Living here in Perth I had many people tell me about the must do visit to Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort roughly 850km north of Perth. Monkey Mia is a World Heritage Landmark and if the website was to be believed "Monkey Mia is one of the world’s premier natural dolphin sighting areas; a destination of magical encounters. " Having a friend over from the UK we thought that this would be a Must Do trip. Looking at maps of the journey we decided to make this a photo oppurtunity and stop off at places along the journey.
The route was planned - Perth to Geraldton the first day to stop at the Pinnacles Dessert and see the Cathedral and striped lighthouse in Geraldton.
Day two - Geraldton to Denham, calling off at the Stromatalites and Shell Beach.
Day three - Monkey Mia dolphin resort
Day Four - Monkey Mia to Kalbarri calling off at Kalbarri National Park and the Sea Horse Sanctuary.
Day Five - Kalbarri to Perth stopping at the Pink Lake
Originating from the UK we looked at the route and thought Not a Problem, am used to hours in a car, sadly going nowhere in traffic jams, but how different could it be? How wrong that statement was!!!!!
After navigating the roads North out of Perth within two hours it soon became apparent that this was not a journey I had ever taken before. I have even spent six months on the Orkney Islands (remote Islands off Scotland closer to Norway) but nothing could compare to the hours of nothing! It is hard to sum up, but for hours all you see is bush and scrubland. You may see some tracks that lead to farms or stations and the odd sign for a settlement, but the further North you get the more remote it is. To ease our boredom we began to play Road Kill bingo, trying to guess what the mumified remains on the side of the road were (using a picture book) It is apparent that the wildlife along these routes are plentifull, sadly everything we saw had long since expired. I have been told that night time is when the animals are to be seen (judging by roadkill usually in headlights!), they spend the heat of the day hiding out of the sun.
The route was planned - Perth to Geraldton the first day to stop at the Pinnacles Dessert and see the Cathedral and striped lighthouse in Geraldton.
Day two - Geraldton to Denham, calling off at the Stromatalites and Shell Beach.
Day three - Monkey Mia dolphin resort
Day Four - Monkey Mia to Kalbarri calling off at Kalbarri National Park and the Sea Horse Sanctuary.
Day Five - Kalbarri to Perth stopping at the Pink Lake
Originating from the UK we looked at the route and thought Not a Problem, am used to hours in a car, sadly going nowhere in traffic jams, but how different could it be? How wrong that statement was!!!!!
After navigating the roads North out of Perth within two hours it soon became apparent that this was not a journey I had ever taken before. I have even spent six months on the Orkney Islands (remote Islands off Scotland closer to Norway) but nothing could compare to the hours of nothing! It is hard to sum up, but for hours all you see is bush and scrubland. You may see some tracks that lead to farms or stations and the odd sign for a settlement, but the further North you get the more remote it is. To ease our boredom we began to play Road Kill bingo, trying to guess what the mumified remains on the side of the road were (using a picture book) It is apparent that the wildlife along these routes are plentifull, sadly everything we saw had long since expired. I have been told that night time is when the animals are to be seen (judging by roadkill usually in headlights!), they spend the heat of the day hiding out of the sun.
The first stop to see the light house was a success, sadly a funeral was being held at the ca
thedral so I didnt intrude with my camera. The stromatalites and shell beach were well worth a visit although nothing else to see once there, more information on these rare sights can be found on http://www.discoverwest.com.au/.
thedral so I didnt intrude with my camera. The stromatalites and shell beach were well worth a visit although nothing else to see once there, more information on these rare sights can be found on http://www.discoverwest.com.au/. Monkey Mia D
olphin Resort was definately worth the days of travelling. The idylic white sands and clear blue sea greeted us as we drove into the resort. The main objective of the trip was to see the wild dolphins that swim into the resort. This begins at around 7am and a selective few get to hand feed the dolphins, gladly we were able to feed a dolphin each. It was quite surreal to feed a wild dolphin! It made our trip and something we will not forgot for a long time. After the dol
phin feeding we went on a boat trip to see some more of the sea life in Shark Bay. Some of the sights included turtles, sea snakes, dugongs and more dolphins, all so more exciting to see when they are not in a tank in an aquarium. The day was rounded off with great food and a visit to the local Paerl Farm (very interesting it was as well!)
olphin Resort was definately worth the days of travelling. The idylic white sands and clear blue sea greeted us as we drove into the resort. The main objective of the trip was to see the wild dolphins that swim into the resort. This begins at around 7am and a selective few get to hand feed the dolphins, gladly we were able to feed a dolphin each. It was quite surreal to feed a wild dolphin! It made our trip and something we will not forgot for a long time. After the dol
phin feeding we went on a boat trip to see some more of the sea life in Shark Bay. Some of the sights included turtles, sea snakes, dugongs and more dolphins, all so more exciting to see when they are not in a tank in an aquarium. The day was rounded off with great food and a visit to the local Paerl Farm (very interesting it was as well!)The trip home included an over night stay at Kalbarri so we could visit Kalbarri National Park. The views were absolutely stunning but the summer heat in the gorges was around 45 - 50 degrees, the walks were definately not for the faint hearted in this heat and we only managed about 4km. Sadly the waterfalls and lakes had dried in the heat of the summer but I would definately visit 
again in the winter to see the river beds full - the photographs would be more dramatic than the ones I managed to get this time round.
again in the winter to see the river beds full - the photographs would be more dramatic than the ones I managed to get this time round.The Pink Lake was worth a visit as we were in that area, but due the heat of the summer the lake was very dry. It is said to be a better sight in the winter when the lake is freshly filled.
In total we drove around 2800 km and saw some of the most fascinating sights, the hours of mind numbing boredom of the rural highway was well worth the drive. I am glad I made the trip and have some fantastic photography for my portfolio, but, the saving grace was the ipod - even two females in a car run out of conversation after twelves hours!
One last note to mention, during our travels we spent a lot of time at fuel stations and road houses, what a refreshing change to the faceless motorway service stations I have become accustomed to in Europe. There are still many road houses where a guy comes out and fills your car for you, the last time I saw that was in Bulgaria.
To sum up the trip - fantastic and well worth the effort
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