable at taking photos now so we can actually get some of the 2 of us again..
All was going OK till I decided to jump overboard for a swim - seemed like a good idea at the time but getting back on again was easier said than done especially in a bikini but where there's a will there's a way. Lucky we were a fair way off shore cause I'm sure the view for those on the beach wouldn't have been so pretty!! With all 4 of us back on we started pedalling back towards the beach. No one warned us about the off shore wind that pushes you out to sea. By now the wind had picked up and it was really blowing against us, it was quite a pedal to get back to the beach and I've got to say we were all stuffed by the time we got there - thank goodness we only hired it for 30 mins and not the full hour!!! Next time I'm going the glass bottom boats option with the motor!! Tom's comment summed it up "Please can we remember never to hire one of them again!"
Tried out a bit of snorkeling this afternoon too, we swam out to the first marker and didn't see a single fish all the while so headed back in and collected some shells - what a way to pass the time. I have quite a collection now, goodness knows what I'm going to do with them all but I can't stop, when I see a pretty one I just have to have it, its almost like retail therapy only cheaper!
We had plans to have dinner at the Monkey Bar overlooking the beach - kinda like a Newport Arms kinda arrangement only much closer to the water, damn afternoon wind kicked in though and started blowing a lot so we still had dinner at the Monkey Bar just hiding up in the back corner out of the wind with a tiny view of the water - still was much better than having to cook. We have a charge card here where we can charge everything back to our site (our patch of shell grit with a power point and a bore water tap - too funny!!!) so we didn't even have to pay for it - YET! Bit of a novelty as this place is so different to anywhere we've stayed before. You have all ranges of accommodation from sleeping in your car through to 5 star cabins.
Looking forward to feeding more dolphins tomorrow and a wild life cruise where we should be able to see dugongs feeding - OMG if I see them I think I will explode!!!!!
Sat down with the maps last night as promised and yes we have squeezed in another day here - we'll be dropping Fowlers Bay from the itinerary and juggling a few other spots on the return trip but all worth it for another day in paradise.
Kms travelled today 0 - our first full day out of the car in 4 1/2 weeks
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