As well as the weather, we have been most fortunate in our selection of sites in the various parks on this trip, and today is as good as it gets! I hope this is not the boast before the fall, but this site is exceptional. We are tucked in behind some low bushes, right on the beach, with a 180 degree view of Shark Bay. Yesterday evening we watched the sun set behind the ocean and all night we had a full moon reflecting on the water. We are in our own separate space so it has all the pleasures of free camping with all the benefits of a modern park. The sky is blue, the water is aqua, the sand is white and the sun is shining. Garry is reading his paper, I have my coffee, and life is excellent!
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| Site at Denham Seaside Tourist Village |
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| View directly in front of van |
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| Shark Bay (left) from van |
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| Shark Bay (right) from van |
So, that is a highlight, but now for a negative observation. When we were here four years ago, mining in WA had a prominent position but there were still a lot of other things happening. However, my impression now is that mining completely dominates everything in this state. It is all about the latest discoveries of minerals or oil or gas, and how big the infra structure needed to cater for these developments will be. The size and wealth of the industry is corroding all of the aspects of life in WA that make it so special. Geraldton, a small city with so much natural beauty and history, is now set to become another Karratha, where house rents are in the thousands of dollars and the sense of community is lost because of the overwhelming itinerant (fly in/fly out) population. The sense of balance and proportion in the state is disappearing and, whilst I have no solution, I do think it is a shame and a real loss despite the benefits of this new wealth.
Anyway, on with our journey. From Kalbarri we drove through the National Park and out to the lookouts over the gorges. It was heavily overcast but the cliffs were still striking and the reflections in the river were so perfect that it was hard to see where the real landform finished and its reflection began!
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| Hawks Head Lookout |
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| Ross Graham Lookout |
Following morning tea we pushed on towards Shark Bay, very aware that we had a lot of stops to make. Shark Bay is a World Heritage Area due to its unique flora and fauna, particularly in its marine environment, with its extensive sea grass beds and its large dugong population.It is also important historically because it was here that Dirk Hartog first stepped ashore in 1616.
The first of our stops was the Old Telegraph Station at Hamelin Pool where the rare and ancient stromatolites still grow. This is because the water of Shark Bay is hyper saline in this area. Stromatolites are clusters of single cell cyanobacteria and they are the oldest life forms on the planet. While these particular ones are only about 3000 years old, they were still impressive to see.
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| Stromatolites in Shark Bay |
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| Viewing area at Hamelin Pool |
Also here was the Shell Quarry. Over countless years, many billions of small white cockle shells have been deposited and rainwater has leeched small amounts of calcium carbonate from them which binds them together forming a soft limestone called coquina. Blocks of this material were cut out and used for building in this area. The shells are still clearly visible but the blocks are surprisingly hard.
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| The Shell Quarry |
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| Close up of a shell block |
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| Saint Andrew's By The Sea - Denham |
Further along the peninsula we came to Shell Beach. This again is made up solely of countless millions of small cockle shells deposited over the past 6000 years. It extends for over 120 kms and is more than 10ms deep in places. Today it is mined for shell grit but otherwise it is like a regular beach, just with shells instead of sand! You can swim there but it was a little too cool for us yet.
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| The "sand" of Shell Beach |
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| Shell Beach - Shark Bay |
Our next, and last, stop for the day was Eagle Bluff. This looks out over a section of the bay that is well documented for the ability to see marine life in the water. It has a large area of reasonably shallow water which is quite warm, so the turtles, fish, rays, dugongs, but mostly sharks, come here regularly. I saw pictures of this place in books as a child and I was thrilled to see a shark swim into view when we were there, even though it is technically the wrong time of year.
Also from the bluff we had fantastic views of the surrounding area and it is well worth a second visit on our way out of town.
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| Eagle Bluff |
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| Clear water and sea grass beds |
By now it was getting late in the afternoon so we headed into Denham and our camp for the night. Our park is the most westerly in Australia, so now we have truly crossed the country. There seems to be quite a bit you could do here, even if most of it costs money, and next time we will plan to stay longer.
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| Sunset from Denham |
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| Early evening at Shark Bay |
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