Shark Bay

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Having left our royal friends at the Hutt River Province. We travelled up the North West Coastal Highway, where we turned off to visit Shark Bay, A world heritage area, where some of the earliest living organisms are found. Shark Bay is also home to a very diverse marine life, including Dugongs, Dolphins, sharks and turtles. On the land they are trying to reintroduce animals such as the Bilby whose population is now on the increase in the shark bay area.

On our way into the area we stop at the old telegraph station at Hamlin pool. Where we once again in search of the illusive stromatalites. Thankfully we found some more information about what stromatalites are all about. They are tiny organisms that helped life on earth begin and evolve due the oxygen they created. When looking at them they look just like columns of rock in the water. But look closely and you will see the oxygen they are producing. It’s thanks to stromatalites that we are here today. At Hamlin pool rather than sand the shore line is made up of lots and lots of tiny sea shells, which over thousands of years, with the help of the rain have cemented together. In the early pioneer days, these compacted shells were cut out of the ground, to be used as bricks for building in the local area.

We stopped long enough for a cup of tea and a slice of cake before carrying on our journey west in hope of getting to Thunder Bay before night fall. We found the dirt road that would lead us to Tamala station, up to Useless Loop and then into Thunder Bay, by the map 100-140k (the map isn’t clear) on the dirt road. Driving on these roads is hard on driver and on the vehicle too so after doing about 100km on this road we were all feeling a pretty tried and there still wasn’t any sign posts for Thunder Bay (not unusual for Australia not to sign post stuff though) but when we came up against a 4WD track to get there it was getting late and with “Gertie” (Charlie and Natalies 2WD mighty steed) behind us, she wouldn’t have made it any further, so we made the decision to return to Tamala station and camp there for the night. The campsite at Prickly Point was beautiful, set on the shore of a turquoise bay, so the next day we decided to hang around and enjoy the scenery. It was also a good chance to catch up on the laundry that was taking over the back of the car and for us to have a shower. So we did the laundry, Charlie and Natalie showed us how to do it backpacker style by stuffing your clothes into a black bin liner adding some water and some detergent then you leave it in the sun for a bit to warm up, then jump on it repeatedly to swish the clothes around until clean. Magic. Our shower worked on a similar principle, you have a black bag with a pipe, and you fill it with water then leave it in the sun to heat up. When our shower was ready, we tied it the back of the roof rack, opened the barn doors at the back of Jessie, hung a towel across the gap between the doors and proceeded to have a shower, while trying to keep our dignity. This provided great amusement for the both us. That evening we all chilled out once again in Gertie. Watching and giving input as Richie created a masterpiece (his Aquarium for the back window)

The next day we had to leave our travel buddy “Gertie” at Tamala station and took Charlie and Natalie on a trip up to the most westerly part of mainland Australia, Steep Point, along a long winding bumpy 4WD track. Our efforts were well rewarded with stunning views over Shark bays “Useless Loop” with its vivid turquoise water and looking west over the deep blue Indian Ocean. Breathtaking. Richie was up for snorkelling around part of the bay but the rest of us were not sure as it was still too cold. I think the drive may have been a bit bumpy for Natalie as she and Charlie were on our bed and not strapped in, so going over big bumps usually got them air born. At Thunder Bay we also saw a Humpback Whale breeching. It couldn’t have been more than 100 meters from shore. Wow, no matter how often I see that I will always be impressed, so close to shore too very lucky. We had a great day and wish we could have stayed for a few more days. It was great fun and the reason we bought a 4WD was to get us to such places. After a long day of driving we were all knackered but it was all worth it. We pushed on to Nanga Bay where we were hoping to camp the night. We were met by a rather obnoxious lady who seemed quite disgruntled at the fact we wanted to pay her for camping, as we were all of 15 minutes late in arriving. Bloody woman! We didn’t want to drive any further that evening, so we managed to convince her to let us to stay, out of the goodness of her heart and I’m sure she thought she was doing us a favour.

The following day after vacating our campsite at some point mid-morning. We headed north up the highway, where we stopped in to see Shell Beach, which surprise, surprise is completely made up off lots and lots of tiny shells. Apart from this fact the beach wasn’t that exciting so we carried on heading north to Denham, stopping along the way to check out potential campsites. When we arrived in Denham it was blowing a gale. But it did look like a nice little seaside town, if only the weather was better. After having a look around and getting supplies we headed back to fowlers camp. Which was one of the free campsites we had checked out earlier in the day and found to be the best. We stayed here for a couple of nights enjoying the piece and quiet. Also tried a spot of fishing but the fish didn’t seem to like our bait.

