the land down under

sorry to be so long away but internet connections have been all dial up since we left Perth. A brief history:

the driving tour was pretty ambitious for miles. Day 1 was about 6 hours driving to Kalbarri. Nice place. Had a great seafood meal at a really neat outdoor place and did a short hike the next morning on a deep river valley. The picture of Monique at "Nature's Window" is from the hike. From there we drove to Denham, a small resort city near Monkey Mia. We got to spend 2 nights at a great little apartment and spent the free day at Monkey Mia. It was one of the best days of the trip. Saw the wild dolphins in the morning and Monique was picked to feed one. Really neat to stand knee deep in water with 6 or 8 dolphins swimming close (a few feet) by. In the afternoon we saw group sex, Australian style. Basically a gang ('alliance') of males corral a female, chase her and trap her so that the leader can have his way with her. They were dolphins by the way. We had gone on a wildlife sailing trip and saw this, lots of other dolphins, some dugong and turtles. At one point we stopped for a swim (the water was a brisk 30 degrees C.). However, after only a couple of minutes the guide called us all out of the water because he was sure he saw a 3 meter tiger shark nearby. We tried to pursue in the boat but lost him so we stopped for another swim. Not sure that was the smartest idea in the world. In the evening we went on the sunset sail (picture above). It was a converted racing boat and the wind was decent so had a great sail.

Next morning off to Coral Bay, a resort on the Ningaloo reef. Another 2 night stay with a free day that we spent on the beach. I snorkelled most of the morning, it was phenomenal! In the afternoon went for a glass bottom boat ride and saw more fish and coral. No reef sharks though, which were supposed to be quite common.

Then to Karratha for 2 nights. Basically a resource town, lots of mining. Toured around during the free day and had lunch at Moby's Restaurant - best fish and chips in Western Australia (according to the advertising anyway). Spent the late afternoon and evening at the hotel pool with an Aussie fellow which somehow ended up in a lot of beer and wine and maybe a little bourbon.

From there an 850 km drive to Broome. It is beautiful here and sure we will muchly enjoy our 4 days.

Miss you all - see you soon

Randy & Monique