Lovin’ the Mack Attackin Shark Bay and sad news from Melbourne

In search of sunshine we drove north to world heritage listed Shark Bay. By this time we were getting very excited because we had received news from Melbourne that the Macks were coming to visit! Greta, Cam, Dashie and baby Jett were hopping a plane from Melbourne to Perth, then driving like mad things for 2 days up the West Coast to meet us for 5 days in Francois Perron National Park, Shark Bay. We were so excited at the prospect of seeing some of our best friends from Melbourne. We were also a bit nervous though on their behalf and began checking the weather every 5 minutes for promises of sunshine for our frozen refugees from Melbourne’s winter. We were determined that everything would be perfect for their 5 day visit because we had lured them with promises of sunshine, swimming and good times! We set up at Denham caravan park 1 week prior to their arrival in order to suss out the best campsite and get the lay of the land. On one of our scoping trips we decided on a beautiful spot in the National Park called Big Lagoon – right on the water and close(ish) to Perron Homestead which had a artesian hot tub! We took a break from our scoping to visit some Stromatolites (most ancient form of life on the planet - indeed they are thought to have been around over 3 million years ago! Naturally they looked just like kinda cool lumps in the sea but we still felt strangely thrilled...

Before the Macks arrived we were shocked to hear from Melbourne that our old dog was very ill. We all knew when we left that it was possible that he would die during the year, but hoped very much that he wouldn’t. Phlappy was 15 years old, so we knew he had had a good innings but it was very hard not to be with him to say goodbye. Massive thanks to Vince, Emma, Rayner and Laura who all looked after Phlappy so well right to the very end. We're dreading arriving back in Melbourne to a Phlappy-less house.

We drove out to Big Lagoon, bumping through some very sandy spots.  It was when we had arrived and had positioned our trailer ready for set-up that Kate noted that the bikes were missing from the back of the trailer… Bill drove back along the track and found the bikes and bike rack in the middle of the track! Not too much damage to the bikes thankfully but the bike rack had sheared off completely and was useless. We consoled ourselves by driving to the hot tub and soaking luxuriously until we were wrinkled as prunes and half boiled. Back at the campsite we became uncomfortably aware that 10,000 sandflies were circling us looking for fresh blood. Next day both kids came up with a belt of bites and Kate and Bill’s legs were covered with horrible long-lasting super itchy bites. Not the best welcome for our Melbourne friends, but we just hoped the bities had filled up on us... Our friends Hannah and Michael came and camped in the same spot, which was lovely. Michael and Bill headed out for a spot of very successful fishing - providing us with a steady diet of barbequed fish for the next couple of weeks.

We met the Macks at the bakery in town and it was completely wonderful to see them. Dashie looked all grown up and fell immediately into his old camaraderie with Sash. The two of them played constantly for the next 5 days, disappearing into the dunes to play imaginary games filled with spaceships, chocolate rainbows, bears and shops. They also worked diligently at burying many toys in the sand (never to be seen again) and ferreting away various shoes, hats, forks etc to their sandy hideaway. Zara loved hanging out with beautiful baby Jett who was beginning to say some very clear words and kept us all amused with her exclamations. Cam and Zara rocked out with guitar and uke making up new songs and amping up some nursery rhyme classics.

The next few days were wonderful – it was just so nice to hang out with old friends. We (of course) visited the dolphins at Monkey Mia (Kate and Zara both got to feed dolphins!), pigged out at a buffet breakfast, checked out the sights and spent happy hours in the hot tub. We also visited Ocean World to watch sharks being fed and lots of other marine excitements – Dashie was particularly taken with the lobster to which he returned again and again. But mostly we hung out at the beautiful lagoon basking in the sunshine, watching dugongs and turtles float past, playing cards and generally enjoying ourselves. Bill arranged for us to hire a tinnie from a bloke in Denham so we also explored the lagoon and fished in the open waters. Lovely warm sunny days were followed by bitterly cold nights. We had to change our singlets and shorts for ski jackets and beanies. Happily the freezing nights kept the bities away.

We sadly waved the Macks goodbye as they bravely began their return-to-Perth odyssey. We felt that the next few days might feel a bit quiet and depressing but in fact our time with the Macks renewed and revived us so that we were excited to set off on the next leg of our journey.

The dolphins at Monkey Mia are beautiful

The crowds at the early morning dolphin feeding - not so beautiful...

We loved the pellies as much as the dolphins

Getting thrilled by stromatolites - who'd have thought

Beautiful beaches of Francois Perron National Park

Out on the boat at Big Lagoon

Dash n Sash play a variation on totem tennis

Smiley and irresistible baby Jett

Sash, Zara and Dash

Saying goodbye to the Macks