Shark Bay World Heritage Area

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Down the highway we continued, heading for our next stop at the World Heritage Listed Shark Bay area. The road remains flat and has gone from boring to ugly! We were seeing a few sorry looking cattle along the highway, but they have now given way to some even sorrier looking goats. Yes, they raise goats here, because they'll eat anything! Apparently we export these tough old buggers to the Middle East. The recipe goes "Put goat in a pan with an old boot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil like mad for 3 days. Discard goat, and carve up the old boot which will be much more tender!" Along the way we cross the 26th parallel, and officially leave the "North West". Ironically, as we turn and head up the western side of Shark Bay, we cross back over the 26th Parallel and re-enter the "North West!!" Boy that was a short stay in the mid west!!

Welcome to Shark Bay.

The road to Useless Loop!

The welcome sign to the area is quite impressive, and well worth a photo stop. We chat to a couple of young English girls backpacking their way through the west, dressed in skimpy bikinis that will no doubt never see the light of day back home. Carolyn beats me around the head, and points me at the car, encouraging me to stop chatting up the girls! Our destination is Denham, the main town in the Shark Bay precinct. We pass the turnoff to Hamelin Pool, home to the Stramatolites, which grow in the extremely salty waters at the bottom end of Shark Bay. To really explore this unique feature, you need to stay and do the walks and tours. Unfortunately it will be a next time, but for the uninitiated, Stramatolites are colonies of micro organisms that resemble the oldest and simplest forms of life found on earth some 3.5 billion years ago. The one here are around 3,000 years old, and very fragile. It is a heavily protected area and no swimming is permitted. Next time!! A little further along the road, we see a sign to what has to be the worst town or place name in Australia, "Useless Loop"! Where do you live? I live in Useless Loop! So what do you do in Useless Loop? I work in the salt mine! That's right, the only thing in Useless Loop is a salt mine.

We made it to Denham.

There is a lot of history in these parts. The first European to set foot on Australia, was Dutchman Dirk Hartog. He left the famous inscribed pewter plate nailed to a post, as evidence of his landing. Eighty years later another Dutchman, William de Vlamingh arrived, and realising the significance of his compatriots discovery, took the plate back to Holland, leaving another one in its place. The original is in the Rijks Museum in Holland. Many more Europeans arrived, many being shipwrecked along the coast. Names like William Dampier, Nicolas Baudin , Louis de Freycinet and Francois Peron, are names that many who were paying attention in the history class, will remember. The most westerly side of Shark Bay is bordered by Dirk Hartog Island, and the most westerly point of the mainland, Steep Point, is just off the island's southern tip. It is a remote and difficult place to get to, requiring permits and favourable 4WD conditions, not available on this journey. 

Carolyn hangs on
for dear life at Eagle Bluff.

High on the hill in Denham.

As we arrive in Denham, it is still very windy, and the air is full of the white dust that emanates from all the crushed shell road base used to cover everything. The caravan park is no exception. Not a blade of grass in sight. Actually, water is very scarce in this region. Our caravan park is the Denham Seaside Village, situated at the northern end of the small town, and tiered up the hillside, so most sites get a view, and a lot of wind. We almost spark an international incident, as two Germans were encamped on the site next to us, and parked partly across our site. They are none to happy when we asked them politely to re-position their little hired camper van. They mumbled about blocking their view and huffed off to the office to complain, about what I don't know, then returned and told us they were moving. Tell someone who cares Fritz!! We found the mornings were less windy, so walked along the beach, and headed out to some of the sights. Eagle Bluff has a wonderful walkway, and offers great views up and down the coast, and Shell Beach is one of the saltiest beaches in Australia. You can do your best JC impersonations here, and almost walk on the water! Little Lagoon on the edge of town, is a popular swimming place. It is a unique turquoise blue, and fringed in white sand. Very pretty spot. There isn't a lot to Denham itself. The water across from town is very inviting but very shallow, and they've had to dredge a channel into a small jetty and harbour for the few Crayfish and Fishing boats.The coffee scene was very ordinary.

Got to get the tyre pressure right.

The sandy track to Cape Peron.

High on the list of things to do around Denham, was a drive out to the Francois Peron National Park. This 4WD only track, takes you out to the tip of Cape Peron and Skipjack Point, through some very isolated and remote country. It is a sandy track, and definitely 4WD only. You need to drop the tyre pressure down when driving in soft sand, and the park provides all the tyre pressure gear, which is fantastic. The lower tyre pressure makes for a much more pliable tyre, and a bigger footprint. We drop ours to 20 pounds, and head off. We tracked across some desolate sandy country, full of Emus. From the sand, you would break out onto vast salt pans, with big warning signs to stay on the track as salt pans can be just a crust over thick, glue like mud! In this National Park, they have successfully reintroduced threatened species. The Bilby, and the Mallee Fowl have come back into the area, followed by an extensive program to remove feral cats and dogs. 

On the boardwalk at Skipjack Point.

The red cliffs of Shark Bay.

When we arrive at Skipjack Point, there is an excellent boardwalk that affords amazing views out over the crystal clear waters. There are pied cormorants in their thousands sitting along the beaches, and the water is so clear, you can easily pick out different types of sharks, stingrays, turtles both green and loggerhead, dolphins and large fish, all swimming around. It is a wonderful spectacle to see. The red and limestone cliffs that line the bay add to the colour of it all. We spent an age just staring at the sea watching the moving feast of marine creatures wandering around the waters of the bay.

Rescuing the German Tourists.

Ready set Go!!

