Anyone who knows me will tell you that I´m not a morning person! So, waking up at 6am to a cold, damp morning, was hardly the best start to the day and I hoped the weather would improve by the time we´d reached Bunbury. However, the further south we drove, the greyer the sky became and the heavier the rain fell.

Arriving at the Dolphin Discovery Centre, we put on extra layers of water proof clothing and made a hurried dash from the car. I´d been so excited about dolphin wathcing, but I was beginning to wonder if this had been a wasted journey. The dolphins at Koombana Bay are wild and although they often come near to shore in the early mornings, it is not always guaranteed that visitors will see them. Perhaps they would be put off by the awful weather too!

Once inside the centre, however, we were excitedly informed that two dolphins were already in the bay. Rushing down to the shore, we stripped off from the waist down to our swim wear and waded out into the cold, murky water. Standing there shivering, I suddenly saw a fin glide past me and then, as I looked down into the grey water, a beautiful wild dolphin swam past just inches away from my legs, turning its graceful head to look up at me.

In that moment, I felt so calm and still. I even forgot about the freezing water and the drizzle that continued to fall. Soon, the dolphins turned and started to swim out into deeper waters, gathering speed as they went.

We headed back inside to dry off and drank scalding hot coffee in an attempt to warm up and regain feeling in our toes. “There are more dolphins in the bay,” announced an eager visitor to the cafeteria.

The nasty weather meant that there were only a handful of other intrepid dolphin watchers that day and as we all hurried down to the shore once again, we saw five fins moving slowly through the water.

The dolphins were so inquisitive, swimming right past our feet and turning onto their backs playfully. We´d been asked not to touch them, but they were quite happy to brush our legs gently with a fin, as they frolicked in the water. We could hear them calling to each other, as a sixth fin appeared out in the bay, heading straight for us. If it wasn´t for the potential onset of hypothermia, I could have stood there in the water with the dolphins all day.