Don't say the C-word

So we've made it up to Monkey Mia this afternoon where in just a few hours we had a ball with wildlife: there's emus wandering around with groups of chicks following behind and the dolphins and reef sharks put on a late afternoon display down on the beach.

Only a slight problem, we've been put on yellow alert (get ready to leave) for Tropical Cyclone Olwyn which is due to hit Exmouth, a few hundred kms north of us tonight. It's highly likely we'll be evacuated tomorrow and will have to head back south down the highway. And I've already paid for the accommodation here - bummer!

I'm not sure if the Cyclone has even made news on the east coast, but in case it has, we are safe and we'll be leaving ASAP if it's not safe to be here.

Eagle Bluff & the Murchison River - Kalbarri NP

The highlights of our trip up north (which we may get to relive if we have to backtrack south again!) included hitting the true WA desert country in Kalbarri National Park and finding shell beach - it's a beach made up entirely of tiny white shells, up to 9 metres deep in parts. In the past, a quarry was setup to cut blocks of the solidified shells (which apparently can be done with just a basic saw) for building construction.

Max loving the tiny shells

This is what the whole beach looks like close-up

The undulating 'shell dunes'

And how's this for a clever idea - there's a feral animal fence that you drive over on the way to Monkey Mia. As well as the usual cattle grid and electric fence, there's a motion-activated sensor that sets off a recorded barking of what sounds like a very angry German Shepherd. Max said it was 'too scary' so if it keeps him away, I'm sure it will work wonders for the feral animals!

Feral animal fence

The white post in the foreground barks at
anything that approaches it!