WA: Perth (kind of), Margaret River, Sharks Bay, Monkey Mia & Pinnacles

So after arriving into Perth we quickly grabbed our car and drove south three hours to Margaret River. This had a lot to do with the fact that the cheapest hotel in Perth was either a hostel for $100 or $500 for one night. No thanks. Margaret river is a really nice small town in the heart of some fine wine country. Right on the coast it is a surfers paradise. I was in for lessons but alas they were all full.......of bikers. Yes, Margaret River was hosting the 2nd Annual Australian Harley Davidson Convention. We did manage to sample some nice wines but one of the wineries was closed because thats where the biker's convention was, really? A bunch of retreads on big hogs at a winery? Weirdos.

Anyway off we went past Perth yet again and we went to Hamelin Bay. Now what is so cool about this? Is there wine? No, there are stromatolites, only the second place in the world that is known to still have them (the other is off Lee Stocking island in the Bahamas. Hamelin Bay is a mecca for geologists. If you do not know or care about them, tough, here are some pictures. It is likley that us humans are around because the stromatolites were around about a billion years ago and producing oxygen .

We went up to Sharks Bay which is another geology sight worth seeing (don't think these would ever be approved as field trips). Stayed at an area called Monkey Mia which is a bit of a dolphin research center. They feed the wild dolphins three times a day. Usually only two or three fish each time so the dolphins (some have been coming here for 35 years) still know how to fish on their own.  Also stopped at Ocean Park Marine Research to watch them feed some lemon sharks.  Very scary!

We then drove south and stopped at another weird rock site called the pinnacles. From the photo you can see why. They have only been studied for 40 years but they think that the cores were originally roots and with some geologic magic and weathering this is the result.

We drove furthur south and waved at Perth as we went by again and ended up in a small town called Mandurah as the prices in Perth had not dropped in the week we have been here. We are now off to Ayers Rock or as it is now known Uluru and Alice Springs.