Before we left Melbourne a friend suggested to me that while on tour we should take the opportunity occasionally to go on a holiday.
There was never any doubt that the kids were going to love Monkey Mia. It’s been 12 years since Chris and I were last here and we couldn’t wait to get back. Having left Carnarvon in a deluge of tears we all travelled the day in quiet reflection. We hadn’t explained to the kids how magical Monkey Mia is and therefore expectations were low on their behalf. From the car park where we checked in, it was like any other place that we’ve stopped along the west coast. It was here however that we chose to have a holiday!
To the kid’s absolute delight rather than booking our usual powered site we booked into the resort instead (thanks Cath for getting our tax return done xox). Each of us were to sleep in our own single/queen bed for two nights. The toilet was only 10m away and our own private shower had fresh water. Ah what a lovely start to our holiday.
Chris woke us at 7.30am to let us know that the dolphins had come in for their first feed. We all raced down to the beach and the kids were blown away to see a pod of dolphins in knee deep water.
By far the most breathtaking moment was when the two week old baby Piper showed up, a collective sigh of appreciation was shared across the entire beach, followed by laughs and smiles as we watched Piper dive, turn, jump and interact with the pod. How lucky are we? The kids did not leave the beach until the last dolphin had swum off. Even then the kids remained with the rangers asking a million questions. The following day was the same story and by the end of the feeding session Tamsyn and Ry had both been picked to hand feed the dolphins. Taj was upset about not getting picked but seemed to get over it with a little bribery. We had checked out of the resort, hooked the van up and parked it in the car park. It amazes me how much of our stuff had ended up in the motel.
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| My new adopted son is the little fella on the left. |
While lazing in the hot tub we met a lovely Canadian family of 7 who are travelling around the world. Both families expressed a desire to go on a charter to see sea life but their 5th child was going to cost them extra in the deal. That being the case, I can now inform everyone that I am the adoptive mother of a beautiful little 2 year-old boy. With his mop of white hair he fitted in perfectly, the accent was a little hard to explain though. Never-the-less we all boarded a huge catamaran and ventured out to sea attempting to spot dugongs, sharks, sea snakes and turtles. It was amazing. We must have seen 15 dugongs.
They’re just the most interesting and unusual animals in the sea. So easy going and relaxed, cruising the shallows all day in the sunshine munching on seagrass. We disembarked the boat and headed towards the car park when unbeknown to us the kids lodged their first official protest of the holiday. They were enforcing a sit-in until we had a family vote to stay another night. Chris and I explained that the van was packed and hitched, the resort cost lots of money etc. The kids argued that Monkey Mia is in fact the best place in the entire world. With all arguments for and against presented votes were lodged 3 to 2 in favour of staying. However it was back to basics and we unpacked the van.
Reluctantly Chris and I went and suffered through another session in the hot tub, followed by a cuppa and beer at the resort before heading off to hire some glass bottom boats. We then cruised around the shallows watching fish and stingrays, hating every minute of it of course (damn those kids). The kids headed off for a spot of fishing on their own leaving Chris and I to suffer yet another hot tub and couple of drinks (will he pain never end). The following morning the kids went to the dolphin feeding again and finally Taj was picked to feed the dolphin as was Chris. This time there was no argument, we were heading to Perth.
It was a long drive, but with three very happy kids in the car it never seems too bad. Our first break for the day was late in the afternoon when we stopped at the Pinnacles to see these bizarre land formations rising from the sand dunes. We played a couple of games of hide and seek and broke into some dance moves before heading off again. We’ve realised that after eight hours of driving we all tend to go a little stir crazy, hence the dance moves to non-existent music.
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| Gotta love random dancing. Don't be fooled, Ry cuts loose! |
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| Spot the Pentlands |
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| Just when he thought the camera had been put away. |
The highlight for the kids was attending the greyhound races where I got to catch up with yet another of my friends from my teenage years. Matty Holmes hasn’t changed a bit, albeit a brief catch up it was lovely seeing him again and he finally got to add a personality to the names and photos of my kids.
As Perth just reminded us of home we decided to head south to the well acclaimed Margaret River Region. This did not disappoint. The park that we are staying in has a five star kid rating, although Taj gives it 1000 stars. It allows us to let them wander off while we relax. They’ve found heaps of new friends and taken the opportunity to break away from each other a little. Unfortunately we were forced to interrupt their social development, driven by my need to get some good wine. We headed out on the road to a thousand wineries, breweries, dairies, lolly factories and fudge factories.
To remain sober we also threw in a cave tour and some whale watching to break up the day. It was a brilliant day. I love watching the kids try all the different foods and explain the flavours. Tamsyn even took great interest in the wine tasting, smelling all the different wine and ports (and you thought that the resemblance ended in our looks). One of the great parts of the day was when I dragged the kids to a cave tour. I quite like caves but the kids were really reluctant after their experience at Undurra. I couldn’t have picked a better cave then Ngiglis.
After a 10 minute tour you’re left to venture through the cave on your own, and boy what an adventure. Beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, limestone and calcium curtains, tunnels and holes to crawls through, the kids had a ball. Oh and in case you’re wondering, yes, I did manage to find one or two bottles of wine!
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| Cheese factory |
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| Brewery |
Love and miss you all,
Kristy
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| Winery |
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