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April 19, 1999

Fearing the wrath of Rosen, we set the alarm for 7 am. As we walked along the sandy path between the bush and out onto the beach, we could distinctly make out two, then three, then four, dorsal fins, only a meter or so out, swimming along side us. Two young boys came running past, presumably to wake their mum and dad, yelling, "Dolphins, Dolphins!!!!"

We stood knee deep in the water for two hours, watching the playful mammals frolicking, and cavorting near the shore. It was incredible how trusting and friendly the dolphins were. The rangers came down to enforce the strict policy of no touching the blowholes and no standing deeper than knee deep (a nice perk for the tall people). The dolphins come to the beach at Monkey Mia every morning to visit the tourists, and eat the free fish, doled out at 3kg pieces. They have been doing this for years.

That afternoon we went sailing on a 60 foot catamaran sailboat. We lounged in the sun on the mesh rope "trampoline" strung over the waves, beneath the sail, and between the two hulls. We saw more dolphins, large turtles, and dugongs which are 10 foot long, vegetarian, sea mammals, that reside primarily off of Australia's west coast.

Our sailing ticket allowed us to go out again that evening to watch the brilliant, fireball sunset from the deep blue, cloudless sky into the deep blue, endless sea. Once again we watched the stars, unobscured by the lights of the big city, pop out one by one, until they could no longer be counted. The slightly larger than the day before sliver moon that hinted of roundness, lit the way back to our van.