November 2021
As we inch closer to Western Australia’s Capital we have now reached the seaside town of Denham, the gateway to Shark Bay – anther of Australia’s UNESCO World Heritage Areas (also a marine park). Once a pearling port, Shark Bay is now a popular place for boating, diving, snorkelling, watching marine life, fishing, kite surfing and swimming. You may be familiar with the dolphin experience at Monkey Mia, which is only 20 minutes up the road.
We broke up the 320km drive from Carnarvon and stopped at Wooramel Station (as everyone was talking about this place). We had not had a ‘station stay’ for a while and we were looking forward to the hot artesian baths we could soak in. I was anticipating a nice riverside campsite, which we found. However, it was not what I expected (I am continually reminding myself to curb my expectations). The river bed was completely dry and sandy. We have hardly seen a river with water in it for some time (especially in the north where they only run seasonally). I pulled my dusty and rusting bike off the caravan and did a 5 km loop along and across the river – dragging it along the deep sandy crossings. The artesian baths were lovely and a champagne would have been the perfect accompaniment to the sunset but I am still off the drink until Christmas.
Gladstone Bay
Gladstone Bay (about 30km south of Wooramel) was on my list as I knew dugongs could be seen here. Within about an hour of setting up a young man came past in his wetsuit and told me there were dugongs off the jetty. In a flash, I was in my wetsuit, snorkel and gopro at the ready and skipping out to the jetty. Within minutes I heard the puff of a dugong coming up for breath. I tried to follow it for a while and managed to get as close as 1m. It was so graceful and calm. It certainly made my day. I went looking again that afternoon and the next morning but never saw another. Shark Bay contains the world’s largest and most diverse seagrass communities. Twelve species are found here whereas elsewhere seagrass meadows only contain 2-3 species. Approximately 10,000 dugongs live in Shark bay – the second largest population in the world. Apparently, this is the only place in the world where researchers have witnessed the mating rituals of dugongs. Thanks to the owners of Yaringa Station who allow people to stay at this wilderness camping site.
The next day we headed south again and turned off the highway at Hamelin onto Shark Bay Drive for the 130km drive out to Denham, which sits on one of two peninsulas in Shark Bay. I was looking forward to viewing the stromatolites at Hamelin Pools (just past the turnoff) but sadly the boardwalk had been destroyed due to cyclone Seroja, which hit this area earlier in the year. Stromatolites are incredibly important as modern examples of the earliest known life forms on earth - microbial reefs created by cyanobacteria. Before complex life began the photosynthesizing stromatolites pumped oxygen into the oceans (like underwater trees). Once the ocean was saturated, oxygen was released into the air and life flourished and evolved. They even ‘fizz’ underwater as they photosynthesize. You can now see why I was excited the see them.
I was pretty excited as we approached Shark Bay. I had a feeling it might be a nice spot to stop and live for the summer. We had decided we would need to settle ourselves somewhere for a few months to escape the school holiday craziness. We spent about a week here but I had decided I loved the place as soon as we arrived. It was super windy (apart from the last 2 days) but that is life in WA at this time of year. The town sits right opposite the water, with several jetties, a lovely discovery centre and park, a school, an aquarium and a well-stocked supermarket. It has a lovely atmosphere and some really friendly people.
We explored town, visited the shipwreck themed playground and Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery & Visitors Centre to collect a plethora of brochures in order to plan our visit. There is a permanent exhibition called ‘Fire on the Water’ showing the interesting naval battle between the HMAS Sydney and the Kormoran (a German merchant raider) during World War II. The 3D movie was excellent – even Mali enjoyed the ‘realness’ of the underwater footage and the deep-sea creatures jumping out at her.
We explored the area for the next few days visiting the Eagle Bluff lookout (~10km south) where we could walk along the cliff edge boardwalk and spot sharks and sting rays down below. We spent a day at Little Lagoon (2km away) where you could drive onto the beach, pick your spot, and watch a family of emus having a swim. We have seen many emu families walking through town. I enjoyed a few walks along the Nicholson Point Trail, unsuccessfully, looking for Thorny Devils.
