The Best Show On Earth

Last year I spent my birthday in Pattaya doing a bit of shopping and having an aromatherapy massage, the year before that I was viewing the English capital city from the London Eye, but nothing could top this year. I thought that my birthday in 2010 would be a wash-out as, after all, there is not a great deal to do in outback Australia – no city to explore, no amazing shops, no luxury spas, no museums. But what Karratha lacks in urban entertainment, it certainly makes up for in entertainment provided free of charge by nature and we were given an exclusive show at the beach on my birthday this year.


The first act was Ray, a red-edged stingray swimming steadily up the beach in the shallows, keeping to the shoreline to ensure we had the best view. How very kind of him. His dark, phantom-like shape gracefully glided along in a perfectly straight line. Ray was followed by The Dancing Dolphins, who put on a great show. The breaching dolphins leapt into the air, seeming to hover for a few seconds before diving back down into the sea, only to re-appear and do it all again. They effortlessly jumped straight up, curving their bodies as they flew, re-entering the water with barely a splash. It was a beautiful thing to watch and it felt like they were doing it just for us. This was better than anything I’ve ever seen at a sea-life centre and knowing that they hadn’t been trained, that they are free and happy, made it all the sweeter. We felt like the privileged few to have been granted a private viewing.

The third act to take centre stage was a rather playful turtle, who swam around in the shallows near the rocks, which seemed to house an abundance of food for him. He was rather pre-occupied with stuffing his face but every now and again he would stick his little head up out of the water, look around and then dive back under. He seemed to forget that he was performing to a crowd – I think his manager needs to have words with him. Later in the day, as the tide was rapidly receding, leaving rock pools in its wake, we spotted a small red octopus. Or rather, we were spat at by a small red, decidedly grumpy octopus. A reluctant performer perhaps – he certainly had an attitude problem. Maybe he was just working the emo look. Any time we got in any way close to him, he’d spit water at us, I assume to warn us away. A small guy trying to act tough.

On top of the main acts we were also treated to performances by pelicans, small fish, and an assortment of coastal birds. We paid nothing to see this live sea-life show and it was the best I’ve ever been too. Despite my doubts, Karratha served up a truly first-class birthday.