On Thursday two days later we finally decide to move out of our unofficial free campsite and move on to Monkey Mia. On the way we stopped in to visit the Shark Bay Marine Park. All the marine life there had been collected from local waters by marine biologists as part of their studies. Once they have completed their studies the fish are once again released back in to the wild. In the meantime they also welcome the public to come and have a look around. It was great to see all the fish, some of which would look lovely on our dinner plate, if only we could go fishing in the tanks. We were also amazed to see the lemon sharks and the tiger shark. Richie for some reason wants to go swimming with them. They also had a few baby Loggerhead Turtles, that they were feeding up before being released. I really want to see one in the wild. It was amazing to see how quickly the fish discovered that the guy in the blue shirt meant feeding time, the Pink Snapper went wild, jumping out of the water and splashing around. It was really interesting to see the diversity of the marine life in the local area. Now we want to see it all in the ocean it’s self. Late that afternoon we arrived at Monkey Mia where it costs us $6 just to get in, not much really but when they want another $26 for camping on a tiny spec of grass, we didn’t think so. After a quick look around we headed back out on the main road, until we found a track that lead us off to Red Cliff bay and as it was nice and secluded so we set up camp here instead, right next to the no camping sign. We weren’t camping, we were just resting.

The next morning we rose early to make sure we weren’t sprung by the ranger, and went back to Monkey Mia (our ticket was valid for a few days). Where the dolphins have been coming into shore to be fed for about 50 years. It’s now quite an attraction. We weren’t to sure want to expect as there seemed to be quite a lot of people on the beach. But to my surprise it was very well organised. As on lookers were asked to form a line along the shore in the shallows, two guides then walked backwards and forwards in front of us giving us loads of information about the dolphins until the dolphins themselves decided to turn up. As the dolphins are wild it’s up to them to come in for a feed or not, so there is no set times. We soon spotted several dolphins out in the distance, then in ones and twos they started to come into the shallows where we were. They obviously knew the guides very well, they happily followed them, as they walked back and forth. It was amazing to see them so close. Pretty much at my feet. Wow. Once the dolphins had settled in to the interaction area five volunteers came down to the water carrying a bucket for each dolphin that was allowed to be fed (They only feed mature females). We were then asked to step out of the water during feeding as this is a sign to the dolphin they are about to be fed. The volunteers then took a dolphin each and spread out along the line. The dolphin in front of us was called Puck. A couple of kids were first to be asked to go up and feed her. Then to Richie’s complete surprise he was asked to go up and fed a fish to Puck, he was dead chuffed. To my surprise also, I was asked to go up and feed Puck a fish too. We both felt really honoured as not every one gets to feed the dolphins. After the feeding, the dolphins pretty much disappeared. Although we did see them, now and again through out the day. During the afternoon we walked further up the shore, before donning our snorkelling gear and taking to the water ourselves, only I wasn’t as natural in the water as the dolphins. This was the first time I had ever used fins and I wasn’t being very coordinated. Having only used a snorkel a couple of times too, I wasn’t feeling very confident. So holding on to Richie’s hand, he dragged me out a bit deeper to where there was a small patch of reef. It was really cool to see the fish swimming underneath me and see the pretty coral. I think snorkelling is going to take a bit of practice, until I can go it alone.

Over the next couple of days we spent our time chilling out at Monkey Mia during the day and the nights at our “free campsite” it lovely just relaxing, writing our Travelblog, watching the dolphins and doing the odd bit of fishing. The following Monday we popped back into Denham for some more supplies and to do a spot of fishing at little lagoon, once again we still didn’t catch anything big enough for tea, but we are still hopeful. The following day Richie and I left Natalie and Charlie at Monkey Mia and headed into Francois Peron National Park at the top of the cape for a few days. On our first morning in the park our first stop was at the old homestead to have a look at how an old sheep station was run. It was very interesting looking at the old buildings and shearing shed. Later we carried on heading north to have a look at Big Lagoon, Herald Bluff and the Greogories, before deciding to set up camp at Bottle Bay. We were right on the beach. Having brought some more bait that morning we were up for doing some more fishing before tea, but we didn’t get any bites. Richie was not to be deterred, so after tea he was out again. With in minutes he reeled in a fish that looked like it might actually make it to the dinner plate. Unfortunately upon identifying it we find it to be a Spangled Emperor. They have to be 41cm this one was only 30cm. We were gutted and had to throw it back. The following day we carried on our journey north to Cape Peron, where two currents meet. There were hundreds of seabirds all resting on a sand spit. All full on the fish that were plentiful in this area. The water was just teeming with fish. When we went to Skipjack point lookout, just the other side of the cape, it was amazing to see a shoal of Skipjack (juvenile Travely) swimming around the bottom of the cliff. As we were watching a pod of dolphins came across them too and proceeded to herd them together in order to get a good feed. It was brilliant to see. That evening we set up camp futher south, back at big lagoon, where we chilled out the next day and again went fishing. This time we did manage to catch a fish that we could eat, but as it was only one whiting it wasn’t going to go far, so we kindly donated it to a fellow British couple who had already caught one as well so they could make a semi decent meal with the two.

