29. Swimming with Sea Lions, Waltzing through Wildflowers and Pirouetting through the Pinnacles.

We jumped (actually dived) at the chance to swim with Australian Sea Lions out from Jurien Bay. The Aussie Sea Lions are found only on the coasts of Western Australia from the Abrolhos Islands down to South Australia.

 The Sea Lions Club of Jurien Bay meet daily on the island.
They have a Rotary system of swimming and sun baking.
They are the Apex predator on the island. 

Dressed ready to party with some exotic wildlife once more. 

Approaching the island 6kms south and 2kms out from Jurien Bay.
We tolerated the sea and weather conditions. 

Welcoming smile.
Their bite is worse than their bark. 

They were the most incredible reactive, inquisitive, acrobatic creatures imaginable.  When we were swimming with them, they held eye contact the full time., rolling, lazing on the sea floor, and coming right up to our goggles.  At no time did we feel threatened, however were amazed at the mouth full of serious teeth they had when mouths happened to be opened.
Unfortunately the only photos possible were from our camera on board the unstable boat, and hence no under-water shots.

Eager to have swim mates. 

Finger check.  Still had a handful. 

Like beautiful inquisitive 80-90kg puppies.
They would come right up and check us out, never losing eye contact with us.  

The grace and acceleration through the water was like nothing we had seen before. 

The males grow to 350kgs.  The females are generally 70-100kgs.
They are unable to swim at birth and do not begin to forage until they are 4-5 months old.  The pup is nursed for 15-18 months.
We spent about 90 minutes swimming with the Sea Lions and found the more animated we were with movement, the more they responded, even leaping clear of the water during their acrobatics.

Lapping up the sunshine with punk terns. 

Serious stretching is required after much lazing.
The Lesser Crested Tern is poetry in motion.

Sun baking mecca. 

Brilliant coats

When it was time to leave the island we received an emotional sendoff by some of the juveniles.
The older Sea Lions just stayed on the beach, obviously devastated by our departure.

Come Back, Come Back!!
(Said with the same emotion as Rose to Jack in the Titanic movie.)

In a huff over our leaving. 

Their Mum told them they would get quite a ride if they got near the back of the boat without getting too close to the propellers. 

Theme park ride. 

Alas, the thought of our departure was just too much for some. 

Jurien Bay had more than Sea Lions.
It had jetties, old and new, and a change shed.

Yielding to the prevailing SW winds, the straight jetty and roof have not maintained the original design.  

The old jetty is deciduous and has shed its planking. 

Sign written as Change Huts to allow males and females to think they are changing in separate huts.  

Wildflowers in the Lesueur National Park show how two different environments can exist alongside each other.  The national park is surrounded by farmland.  It seems surreal to see long established native flora right alongside rural open farming fields.
Due to the difficulty in identifying so many types of wildflowers, even with our plant app which supposedly can identify 20,000 plants having serious issues, we haven't attempted to label the plant types on the photos.  Please just appreciate them and name them if you wish.

Wildflower National Park surrounded by a rural landscape.   

The fly to the right photo bombed to give a sense of scale. 

As mentioned in the previous blog, our Ranger Tim, said the diversity of the wildflowers in this part of  Western Australia came from the fact that the soil is the worst of the worst.
The one way drive through the park took several hours due to continuous stopping to marvel at the various flowers.

We completed a walk of a few kilometres through the wildflowers and flies.

Before and after the walk, footwear is to be thoroughly cleaned in these harsh brush cleaning stations.
Blood was streaming from both Don's feet after attempting to clean his thongs.
The bleeding was exacerbated in the final clean after the walk.  

Needing to throw Carrol's hat into the ring in the flyweight division. 

Similar to the four Galilean moons which orbit around Jupiter, four flies can be seen orbiting Don's head.

Fan leaved Hakea.
Quite extraordinary. 

We recently fitted extra thick tyres and tubes to our tandem pushbike to stave off flat tyres from Echidnas. 

Back to the coast, and some of the local personalities.

Punk rocker of the beach.
Lesser Crested Tern. 

Gull on left inquiring about the cool hair piece. 

Pirouetting through the Pinnacles was done so in conjunction with a host of international tourists. Due to being just 200kms north of Perth, the Pinnacles are a must see destination for international tourists, who hire vehicles for the day and tear up to see the sights for an hour, then straight back, to catch a plane to see generally Ayres Rock, the Barrier Reef, Brisbane, Sydney, and fly out of Melbourne.  Australia seen in between one and two weeks!

The colours continually change with light. 

Fossilised Sea Lions. 

Flies again were relentless. 

Bird weather vane on Pinnacle. 

Awaiting change of wind direction to change stance. 

The problem is that many of the international drivers often are not used to driving long distances, are used to dual carriageways, and drive on the other side of the road.  There was one head on collision when we were there, and continuous talk both before and after about the problem of the road being the most dangerous in the state for that reason.

Our major concern during our walk around the geological marvels was a lightning and thunder storm which accompanied us.

Severe thunder rumblings and fork lightning made for a quicker tour than usual. 

Wanton vandalism of these ancient rock forms is an ongoing concern. 

As the thunderstorm retreats, an early form of curb and guttering can be seen on the road. 

Our final free camp along the road with three lots of other great travellers was at Moore River.
Here we enjoyed the tranquility of the bush before heading into the big smoke of Perth.

One of the great free camps along the way.
Early artworks can be seen under the bridge. 

Moore River tranquility before the hustle and bustle of city life in Perth. 

Approaching Perth and cooler cloudier weather. 

Solitary rock just beyond the break waiting to catch the ideal wave.  It has been waiting a long time. 

Finally, although it has been a while since we travelled through Port Gregory, we are still concerned about the evident rising land levels.  Not so long ago at Port Gregory boats could tie up at the jetty.
Now only 4WDs and quad bikes do so.

Rising land levels are evident at Port Gregory.
Once used by substantial boats. 

Now the dock is only suitable as a loading dock for trucks. 

Evidently vast amounts of money should be spent on research, possibly even a royal commission to help stop, or at least slow down the rising land levels.

We leave you to ponder this global problem as we venture into Perth and environs.

All the best,
God bless.
Don and Carrol.