On our way to Denham along the Brand Highway, past the Wooramel Roadhouse, there is a lookout on the right side, which I believe overlooks Shark Bay/Hamelin Pool. It also overlooks the inland limestone ranges. Nice spot for a photo. There are also a couple of pyramids of rocks and a mound of rocks looks quite like a grave site which is covered with gnomes and notes from people of all corners of the globe.
We can't help but leave our mark on one of the rocks on the pyramid before continuing the drive to Denham in Shark Bay world heritage area. We keep running into Ian and Alana (Melb Cup Dampier), they have also booked into the same van park as us, Denham Seaside Tourist Park, the most westerly van park in WA. We thought that pretty cool, as at $350 for a day trip to Steep Point (the most westerly point of Australia) we are not going to be making that trip. Denham overlooks Dirk Hartog Island and Useless Loop on the mainland. And is it BLOWING a gale.
There are several accommodation places out on the pennisular - Hamelin Pool, Nanga, Monkey Mia plus a few beach camp spots, which you need a permit for whichs allows you to camp for one night only (no return trips) - there is no toilet facilities or water at these camps. If you don't have a chemical loo, make sure to take your spade. Darl has found a riding buddy, Ian on his BMW. We sent them off to check out Monkey Mia for our trip over their the next day. Take your time boys, us girls are going down the street, check out the shops.
Monkey Mia is a little resort spot a bit like Coral Bay. Resort accommodation, van and camping ground. All the water activities are available, from swimming, fishing to two up underwater boats and paddle boats and cruises. But it is all about the dolphins, have to get there early, feeding time starts at about 8am to 12pm. Two to three feeding sessions depending on how hungry the dolphins are. This is special as they have a new 3 week old baby, Piper. They all have names. The handlers walk into water and select people from the crowd to have a go at feeding.
Alana and I are lucky as we both get picked out to have a go. Special but my Darl is nowhere to be seen, so I don't get a photo. There is about 25 dolphins in this bay, on the opposite side of pennisular to Denham. It is no where as windy as over there. Today 11 dolphins come in to feed. The tip is hang around for all feeds as the crowd gets smaller each feed time so better the chances to get picked. We booked the sunset cruise, so spend the day fishing, viewing one of the numerous documentaries available and did the glass bottom boat thing.
The cruise was cancelled as the winds come up in arvo and it is far too dangerous to take the cat out. So we have an early dinner there, nice tucker - mains $30+. We'll try the cruise tomorrow night. We spend a day touring around Denham and the outskirts. 40kms south to Shell Beach, this place is amazing. Created naturally from hundreds of millions of tiny sea shells. Compacted shell was once quarried for building blocks and used in some of the buildings around Denham. Water is crystal clear here.
Eagle Bluff, has a 200 metre boardwalk on top of the cliff. Great view from up here over to Useless Loop (where they have been mining salt since 1962 - the mine and township is closed to tourists, entry only by permit from mine manager). From up here we get a birds eye view of the bay below which has a number of stingrays and sharks (Lemon and Nervous) swimming about. Turtles also inhabit these waters but we didn't spot any today. While the glass bottom boat wasn't expensive, we see more marine wildlife from the shore at Monkey Mia and here. Some folks did day cruises Monkay Mia they also spotted dugongs.
Ocean Park is well worth a visit $19 pp, however a guided tour through the several acquariums is very informative and they do a feeding on every tour. That's feed the fish, sharks, sting rays. Can you make this critter out, it is a deadly stone fish, not the most attractive fish on the block. They have a pond outside full of barra, red emporer, gropers. Some of these fish have serious teeth happening. The guide showed us his hands covered in scars where he had been bitten. No shark bites though.
The winds at Denham are truly bad, the average is about 30 to 40 kph. One day we stayed it was up to 59 kph. A great test for the camper which stood up no worries. We had to cook inside though. We also went to the movies Saturday night, $10 entry for movie and a barby. What a bargain and the movie was Red Dog, the Dampier legend. We really enjoyed the movie which was funny and sad, based on a true story. We managed to get the sunset cruise in, the winds not so bad, so off we went with Alana and Ian, drinks and nibblies BYO. Still a bit rough and windy but we enjoyed the outing.
On our way out from Denham we stopped off at Hamelin Pool Caravan Park where you are able to access a walk to the shell quarry and the Stromatolites. This is the old quarry which early settlers excavated with a cross cut saw, to build many buildings including several station homesteads and Denham church. The only blocks taken from this quarry today are to maintain those historic buildings.
The living microbes that build Stromatolites in the highly saline waters of Hamelin Pool are similar to the earliest forms of life dating back 3000 million years. Colonies of marine Stromatolites such as these have helped science gain a better understanding of the evolution of life on earth over the millennia. By the way it wasn't as windy today, but the FLIES!! We stayed at a great 24 hour camp at Galena Bridge (Murchinson River) flies were bad there too, at the end of the day, the tally was 5 nil, Ling's favour. I am investing in a fly net first opportunity.....
