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Published: October 29th 2006
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We left Carnarvon and headed south to the Shark Bay World Heritage & Marine Park and the towns of Denham/Monkey Mia, to see the Dolphins - 315km drive. The National Park here is unique in that the management has been engaged in a comprehensive programme of eradicating feral cats, foxes and goats so that endangered wildlife species can be relocated in a safe environment encouraging them to breed. Apparently it is very successful, with a number of species being bought back from the brink of extinction. Very good to know. Its also the spot of the first European landing on the mainland - Dirk Hartog in 1616.
The wind that we experienced in Exmouth had not abated and in fact was getting stronger to about 30knots. It nearly blew us away in Denham. We couldn’t get into the caravan park at Monkey Mia (pronounced Mya) so we stayed at one in Denham which is 25km away. We had a look around Denham and found a shop selling really yummy milkshakes and a beach which was completely made up of tiny shells (Shell Beach - fancy that). The next morning we drove to Monkey Mia at 7.00am (yes 7.00!) because that
is when the dolphins can start to turn up. They are wild dolphins and started coming into the beach about 40 years ago when a local woman started to feed them. Up until about 10 years ago there was no supervision of the feeding or touching of the dolphins and they started to give up their natural hunting ways, so now they only feed nominated females a minimal amount of fish, three times during the morning. This was school holidays and so there was a crowd of about 100 people watching the dolphins appear. About 15 dolphins came into the shallows and the rangers selected people from the crowd to feed them - and they picked me!! I was very excited despite holding a cold damp fish and the dolphin and I had a moment (of about 20 seconds) as it took the fish from me.
The next day it was off to the picturesque seaside town of Kalbarri. Again the wind followed us.
We stopped on the way at the edge of the World Heritage Area at a tiny historic telegraph station called Hamelin Pool. Adjacent to the station are the ancient Stromatolites. We almost weren’t going
Feeding Dolphin at Monkey Mia
Not my most flattering side considering it was my 20 seconds of fame! Remember that cameras add at least 5 kilos! to stop here, but we’re glad we did as we got a scientific insight into the beginning of life on earth. This is the best-known and best example of a colony of these microbes in the world in that they are identical to organisms that existed 1900 million years ago which evolved to produce oxygen which increased to the point that could support other life forms - eventually us. They have survived here because the local conditions are perfect. Despite their humble appearance, it was fascinating and we were humbled.
Then on to Kalbarri where we spent 4 nights and went to the National Park to do some walks. The loop walk was signposted as 3-4 hours and as these times are usually over estimated we headed off - it took a good 3 hours and was at times steep and difficult going around the cliff edge and along the very sandy riverbank to complete the river loop. It was quite a hot day and the flys were horrible, the first time we had come across them to this degree, and we were well over it by the time we got back to the car park. We then went
to the coastal edges of the national park to see the rugged cliffs.
Geraldton was our next stop and we drove into the large town excited to be hitting what almost felt like the ‘big smoke’. We hit the supermarkets to rediscover some of the items that we had been missing in the small towns since Broome.
We went on a drive from here to the pretty historic township of Northampton, had a nice lunch and then went a further 75km on a dusty, dirt road to the Hutt River Provence where our Aussie readers might remember that a farmer, Len Casley, disgusted with the government wheat quota system and lack of crown land rights, found a loophole in the Commonwealth constitution and in 1970 seceded from the Commonwealth to form ostensibly his own country, the borders of which were his 75-sq-km wheat/sheep station. The loophole was quickly closed and despite concerted attempts by the WA government to legally overturn the situation HRH Prince Leonard and Princess Shirley remain, 35 years on, the monarchs of the only principality in the world declared without bloodshed. The province has its own postal system, flag, constitution and armed forces (ceremonial role
only). It also has 13000 citizens worldwide and you can get a passport for $250.00. They pay no tax or GST, but the downside for the 20 or so residents is that they get no health or social security benefits - I don’t think this is an issue though, because with the daily busloads of tourists who buy coins, stamps and souvenirs I think he is doing ok despite the fact that the place is typical of a lot of stations and could do with a sprucing up. I love a loophole and got a real kick out of this place - he has an amazing collection of flags, medallions and letters from other countries legitimising his province.
Another day we went on a drive to the twin towns Dongara/Port Denison which are really pretty towns.
Back in Geraldton, we even went to the movies (told you it was the big smoke) and saw “The Devil Wears Prada” with Meryl Streep which we enjoyed. Although I don’t think the Geraldton locals even know what Prada is and that might tell you something about the place! We also went to see David Strassman and Ted-E-Bear who were doing a
Stromatolites
More to these than their looks. one night show - loved it.
After 4 nights we again headed further south to the tiny seaside town of Green Head. Not much to do here and the caravan park was very quiet. Not even a shop in town. Unfortunately the beaches were a bit ordinary because the strong winds had blown a lot of seaweed ashore and so they were covered, but we found a remote sheltered spot and went to the beach a couple of times.
It was finally time for the real ‘big smoke’ and despite enjoying the quiet secluded small towns - we were more than ready for some of the services we were used to in Melbourne - and so off to Perth we went, singing all the way down to the music of ELO, sadly.
We stopped off at the famous Pinnacles on the way, but I’ll tell you about those in the Perth blog.
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Barrel Girl...
5 Kilo thing? what do you mean? what i want to know is who won the arm wrestle?