Day 48 Monkey Mia

When they guy across the lane told us he’d be laying down a truck-load of lime today for a concrete slab, we needed no further incentive to get out of Carnarvon early. The little 4yo boy, Nathan, in the neighbouring van helped get us on the road as well. Zach walked over to look at Nathan’s bike only to hear him call out “that’s my bike D***head”. It’s the only time we could clearly understand what Nathan was saying. Zach was now extra keen to move on from Carnarvon so we were on the road by 9, and making good time, as we snuck up on the legendary coastal haven of Monkey Mia.
We arrived at Denham at about 1pm and after a brief look around the main strip, we headed in to Monkey Mia. After a race with another car, also towing a Jayco Outback, which we lost when I refused to drive faster than 100km/h, we arrived at the gates to the Monkey Mia Dolphin Reserve. It wasn’t until we arrived at the gates that I realised Monkey Mia is an organised and professionally managed resort. There’s no town; just a resort. Although it’s a resort, the prices are reasonable and the facilities are on par with anything else we’ve encountered on the journey. We’re simply surprised that it’s an organised, managed resort facility. I have always thought Monkey Mia is a town on the coast of WA, famous for dolphins. Live and learn I guess!
It’s pretty crowded here but we soon settled in to a spot located equally between the beach, the Dolphin feeding area, the amenities blocks and the restaurants. The guy that beat us to the gates must have pissed someone at reception off because as we settled in for a quiet glass of wine after setting up the van, he was still doing laps looking for his sight. It must be a cosy little spot in a far corner, under a shrub.
I think we’ll need to come to terms with crowds from here, back to Sydney. Its peek holiday season on the coast and the time may come when we arrive at a park looking for a site, only to be met by the House Full sign. I’ve taken the hint early and booked our spot at Cervantes for Christmas. Lucky I did because according to their email response, I secured the final available spot for the dates I requested. It’s good to know we won’t be moving the day before, or the day after Christmas.
I took the boys for a swim in the pool while Jacqui had a brief nana-nap and it occurred to me that today is one of the very few day since arriving on the west coast that we swam in a pool as a preference, rather than the ocean. The afternoon wind has made the ocean less appealing.
After a BBQ dinner, I set up our Christmas lights and we settled in with 3 boys excited about seeing the Dolphins in the morning.
Cheers,
Jorg