Friday 24th August, it’s my birthday. After a little lie in we woke to find our campsite completely deserted, which is just our luck because we had a flat battery. Opps. We are going to have to get a second battery. While we were waiting for someone pass by, we had a lovely breakfast of tea and toast. Half an hour later we collared a rather reluctant estate agent and his son, thanks for helping us but my god they were both retarded, the dad with his new 4WD seems to think he knows it all but couldn’t read the “please deflate your tyres to 20psi sign at the start of the track. But at last we were ready to go. Having reached the entrance to the National Park, we set about pumping Jessie’s tyres back up. Only to find that she had started to over heat. On inspection Richie discovered that Jessie’s radiator was some what lacking in fluid. Oh, dear. We couldn’t see any leaks so we toped it back up with water and drove into Denham. We still couldn’t spot a leak so put it to the back of our minds. As it was my birthday I was looking forward to doing the laundry and having a shower. A birthday treat to feel nice and clean before meeting up with Natalie and Charlie back at Monkey Mia and going for a nice meal in the restaurant. So that evening we all sat down to a delicious dinner. Richie and I had decided to splash out and ordered a sea food platter between us. When it came out, it was huge, there would have been enough there for all four of us. By the time we had finished we were feeling pretty fat, but it was all delicious.

The following day spent chilling and catching up our travelblog. Until the evening when we travelled back to Denham, where we wanted to try our hand at squiding. The guy in the fish factory (where we bought our fish and some squid from earlier in the week) had informed us that we could catch our own squid off the jetty at night with the aid of a squid lure. So armed with this information and a couple of lures, we went down to check it out. We were not the only people there, which was fortunate as we weren’t at all sure how you go about catching a squid. Apparently the idea is to cast your lure out a short distance then slowly reel it in till its beneath you, then bob it up and down to make it look like a real prawn, Simple. So there we are bobbing our fake spiky prawns and waiting. We noticed a fellow squider haul one up over the side over the jetty so keenly watched to see what he did. meanwhile suddenly a squid came into view and grabed my prawn and bobbed. Yey! I’d got one, I reeled him in, placed him on the jetty while Charlie went off to fill the bucket with water. It wasn’t a very big one, but it was a slippery little sucker, we had fun trying to get it in the bucket. The guy we had been watching earlier was kind enough to give us the low down on what to do next, so it was off with its head, pull out its guts, pull off its wings, then turn it inside on and give it a good clean. Great. So when we started to catch a couple more we knew what we doing. By the end of the evening we had caught a total of eight between us. Looks like we will be eating calamari for a while. Yummy. That evening we camped at just outside of Denham at eagle bluff before returning to the North West coastal highway the next day to continue our journey north to Canarvon.

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Photos

Stromatolites
So thats what they are

Shell Quarry
Bricks were cut to build houses and other buildings

Very happy bird
Singing away

Prickley Point
Doing the washing

Useless Loop
The road from Useless Loop to Steep Point

Starfish
Lots of coral ,starfish and shells washed up on the beach at Steep Point

Steep Point
The most westernly point of main land Australia

Steep Point
The Zuytdrof Cliffs

Shell beach
Charlie and I never managed to get the water over our knees

Shell beach
No sand, just lots and lots of tiny shells

Baby Turtle
Being hand fed

Denham
the sea was so calm it almost looks like glass

Denham
The harbour

Jessie
Red Cliff sunset

Puck
Swimming around waiting for a fish

Dolphin feeding
Richie feeding Puck a fish

Dolphin Feeding
Me feeding Puck a fish

Red cliff
Beautiful sunset

sunset
Reflected in Jessie's window

Birthday dinner
Seafood platter

Skipjack
Dolphins are herding them into shore

Hippie Richie
He looks so cute

Everlastings
Me sitting amongst them