Eagle Bluff boardwalk
Little Lagoon
We rose early to visit Monkey Mia. A $30 entry fee allowed us to participate in ‘observing’ the 3 times daily dolphin feeding (2 people are hand-picked each time to hand feed them). The whole experience is pretty strictly managed and we could hardly see a thing there were so many people lined up on the beach. The dolphins used to be fed without restrictions and researchers noticed a huge infant mortality rate. This is now strictly limited to reduce the time the mothers and their young spend in the shallows as the babies cannot access the mother’s teat to feed in the shallow water. Meanwhile, Mali was more interested in playing in the sand.
Mali and I jumped on a 2-hour wildlife cruise on a large catamaran. We saw a few dugongs with calves clinging onto their backs, which was super exciting. Mali spent most of the 2 hours playing with a new friend inside the boat rather than looking for wildlife. The most exciting part of the tour for Mali was sucking on a lollypop, which she promptly lost over the side when it got caught in someone’s hair, the hope for a second lollypop and riding the boom net on the way back. One-hundred and fifty dollars not so well spent.
Craig fished from the jetty often and managed to catch half a kilo of squid. He continues to impress me with his catches and his commitment. Almost daily, we rode our bikes down to the park to play pirate ships and swing jump competitions and allowed the wind to blow us back up the hill.
After scouting the 4WD track into Big Lagoon in Francois Peron National Park we decided to test how ‘off-road’ Drought Breaker is and take her in on the sandy tracks for a night of camping in the most beautiful location. Francois Peron National Park is, literally, where the desert meets the sea – rust red desert sand meets white sand beach and azure blue water.
Just past the park entrance we visited the historic Peron Homestead and jumped in the hot tub. It was close to 40 degrees so I did not last long. The homestead offers a glimpse of life on a working sheep station back in the 50s with old shearing sheds, equipment and interpretive signage. There is also a good little interpretive centre in one of the old buildings depicting stories from the past (the one I liked was about the homestead being relocated to its current position from the nearby town to solve the problem of shearers heading to the pub at smoko and never coming back) and the successful conservation program, Project Eden. Feral animals caused massive environmental damage on the Peron Peninsula. Sheep, cattle, foxes, goats, rabbits and cats thrived in the 19th and 20th Century up until the 1990s. A feral animal control program began in 1994 and continues to this day. The Peron Peninsula has a narrow neck, which makes it ideal to be fenced off, which has created a manageable artificial island and a strong barrier to recolonization from feral predators. There are so many mammals in the park that I am unfamiliar with such as the Woylies (Bettongia penicillate), Quenda (Isoodon obesulus), Chuditch (western quoll), Boodie (Bettongia lesueur) and the Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis). I did not see any of them but there were definitely signs of them all as I saw dozens of animals tracks in all of the red sand. My hours of searching for a Thorny Devil proved fruitless so I am coming back here again determined find some of these creatures. I sent Craig off on the other side of the road to search (whilst Mali slept in the air-conditioning comfort of the car). 'Did you find one?' I said. He returned holding something resembling a thorny devil. The cheekiness!!
The 1.5km Wanamalu Trail located along the cliff edge between Cape Peron and Skipjack Point was beyond impressive. It felt much longer as I went totally unprepared for the baking hot sand and prickly spurs by wearing open sandals (bad choice). Nevertheless, the views were worth it and I was glad I did not have to get back in the car as Mali was in a bad mood. After 70km of 4WD-ing and soft sand she decided she did not want to get out of the car to see what we came for and we refuse to let her stay in the car alone (especially after the recent missing child incident in WA) – it resulted in a complex series of negotiations and much frustration. The two viewing platforms at Skipjack point rewarded us with manta rays, several sharks, dolphins, turtles and dugongs. That’s correct, all of them!! Wow! Wow! Wow! I love this place. Definitely one of my highlights.
Views from Wanamalu Trail
View from Skipjack Point
We missed Dirk Hartog Island – that is the second of the two Capes in Shark Bay. Did you know Dirk Hartog was the first European to set foot on Australian soil? He was the Captain of a Dutch trading ship in 1616. That is more than 150 years before Cook landed! How did I not know this? Dirk Hartog Island was another few hours drive, a barge trip and only suitable for 4WDs and we were pretty keen to keep heading south to find a home for the summer. That’s right, Denham didn’t make the cut. Mostly because there is no swell and Craig has suffered for long enough – I would move there today.
We head south once again to Kalbarri where we have decided to live for the summer.
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