Monkey Mia and Shark Bay - 2 Days, 2 Tours and a Free Overnight Stay

25.08 - 27.08

25.08 - Even though our car is a 4x4, the Francois Peron National Park would have been too much - bumpy sandy roads awaited us on this guided 4x4 tour. We were lucky with our group as there was also an Australian couple with us on the tour. Our driver and tour guide introduced us to the park, and we visited Cattle Well, Bottle Bay, Skipjack Point, and Cape Peron. The contrast of red earth, white sandy beach, and turquoise sea was stunning. Swimming stop, wet bikini, and wind were a bad combination, which is why the hot tub at the Peron Heritage Precinct helped us warm up again. We enjoyed the sunset on the jetty at the campground while watching dolphins.

26.08 - Off to the mechanic in Denham (formerly Shark Bay) to reattach our sunshade. In the meantime, we went bargain hunting at the thrift store (1 AUD per piece) and visited the museum, which was about the land and its people. Shark Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Back at the mechanic, our joy was somewhat dampened as the sunshade was reattached in the same (bad) way. The highlight of the day was the sunset catamaran tour - sails up and off we went towards the sunset, including dolphins.

27.08 - Monkey Mia is known for the now-regulated dolphin feeding and the research center for dolphins (the University of Zurich is involved). Even though it is regulated, we were not pleased that people still went into the water up to their ankles to see the dolphins. After that, our journey continued; our first stop was Shell Beach. As the name suggests, the beach consists of shells and has a layer up to 10m thick. On the way, we refueled at the Billabong Roadhouse and had lunch while music from the roadhouse played in the background. We spent the rest of the day and night at the Galena Bridge Camp Area - our first free night! We were not alone - other people, but especially flies, were also seeking this spot by the river. The unique starry sky more than made up for the stinky plumbing toilet.