Sat 19th June '21 - Day 8

Monkey Mia to Carnarvon

 

Second morning at Monkey Mia and with 4-5 hours driving head and targeting a Seb morning nap, we forgo the first, busier dolphin feed and pack ourselves up, drive over to the car park and loiter for the second feed of the day. (The toilet / shower facilities here are the best so far, as good as any corporate office or gym).

It’s not long till the call goes out over the tannoy that the dolphins have reappeared – about 30 folk traipse to the beachfront next to the small jetty jutting 30 metres out to see form which sightseeing boat tours head off thrice daily. We listen to the almost exact same spiel as the day before on the dolphins – the markings that tell them apart; the scars on baby or fins from sharks – and with a trepidation the nervous volunteers appear with their metal buckets which they wave in the water, before turning and rejoicingly they pick Kate (they didn’t come across as people; it was seemingly a weight upon their shoulders to pick someone so they do it pick the first person they see). 

So the 4 of us wade in, Seb now being carried by Kate because he’s bored and wants to play with his Paw Patrol cars, Sienna more than happily takes the 6 inch fish and holds it under water whilst Kiya the dolphin approaches and gently takes it from her, revealing a narrow parallel set of clean white teeth. “She was smiling when she took it” said Sienna afterwards.

Relieved and excited we brew a coffee and tea on the gas hobs for the journey ahead and set off. Seb soon falls asleep and stays that way for the next two hours until we reach Wooramel Roadhouse, a more country roadhouse than Overlander 48 hours prior. A pastry and sausage roll later on the dusty edge of the road we continue North for another one and a half hours till we hit Carnarvon – second largest banana exporter in Australia is a unique claim to fame.

On the way into town we pass under the imposing satellite dish, now defunct, but part of the Space & Technology museum. Our Outback Oasis Caravan Park is an organised converted rectangular block behind the owner’s house, functional, if not spectacular. Our neighbours include a vacant plot and Mitre 10.

After saying hello to our new neighbours for the night, and bringing down the average age in the process, we head out to explore. First, just north of the river to Bumbaks, one of 150 plantations along the Gascoyne Rover and enjoy mango ice-creams under the dappled shade of large trees alongside the crop fields of, amongst another things banana, grapes, zucchinis.

We opt for a Thai dinner early, even by our standards – 16:30 – to give us time to have a playground visit (and beer) as the sun sets. Thai by Fon is recommended in the Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor but when it’s in a housing area and then later you see 2 pubs on the waterfront, you do question the Food vs View trade off.

At the playground next to the Facine (boardwalk on the front), the kids play whilst we chat to a family 5 months into a round Australia tour with 3 kids under 8. The playground is good but not a patch on Denham or Kalbarri. 

Back at the camp site whilst washing up we, especially Sienna, chat to Sabrina, a Perth girl working her way up the coast on fruit farms and over to Queensland, whilst also doing geometric artwork on canvas that has Sienna a little mesmerised – even if Sienna did point a mistake Sabrina had made in one of her concentric circles.