So we left Kalbarri and it wasn't without a Fred event!! He was meant to be coming on the same bus as us, but it got to 4.50pm when James and I and another guy had our bags on the bus and were seated ready to go and we realised that something was missing - or rather someone!! The dopey boy was nowhere to be seen, despite James reminding him a few hours before to be there at quarter to 5! The bus driver looked for him and still nothing? He had been by the pool, just an hour or so before, so who knows where he'd dissapeared to. The bus driver couldn't hang around, as we had to get to where we were meeting the main Greyhound bus as there would be an entire coach load of people waiting, so we left in the hope that Fred had gone to the next pick up stop - we very much doubted it, but you never know? Low and behold we turned the corner onto the main street and there was Fred sauntering down the road swinging a shopping bag tightly held in his hand, happy as larry he was! Once again in a little world of his own - probably not a bad place to be though, and he's got us to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets from one place to the next - atleast for now! After the bus driver told him to hurry up, in the politest possible way, we turned round and waited outside the hostel for him to get his gear together. Even we were starting to loose our patience a little when we'd been sitting in the bus for an additional 15 minutes, with the engine off and no air-con! I'm sure he thought he was going to quickly cook his noodles or something?

Anyway, finally Fred boarded the bus and we were off! James cleverly sat himself at the back so I was on a seat between him and Fred and being the friendly person I am, I quickly forgot my frustrations and chatted to Fred the whole way to the next bus - 2 hours! We covered many subjects, including Thai brides when he gets to Thailand - Yep this guy is travelling Thailand on his own after Australia!! You've got to take your hat off to him for doing all this though as he's obviously a little slower than most of us - he's obviously not going to sit back in England and just put up with a boring life working in a supermarket, which is what he was doing - this guy has really proved that anyone can travel, even though it's a little hit and miss sometimes for him!

Just one more quick Fredism before I tell you about Monkey Mia. We got onto the main Greyhound coach and Fred was sitting across the aisle to our right. About half an hour into the journey James started chuckling to himself and said to me 'look at Fred'. I leaned across and glanced over to see Fred devouring the last mouthful of what had been the biggest chocolate swiss roll you've ever seen - however he had managed to get half of it all over his face - he was covered, but grinning like a cheshire cat!! He'd been hungry being as he'd missed his tea and now I'd say he was probably feeling pretty sick, although his expression was of pure satisfaction! I didn't have the heart to tell him his face was covered, as it would have drawn attention from everyone else on the bus! Luckily once we arrived in Monkey Mia, there was no sign of chocolate on him, so he must have cleaned himself up.

The journey here was eventful, as we had to stop for a stink bug was in the shuttle bus - they look like stag beetles, but they fly and they let of a skunk like stink if you go near them - hello, why would WE go near THEM? They're gross! They come near us and there were to be many more times spent with Stink bugs over the next week! We also had a few near misses with Kangaroos and hit a rabbit, which wasn't very nice, but a relief it wasn't a kangaroo! We also saw a huge snake on the road, but the driver wasn't keen on getting out as he wasn't sure what type it was and we were more than happy to stay put in the bus!

Ok Monkey Mia, well we arrived late at night, so it was dark and we couldn't really tell what the place was like, apart from it's a resort in a National Park. When we got to our room we were greeted by some guests! James spotted a cockroach straight away and after it had dissapeared behind the skirting board, I said 'well atleast it wasn't a spider' and within a second I turned to my right and in the small hallway outside our room seperating the bedroom from the bathroom and outside there he was, a huge evil spider! Actually I don't know if he was evil, but he was big and I wasn't so happy to see him. I would imagine I let out some kind of scream - actually I don't really scream, but it would have been something similar! Then about a foot away also in the hallway, James spotted a big (even more evil) SCORPION!! Suddenly, James turned into Indiana Jones and killed both the spider and Scorpion! Sorry wildlife lovers, but this could have been a life or death situation!! Ok, this wasn't a great start to our time in Monkey Mia and we were not looking forward to the next two days as much as we had been. Bring back the Kalbarri flies!!

The next morning, we were over our little wildlife party from the night before and were ready to check out this place. We went and had a good breakfast at the resort restaurant, which overlooked the stunning beach and whilst eating we could see dolphins in the sea! This wasn't such a bad place after all! We took a walk down to the beach and the dolphins actually swim right up to the shore as they get fed by the resort every morning. It was amazing to see them so close! There were also loads of pelicans on the beach that morning, hoping for a feed themselves - they're weird looking birds close up - very human like, but kind of scarey eyes!

That night we went on a sunset sail on a Katamaran called Shotover which was really good and I didn't get sea sick, which is always a result! It was so peaceful and as the sun was setting the views just became more and more beautiful! We saw dolphins, turtles, sea snakes and a variety of other fish whilst on board, but they move so quick, or we did, that we didn't manage to get any photos.

That night we had dinner in the bar on site, right near the backpacker accommodation and then had a few beers with some fellow travellers we met - a really nice English guy called Will, who had spent loads of time travelling round India, a German girl called Linda, a Dutch guy called Stephan and a Swiss guy who was called Pascal, but went by the nickname Brocolli? He looked a bit like Arnie and has spent all his time travelling hitching rides and sleeping anywhere that doesn't cost anything! The beach, parks, dorm rooms that he manages to sneak into - a loveable guy, who is afraid of nothing and looks surprisingly clean, as he uses all the hostel facilities! The funniest thing is he has a huge suitcase instead of a backpack, which is probably how he gets picked up and driven everywhere - he even got a ride with a 93 year old woman one day!

The next day James had come down with a sickness bug - we think it was probably sun stroke or something, as we'd eaten exactly the same food. He was in bed all day, apart from when we went to see the dolphins get fed. We were also meant to be going on a two hour wildlife sail on the Shotover, but we had to cancel and luckily the resort were understanding and let us keep our room all day, as we should have checked out by 10am as were leaving at 6pm. Luckily a day in bed and just drinking water and James felt just about well enough to take the bus ride, which was a good job, although the 9 hour bus ride changed to a 12 hour one, as the main bus was running late so although it was good for the rest of us, we got an extra tour on the way and went to Shell Beach. It was a beach where instead of sand it was just covered in thousands of tiny shells and you could dig down metres and metres and you'd just find shells! Actually they mine these shells and there are some buildings built out of blocks of them - a church being one that we saw. James managed to not need the loo during all this, so happy days - for everyone!

We really recommend Monkey Mia as a holiday stop - the backpacker accommodation is only a tiny part of it, you can also camp or have fancy double rooms in the resort itself - well worth a visit!