They feed the Dolphins in the mornings - selective feeding of one or two dolphins and very little in the way of fish !!! They don't want them getting reliant on it ! Seeing as a full grown adult dolphin eats about 12 kg of fish per day , I don't think they'll be getting too reliant !!!
We wandered down to the jetty and watched as a group of 6 dolphins played out in front of the resort. There weren't a lot of people which was nice , and they'd already fed the Dolphins twice this morning , so a third one was questionable .
The resort is certainly showing its age , but is in reasonable condition . There is a caravan & camping section and resort rooms , bar , shop & restaurant . There are cruises you can book at the booking office as well .
As it was getting hot - 35 at 11am - so it was time to get wet - you can swim here, just not in the restricted area . Just as we were up to our waist in water , a dolphin came in to be fed , so I grabbed the camera and went down , the dolphin had other ideas and stayed for a little while before swimming off to where we were before . After a couple of minutes , we went back to the water , then a couple of Dolphins swam in beside us , and kept going , shortly after we were back in the water , and another dolphin swam past between us and the beach . Today kept getting better!!!
We walked along the beach for a while , then came back , checking out the resort as we went - your entry fee gives access to the resort as well . We were thinking of going for a paddle ,but it was a bit windy , so decided to have a relaxing day . Finding some chairs & tables beside the booking office , we had some lunch , then decided to head back to town - we needed to shop !
As we drove down into Denham , we called in to Shark Bay Air Charter - it's the first day we've found the shop open ! We stopped and went in , booking a flight for this afternoon - 50 minutes away !! Back to the park and unloaded some things and changed out of our swimmers , before heading back out to the airport about 10 mins away .
When we arrived , Ryan ( our pilot ) was busy getting the Cessna 172 ready for action , before taxiing over to us . He explained our flight path and the safety rules & regs , gave us a life jacket to strap on , as we are flying over the water , and we jumped in and took off .
We flew to the south of town and down the coast following the shore line . We could see sharks and stingrays swimming around , Ryan said he could see manta rays -I thought he was having me on , but then I saw a pair of them , then another , then another 2 - there are lots of them here - they are easy to spot , as they have a black top surface and a distinctive shape !!!
The peninsular is made up of sand dunes , and more sand dunes , but on the western side , there are sea cliffs - Zuytdorf Cliffs - named after a Dutch ship .
We fly beside the cliffs all the way to Steep Point , before crossing the gap to Dirk Hartog Island . It to , has cliffs along the western side , with blowholes appearing in the rock shelves , there are also caves that undermine the cliffs - one of which is below a parking area - you an see all the tyre tracks above it . The cliffs rise out of the water , up to 600 feet above !
The waves crashed on the exposed rock shelves , adding to the contrasting colours of the cliff , sand and deep water .
We reached Cape Inscription , where Dirk Hartog once landed and left a pewter plate - hence the name ! We then spotted 6 whales frolicking about in the deep waters , and had a look . This end of the island has some beautifully coloured waters .
Next we flew toward Cape Peron ( our destination that we didn't quite make yesterday ) , checking out the red dunes & cliffs - only small ones this time !!!
There were many barridas - land locked water holes - that we could see . We then flew over & around Big Lagoon , the water looked great with all the sand and different depths of water , as well as the seagrass beds .
We look to the left to see Monkey Mia , as well as a lot of the tracks we drove down yesterday , the Orange sand standing out against the green shrubs .
Before we knew it , we were within sight of the airport and on final approach !
We landed smoothly and wandered back to the departure/arrival area . We were both amazed and astounded at the sights we have just seen - no wonder it is a World Heritage Area !!!
Back to the park for a cold beer - what an awesome day !!!
Today's map link:-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kRatfN4Bx5Xo&usp=sharing
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