Apr 2-3: Monkey Mia

I've been trying to do as much of the trip as possible on personal recommendations as opposed to sorting through all the various promotional devices. Upon asking Western Australians about spots to visit on my way through, I was surprised to hear several people tell me to skip Monkey Mia. As part of Shark Bay it is part of a World Heritage protected area, where you can visit a living working colony of stromatalites.

There was no way I was going to miss the stromatalites. A thin layer of cyanobacteria just under the surface of the water, these organisms are the first living things we know of on the earth. They perform a primitive sort of photosynthesis and are responsible for converting our atmosphere from being primarily noxious and to oxygen laden. This is one of the only places in the world you can see a living colony of them. As they die off, their bodies calcify and produce these lumps of stone in the water, often likened to cauliflower.

On a slightly more popular note, that put me within an hour of Monkey Mia about an hour before sundown, making it one of the only reasonable spots to camp for the night. I decided to park there to see the morning dolphin feeding. Every morning, a group of wild dolphins come in to shore to visit with the tourists. Despite my reservations and the anti-recommendations, I'm glad I stopped.