Is it a whale? Is it a shark?? I don't know!

I'm about two months late in posting this, but traveling up the west coast of Australia is a bit like being back in the late 80s/early 90s: no mobile phones, no internet, and a lot more denim.

Actually, the no service thing worked really well until I found out that after two weeks Jen began picturing my body lying in a ditch, and by the beginning of the third week she'd started to call the calvary (aka my family) :) but real talk- there is NOTHING out here for MILES.

There is one coach that travels up the coast a couple times a week, from Perth to Broome. I decided to leave Monkey Mia early and hopped the bus up to Coral Bay, which is about 600 km further north and is the gateway to the Ningaloo Reef.

So I definitely stole this picture, but it doesn't matter because I could have taken it- this is exactly what it looks like. The sand is blindingly white and the water so shallow that it is perfectly clear and barely laps at your ankles for a good 50 meters from the beach. Walk another 50 and you've hit the Ningaloo Reef- literally. By the time you're up to your knees in water, there are big rainbow colored fish nibbling on your toes (also literally).

Another stolen picture...

The Ningaloo Reef is 300 kilometers of fringing reef. This type of reef borders the coast and protects the shore from waves, which break way out at sea at the edge of the reef flats. It is also the only extensive reef to be on the west coast of a continent and is absolutely gorgeous. It's made mostly of green and brown hard corals (as opposed to the colorful soft corals of the Great Barrier) but is utterly unspoiled.

Looking out from the beach, the water looks clear for about 50 meters, bright turquoise for another hundred meters, and then black. There isn't a gradual color gradient either- the ocean floor drops abruptly beneath your feet, creating a distinct line. I almost started to panic when I did a quick 360 and realized I was surround by black water, but the second you duck below the surface, your world is again that brilliant turquoise and vibrant with fish, turtles, rays and whales.

My camera was crap, but can you see the two turtles below?

Next stop was Exmouth, which is about 200 km north and still bordered by the reef. Why go to Exmouth? Only because you can pay a bunch of money to swim with whale sharks and have it be worth every. single. penny!

It's actually not that much. Less than what you pay to dive with great whites, I can tell you that! AND I actually saw something! (I swear I'm really not bitter... anymore)

Is it a whale? Is it a shark?? I don't know!

ACTUALLY, the whale shark is a shark- the world's largest, to be exact. A gigantic filter feeder fish that eats plankton, is cold blooded, breathes through gills, has a skeleton made entirely of cartilage, and skin that is four inches thick.

I will just say it now: swimming with whale sharks = most wicked experience ever! We boarded a boat which took us out way past the reef to the middle of the ocean. The crew then passed out our gear and explained what we were about to do using very helpful diagrams and bracing words of encouragement:

"Oi! If you manage to miss this massive fish and get eaten, you're a flamin' idiot and that shark just did us all a favor."

Because they are cold blooded, whale sharks often bask near the surface. Each company uses spotter planes that radio down to the boats when they find a shark. The skipper will then position the boat directly in the shark's path, maybe a hundred meters away.

**BTW: If you ever choose to do this, go with Ningaloo Reef Dreaming. They are the only company with their own plane which means we didn't have to share our sharks! Everyone got to spend almost an hour swimming with them that day.**

Standing at the stern, there was a moment's thrill before a very hairy man with an unlit cigarette dangling precariously from his lip was screaming "GO!GO!GO!" like we were starring in a military movie, jumping out of a plane into the jungles of Vietnam. I don't know if it was meant to add to the experience or if he had just knocked back a Red Bull, but it was very effective.

I flung myself wildly off the side of the boat with my usual grace and poise, and when I opened my eyes I was rewarded with a front row view of the most massive (MASSIVE!) mouth ever (EVER!!). It spans the width of the whale shark's head and can measure up to four feet. I definitely inhaled a lot of water and promptly let out a stream of four-letter bubbles.

Jonah and Pinocchio being swallowed by whales seems extremely possible now, right??

After frantically swimming out of the way, I fell in beside my first whale shark. I've named him Norm. Norm was young, measuring about 8 meters; full grown sharks can reach 12-14.

The water was choppy that day and our boat had been the only one to go out. With my head above water, it was easy to be aware of the power of the elements and the ocean and how physically limited humans are. I could hear the wind whistling and sense my body bobbing along in the swell... I knew my hands were cutting into the waves, could feel my legs kicking furiously, but for all the good it seemed to be doing, I might as well have been a rubber duck in a tub.

The scene below the surface, however, was so surreal. It was silent, still, and a calming cerulean blue. Norm barely moved as he glided effortlessly through the water. I can't explain to you how something that large moves with such grace, but I CAN tell you that it is not just from being in water. Because I've tried that. And it has not helped. Case in point:

I am the frog on the right. The swan on the left is Tiffany.

I thought spiders the size of saucers only existed in Harry Potter...

Hey hey! Just a quick update til I have the time and internet access for more... left Fremantle for Monkey Mia March 19th. Hung out with the dolphins until Wednesday, the 25th, when I went to Coral Bay. From there I caught the bus up to Exmouth and then to Broome on the 29th. Bought a ticket to Darwin on the 2nd, explored Kakadu (spiders. the size of saucers. not ok), and took the train to Alice Springs yesterday morning. Tomorrow morning, Malinda and I leave to go camping in the desert. I'm not too sure how I feel about Alice Springs and by association, the desert.... a grasshopper the size of my hand just got stuck in my hair... that's not right. Should be a fun-filled weekend :) Miss you guys! Lots of love and speak to you all soon!

