Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort

Last weekend we traveled to Moreton Island (off the eastern coast near Brisbane) to the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort. There is a limited number of vehicles allowed on Moreton Island so we had to meet the Tangalooma ferry and travel to the island by boat. It was beautiful the first night we arrived and we just hung out on the beach and walked the shoreline to watch the sunset.

On Saturday we started our morning off feeding the pelicans . . . very interesting birds and fun to watch! We also signed up for a Desert Safari Tour. We rode a large (bumpy) bus through the back roads of the island out to a large desert/sand field. After our guides gave us the rules we were soon sand tobogganing down one of the steep hills out in the desert. I don't think the pictures tell you just how steep and difficult it was to climb these sand hills. We were lucky that it had just rained slightly so it made it somewhat easier to get your footing in the sand as you climbed. Evan and dad made the first trek up the hill . . . and then Evan ended up riding on dad shoulders about half way up. I was worried that they would get to the top and then Evan, in his terrible-two-year-old form, would refuse to come down the hill. BUT, he rode down on Bryan's back, sporting lovely goggles, and held on the entire trip down. When finished he jumped up and wanted to go again. It was a fun first for all of us . . . and Kaden enjoyed watching and getting lots of attention from the Asian (Chinese) families along the tour with us. Once again, photos were requested. This time though they wanted pictures with our entire family!! Just think of the money we could be making if we had started charging for these pictures from the beginning!!

We spent the rest of our morning at the resort pool before getting some much needed rest in preparation for our big night - feeding the wild dolphins.

We later fed the kookaburras and learned more about this amazing animal. The final FUN activity of the night was getting to feed the wild dolphins from the shoreline. Every night several wild dolphins from the ocean will come in to the Tangalooma jetty at sunset and everyone lines up to get a chance to hand feed them. Evan dove right into the fish bucket and grabbed himself a fish to feed his dolphin. When it was their turn they started walking into the ocean but Evan soon got scared of the waves crashing against him (small waves to us but probably seemed pretty big to him!) Bryan carried him out about thigh-high into the ocean and Bryan first fed Echo the dolphin. Evan saw how easy it was done and stuck his fish right in the water so that he, too, could feed Echo. Evan was the only participant of the night to receive applause from the spectators in the stands for being brave and feeding the dolphin . . . he was quite proud!!

We had also planned on snorkeling to see some amazing fish while at Tangalooma but the currents were too strong so we were unable to snorkel on this trip. We will be heading back out to the resort sometime in March and April so hopefully we'll have a chance then to snorkel.