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September 24, 2009 - Swimming with Dolphins and Saying Good-byes

By Melissa Markham on September 25, 2009 11:37 PM | Permalink

Today we were up at 4:00 a.m. Nothing new there, eh? Our taxi arrived to pick us up at 5:45 a.m. and took us to the Clarkson Train Station. We gave him the last of our cash and expected to get more money from the ATM at the Train Station, but alas, there was no ATM at the train station and the nearest was a 25 minute walk away. No worries, mate, we'll just use our debit cards to get tickets from the machine. Unfortunately, the one problem we have run into here is that while our cards will work fine if we use them with a signature, we cannot use them as debit cards except at an ATM. Very frustrating. The lady at the convenience store couldn't help us because she could only give us cash if we could use the debit card feature. The person who should have been at the ticket counter was off taking care of other business in the station. We had to get to Perth by 7 or we would miss our tour bus.

There was a button on the box next to the ticket machine that said press for information. It rang when I pushed it, but no one ever answered it. I tried pushing it three or four times. A lady walking by asked what our troubles were and we explained, she went on her way. Meanwhile athe ticket agent arrived. We explained our dilemma and told him we would need to buy our tickets directly from him. He went into his office and came out and handed us complimentary passes. We were not expecting that, but apparently, he wasn't set up to sell tickets there. Or at least couldn't do it with signature debit cards. We made it on the train with a couple of minutes to spare. As the ticket agent was signing our passes, the lady came back, she had taken money out using her debit card at the convenience store and was going to loan it to us! Can you believe that? We were astounded. We have been so amazed, time and time again on our trip here at how pleasant, helpful and accomodating Australians are. We took the train to Perth, and once we got off there, our lady friend showed us the correct direction to head in. We arrived at the tour bus pickup right at 7:00 a.m.

Then, it was on to the bus to Rockingham for the Swim with the Dolphins trip. This was something that Katrina had chosen for this trip that she really wanted to do. And she was very excited. During the 40 minute drive to Rockingham, the guide told us what would be happening during our time on the boat and what to expect when we were in the water. It was obvious that she and all of the others on the tour had a true love of the dolphins and what they were doing with these tours where people were allowed to see dolphins in their natural environment.

Once we were on the boat, we got into our wetsuits. That is an experience in itself...reminiscent of those days in highschool when you would lie down on your bed and try to sqeeze into those jeans.

Daniel looked good in his suit though!

Here is a brief video I took when we first went out on the boat. It had been about 30 minutes and we had had one unsuccessful dolphin sighting (they were feeding in naval waters and we couldn't get close enough to look).

Now, for the good stuff. The air temperature was at most 63 degrees. There was a 10 mile an hour wind blowing and the water felt like it was full of ice cubes (and that was with the wet suits on!) We were divided into groups. Our group tour guide had a aqua machine that had a motor and he held into it and would pull us through the water. He entered the water and we each followed, holding onto the belt of the person in front of us. We were then supposed to float on our stomachs, heads in the water (snorkel gear on) and watch for dolphins. If the water had been warm and calmer, I could have probably done this, but the water took my breath away. I was aware that Jack was having issues ahead of me because of the ice cold water and the waves closing off his snorkel. I was having problems with water getting in my snorkel and the Indian Ocean getting in my mouth. Then there were the two ladies behind us who were from Ireland. One was drinking the Indian Ocean and the other one was having a hard time breathing. All of that made it very hard for me to relax, but I did manage a brief look underwater and I saw the shape of a dolphin swimming very nearby (the water was very murky.)

Then, when getting back on the boat, the waves were rocking the boat and I slammed my knees into the ladder, plus I had the weight of the two girls behind me which were holding onto my belt. After that, I watched the rest of the dives from aboard ship. Katrina and Daniel went in several more times though and had a wonderful (though cold) time. Katrina said that one time, she saw five dolphins!

So here are some photos of the two bravest in our family:

I didn't get any photos of the dolphins - they popped up so randomly, it was impossible, but we did purchase a DVD and Daniel is going to try to get the parts off of it that pertain to us, so we'll put it up if we can get it to work out the way we want.

We were returned to the dock and then had an hour to kill while we waited for the DVDs to be created and for our transportation back to Perth. We were all pretty tired...just being in the wind and the cold, I guess.

Jack looked like he was ready for a nap.

Once back at the train station, we got a taxi to our rooms and showered. We were all feeling a bit slimy. Then we called Lizzie and Steve and told them we were ready to come for Tea. Lizzie had made a wonderful meal - chicken with macadamia stuffing, chicken nuggets, baked potatoes and a lovely pie. Here is a video of Lizzie's home:

After dinner, it was time for us to head back. We needed to get our packing done so we could head on out early in the morning for our flight to Ayers Rock. But before we left, we took pictures. Let me tell you that the picture taking got to be a rather silly affair! We posed in different groups, there were multiple camera's flashing (mine, Lizzie's, Steve's and Daniel's) and we were all blinded by the flashes and laughing up a storm! I didn't get a photo that didn't have someone launghing in it or their eyes shut (except for one of Rockee, the dog). However, Daniel got some pictures, so check out below us with our Australian friends.

We all enjoyed petting Rockee - made us miss our pups a little bit less.