Day 75

Today was our first day on North Stradbroke Island!  We arrived too late for the car ferry, so we had to leave the car on the mainland.  We shared a taxi with an Australian couple, and they insisted on paying for the cab as a sort of "welcome to our country" gesture.  They were lovely and just so happened to be staying at the same place as us!  We didn't get to see them much after that, but we did enjoy a dolphin feeding and a cuppa in the morning with them.

We drove from Brisbane to Cleveland.  Then we took the ferry into Dunwich, then a taxi to Amity.

We stayed at a place called Straddie Bungalows in Amity, which was a little grouping of super-cute bungalows.  Everyone there was really friendly, including the owner, Ian, who does the dolphin feeding every night.

The charming Straddie Bungalows.

Our first activity: walking along the beach!

We don't know what this is!  It was a big harmless blob of clear jelly, and when you poked it...

This stuff came out!  They're just like those glass beads you get at the craft store, only they're jelly!

Another unidentified object.

I like to do science by poking things.

This crab's eyes kinda freak me out.

The water was really warm!  But there was apparently a pretty strong current, so you aren't supposed to swim there.

Look at this bird!

Now look at that bird getting chased away by another bird!

Look at this other bird with a fish!

My mama also took some (accidentally) artsy photos that I thought looked cool:

Check out that sexy footwear.  I adore my yellow crocs!

After exploring we walked into Amity.  There wasn't much of a town, just a convenience store and a campground, which Australians call a 'holiday park.'  They had some fancy campers, none of the motorhomes we've got in the States.

That's a pop-up camper!  The whole tent comes out of it--and it's got a floor too!

They also had a jetty down there where you could feed dolphins every night.

Those kids on the left didn't stand a chance.

Dolphins!

My mommy got a beautiful sunset picture.

And then, once it got dark, we got to feed the dolphins at our place!  The owners put up a huge spotlight that attracts the dolphins, and they came every night.  We saw one mama with a little baby and an older baby, plus another mama and baby!  It was very exciting but unfortunately it's very hard to take photos at night.

This is mama.

This is the older baby.

This is the wittle baby!  So cute!!!

Mama and the baby!  :)

Tomorrow we've got more koala photos--they're wild this time!--and possibly some video of dolphins and koalas if I can manage it.  :)

Cheers,
Ashton