Don't walk though this land a stranger.

Have you ever seen the film "Baby Mama"? Do you remember Steve Martin's character? He plays Tina Fey's self-righteous New Agey boss and says ridiculous things like "I have eaten the egg of a platypus that was hatched under a gopher in the Himalayas beneath the full moon". When I talk about my time spent at Monkey Mia, I feel like I could be Steve Martin's character. "I swam with bottlenose dolphins in the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, where the red sands of the desert meet the white shores of the Australian coast"...

Absolutely unreal.

Check another one off the bucket list! I spent a week working with the dolphins at Monkey Mia in Sharks Bay- well worth the hassle of getting there. Did I mention I created my own mess? I have been SO good about being on time... but let's be real- we ALL knew it was going to happen at least once!

Lesson #3: Always pack the night before. Because if you don't, you may be too late to take public transportation to the bus station in the morning... which means you may have to call 2 cabs (since the first one MAY not come), and after paying $40 dollars you may still JUST miss your bus. Maybe. But rest assured you will give everyone a good laugh as you valiantly run, with your 20+ kilos of luggage, in a vain attempt to catch it as it pulls out of the station...

It looked... well, nothing like this. It looked worse.

So. If you were hypothetically foolish enough to not pack the night before, you may also end up spending another $60 to immediately hop on the next random bus up the coast, while frantically placing calls to the driver of the Greyhound Bus you're SUPPOSED to be on, praying that he will wait in Geraldton for you.

OR your amazing friends may have to help you pack mere hours before your flight. These are all just hypothetical scenarios, of course.

The struggles were all worth it though. This is where I spent my week:

Shark Bay is amazing. It has been declared a World Heritage Area. To be declared as such, the region must possess one of four criteria, and Shark Bay has all four:

• Major stages of the world's evolutionary history

• Geological and biological processes

• Natural beauty

• Threatened species

When Lisa Frank was creating her colorful line of binders in the 90's, she was either on drugs or on the beach at Monkey Mia, because smiling dolphins and cracked out colors are exactly what you get there. The sunset saturates everything in a warm red glow and the sky turns hues of dusky rose and soft purples.

Shark Bay is THE place for people whose biggest desire is to relax and do nothing but appreciate life. When the staff weren't skinny dipping off the pier, my favorite thing to do was to take my blanket and ipod down to the edge of the dock. There are so many visible stars, and I think I saw enough shooting stars to wish away the whole world's problems.

If you stop and stare, the water seems to sparkle, too, although it is actually from the glow of the resident bioluminescent plankton. They light up with movement- it's pretty cool to swim at night and see the water light up around you. I wish I knew more. One of the guys that worked there was telling me all about them, but all I remember is that they're pretty and they glow. I think he was disappointed I didn't find plankton more riveting- I was disappointed I didn't have anyone else to talk to.

I went swimming one day and found some company

Shark bay is teeming with wildlife (other than dolphins). We went cruising and spotted a dugong (similar to manatees). They're so shy and all you can really see are their heads as they peek out of the water. They are also the base for the myth of the mermaid. Centuries ago, love-starved sailors saw the dugong poke it's sea-grass covered head above the water and the fantasy of the mermaid was born.

The guys let me steer the ship- I managed to put us about 30 degrees off course in about 15 seconds.

It is so isolated- there's no public transportation and the small town of Denham is 30 kms away, which is fine because no one wants to go there anyways. Monkey Mia really only consists of the resort and the adjacent offices of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, where rangers and researchers (and Molly!) play with fish and collect important dolphin data. This was the highlight of my job:

They are so playful and would rub against my leg and tilt their heads and look at me and I can't really fault Lisa Frank because they really do smile!

The dolphins have been coming to Monkey Mia since 1960 and are still completely wild. They are fed up to three times between 7 am and noon if they choose to come in for the feedings. Only five of them are fed. The type and amount of fish differ depending on the dolphin and how many times they have been fed already as the rangers want to make sure that they don't become dependent upon the feedings.

Yellowtail and Bony Herring were the favorites.

This (front) is Nicky. You can tell because of the notch at the top of her fin. The other dolphin is her calf, Fin, who is about two.

I learned that when dolphins are feeling either aroused or angry, their normally white bellies turn pink. A lot of the visitors find it cute, but considering that means you're either pissing them off or turning them on... I consider both equally discomforting.

One of the best nights I had was when one of the locals took a few of us out into the hills and explained a bit about Aboriginal culture. Capes is of Aboriginal descent and still abides by the law and traditions of his people. It reminds me of the little bit I know about Native American culture, and how they live in harmony with nature.

Every time he enters new country, Capes rubs a bit of earth through his hands and introduces himself and encouraged us to do the same: "Hello, my name is Molly. I come from California. I want to say hello to the traditional owners- thank you for having me in you country." You don't have to say it loudly or so others can hear you... it's more that you pay respect to country and really see her as you pass through. As Capes told me, "Don't walk through this land a stranger".