Monkey Mia / Shark Bay & Francois Peron National Park

Monkey Mia
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After covering lots of ground on dirt roads and tracks it was time to head for the coast and a break from the “red dust”. Monkey Mia was a highlight on our last trip to WA and we wanted to stay longer this time. We stayed a week and got to really relax. We did homework at the pool, on the beach and in the café as well as in the camper trailer. The girls saw the dolphin feeding every morning (A seven times, M six as she slept in one morning). A was a helper one morning and held the fish bucket for the feeding. Shark Bay is beautiful – turquoise water, white sand and great sunsets. We were hoping to see dugongs (sea cows) and took a catamaran tour in search of dugongs (twice). In the end, we were very pleased to see a mother with calf and a male dugong in Coral Bay (more on Coral Bay later). We 4WD’ed to Cape Peron (Francois Peron National Park) on sand. I was very anxious as our sand driving course back in NSW (Stockton Beach) was not problem-free. Thankfully we had no troubles and enjoyed the day – especially Skipjack Lookout where we could see green turtles, eagle rays, manta rays and string rays in the clear water below. At the end of the day we relaxed in the hot springs at Peron Homestead. Hot artesian water is the norm here with drinking water somewhat precious. We were careful to fill our tanks with desalinated water before leaving Monkey Mia.