27 | Monkey Mia

A 9-hour, 1200km coach journey on the Integrity service took us from Perth to Monkey Mia higher up on the west coast. It felt like I was experiencing the ‘real’ west coast for the first time which you see on the adverts. Hours would pass by on the coach where you would see literally nothing but scrub and the occasional rare sighting of a kangaroo skipping majestically across the road. From the Overlander Roadhouse to the resort it took us 2 hours where we passed through the town of Denham. This is the place where the Dutch landed 400 years ago to become the first white men to enter Australia. Tired but spirits high due to the comfort of knowing we had a job role to arrive to in the restaurant (Boughshed) we arrived at the front entrance to be welcomed by Chris (Top bloke) who showed us to reception to find out where we would be staying. We ended up getting a garden villa for the night which was absolute luxury compared to the dorms we had been cramped in in previous hostels. A queen size bed and a single for me to air out my clothes, great!

We had a few days of recovering before we started our first shift. We decided to walk along the beach to the red cliffs which is about a 2 hour walk away. There were so many mud crabs which scuttled across the sand hurriedly as we approached. I walked out around 400m into the bay which was still knee deep and came across so many Sting Rays and Shovel Nose Sharks. I looked back to see Kristen sunbathing with 2 emu’s passing by a few meters away from her that she was totally oblivious to. As I got back to help the ‘damsel in no distress’ I saw a snake skin under a bush metres away from where she laid the towel. I burst out laughing and stated there is no one to help you around here if it bites you.

The first shift coincided with the start of the school holidays and it was incredibly busy for the breakfast service. It was a complete different environment from the office surrounding I have come accustomed to but I enjoyed being busy and on my feet. The staff there were all great throughout the venue and work actually felt fun for the majority of the time. Housekeeping was a lot harder work than I first thought it would be. Making bed sheets in 35 degrees heat is certainly energy sapping but jumping off the jetty into cold water was a ritual which cooled us all down every day. When I found out that they got 3-4 meter Tiger sharks around the bay and jetty in the summer months, I had a good look for dark shadows silhouetted on the surface before diving in.

For a place which is so small, we had to make our own entertainment for the month position we had. Michael had every single version of Sing Star which we belted out (horrendously apart from a few) until it ruffled the feathers of Dennis in his dilapidated caravan. We had pool tournaments where Jordan (Good old Yorkshire lad) dominated with me running him close a few times but he was the county champion as a youngster so I think he had a better knack for it despite my brave efforts. Tennis was where I could assert my dominance where I was unbeaten in singles matches throughout the month, it’s not exactly the Australian Open but I will take it! I used the gym with Claus and Tim which was basically a container shed with someone’s left over machines and weights they couldn’t take with them. It was a relief to have even basic equipment after 3 months without anything and the camaraderie was great in there with the guys. Listening to Turbo Wolf certainly got you going even though I did not understand a single word of what they were saying. The Shotover Catamaran tour was free for staff members so it would have been rude not too go on the cruise. Relaxing on the boat with a few ciders was a perfect way to spend a few hours looking for dolphins and the illusive Dugongs (Sea Cows).

Dirk Hartog’s Shark Bay 400th anniversary of the Dutch arriving in Denham was celebrated whilst we were there so we decided to head to town to see the music festival they had put on. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands were present for the festivities and Neil Oliver who presents the BBC program ‘Coast’ was also there to mark the occasion. The headline act was Black Sorrows who were pretty good and the audience from their generation certainly got into the music. The town also put on a pyrotechnics show on at the speedway after the gig where they produced a light show onto an old sailing boat which was meant to be a replica of Durk Hartog’s vessel. There were no fireworks, however it was pretty good especially when it cost nothing to watch.

One of the best highlights of my stay was volunteering with the dolphins. We were responsible for recording the data, preparing the fish (normally Yellow Tail) for the feeding and monitoring the feeding zone area. The rangers there do a great job and they are so passionate about what they do which is nice to see. They have a special pelican which they called Rogue that needs attention whenever doing the feeding for the dolphins because she tries to steal the fish and occasionally takes a bite at passers by. She apparently has brain damage which is visible when she flies sideways and stumbles up the beach clumsily when she sees the buckets. She also has special invisible fairy’s under her wings which she continuously bites at for no reason.

One day I took the buckets down when she flew in and started following me down the beach. On another occasion she soared down and snatched the fish right out of a child’s hand as it was feeding a dolphin, I couldn’t help but laugh. The dolphins were great, my favourite was Kiya who is a 22 year old female who is very playful and rubs herself up against you and nudges her nose on the back of your leg when she sees the bucket. Although you are not allowed to touch the dolphins (understandably) this is as close as you will ever get and it really was a once in a life time opportunity. They feed only 5 females and give just 10% of their daily intake of food they need. It’s a great way to monitor the Bottlenose dolphin population in the bay and increase awareness on conservation.

#Nature #History #Nightlife #Wildlife