On the way back home the action really picked up. As we came around a corner, we found a Pajero and a Mitsubishi Triton Ute, totally bogged and blocking the track. The Pajero was buried up to the axles, driven by two young German guys, who didn't have a clue what they were doing. In fact, they were driving in 2WD! The people in the Triton, who we had been talking to out at the lookout, had tried to drive around them, but got stuck in the soft sand at the edges of the track. Luckily, I carry a Snatch Strap, which is like a big, heavy, seat belt, 20 metres long. It is used to pull bogged vehicles out. You attach it to both vehicles, take up the slack, then both accelerate like crazy. It acts like a slingshot, pulling the bogged vehicle out. Thank God I did a course all those years ago! The plan was, I would pull out the Triton, then get around the back of the Pajero and pull him out backwards. I got the Triton out, but then as I

Beware of Bilby's

was trying to go around the Pajero, made the fatal mistake of backing off, and sunk into the same sand I'd just pulled the others out of!! So the roles were reversed, and this time I got pulled out by the Triton. The Germans just stood by dumbstruck! Next time around I got through, and we managed to get the Germans out as well. We explained as best we could about 4WD, and the fact that when the sand is soft you just have to floor it and not back off. They got about 50 metres!! So, out we go again and pulled them further up the track. The guys in the Triton raced back with my strap and yelled "quick lets get out of here, we could be here for weeks with these dumb buggers!" No wonder they lost the war!!!

You wouldn't believe it, but 5 kilometres up the track we came across another Pajero, this time towing a camper trailer, bogged in the middle of the track. We all piled out, but before we got started, some young guys arrived in highly modified Toyota 4WD's, and took over. They hooked the guy up, and dragged him up the road in seconds. Talk about know what you're doing, and having the right gear! It was a hell of a lot of fun out in Francois Peron NP.

Feeding a shark at Ocean Park.

The rescued turtle.

From the National Park, we headed out to Ocean Park, an aquarium that catches and tags the local marine species. It is a well run place and we did an amazingly informative tour run by one of the young marine biologists. They have heaps of different fish species, as well as sharks, and the deadly stone fish. What an ugly bugger he is. People usually tread on them walking around the reefs. They reckon the pain is so bad you just want to die. You usually die from cardiac arrest, not the venom! Yuk. The place has an excellent cafe as well, with a huge deck out over the bay, where we enjoyed a coffee, and watched the sharks swim by. We also had a real life emergency, with a couple arriving with a stressed green turtle they had found. Apparently green turtles go from herbivore to carnivore after a few of years. Some have difficulty making the transition, and this was one such guy.

Cheeky Emus all over the
Monkey Mia Caravan Park

There wasn't much else to do in Denham, so we packed

A cocktail bar at a caravan park?

up the caravan and moved across to nearby Monkey Mia, on the more protected eastern side of the peninsula. Monkey Mia is famous for its dolphin encounters, and we have heard so many varied reports on the place. We have heard everything from wonderful to terrible, but I have to say, our experience was wonderful. What a beautiful spot. Everything at Monkey Mia is either run by the Parks& Wildlife Service or by the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort. We paid extra for a beachfront caravan site, and it was just that. The waters are turquoise blue and a lot calmer than Denham. The resort has all sorts of accommodation from 4 Star to 3 Star, Backpackers and the caravan park. There is an excellent bistro called The Boughshed, as well as bars, a general store, and a tour office. In addition to your accommodation, you have to pay a nominal park entry fee to the Parks & Wildlife Office. Everyday, Parks & Wildlife run 3 interactive dolphin encounters & feedings of the dolphins. They start around 8.00am and are all over by 12.00 noon.

Shotover Eco Tour.

Sailing on Shark Bay.

Our first activity, happened straight away. We called at the tour office to see what was on, and got told there was a catamaran eco tour about to leave, and as the wind was picking up over the next couple of days, we should get on it. So, we held up the boat, got some hats and sunscreen, and were ready to set sail in 5 minutes! The crew were two young guys, and it was all very casual. Their slogan is "sail with a  bunch of animals!" We settled right in and headed out onto the bay. The objective is to see as many marine critters as possible. We motor along, no sail on this catamaran, and soon there is the cry of dugong. This is really exciting as we've never seen one of these amazing little guys. They look like a dolphin that crashed face first into a wall! They have a big flat snout, and are the only mammal herbivore on

Relaxing on board Shotover.

the planet. We actually see two of them, but forget about  a close up photo, as they only surface momentarily, and quickly disappear below the surface again. We got some real close looks though. Shark Bay is home to vast meadows of sea grass, hence the dogong's presence. There are around 12,000 of the estimated world population of 75,000 dugongs, here in Shark Bay. Each one eats around 50 kilograms of weed a day!! That's a lot of dugong poop!! Over the next 3 hours we find sharks, dolphins and a number of turtles. We even found another couple of dugongs, and then on the way back got close to a huge manta ray, with a wing span close to 3 metres. He was pretty shy, and the first one they'd seen in about 4 months! The crew got us back just in time for Happy Hour and $10.00 cocktails. The bar was humming, and our little Chinese Cocktail waiter was shaking his bootie in all directions!! It was a great day out, and we were so glad we went because next day it just blew like crazy, and our free sunset cruise was cancelled. Double Bugger!!

The dolphins at Monkey Mia.

They are so friendly.

Next morning we were up bright and early for our Dolphin encounter. We arrived at the beach with about 100 other people, with a very, very low tide. The ranger told us that this wasn't good for the dolphins, as they had to come around the long way, rather than across the beds of sea grass which were now fully exposed. To our delight, eight dolphins made the trek, mostly mums with calves, around 12 months old. we get to stand in the water as they swim around. They are beautiful, just lazing around, rolling on their backs and giving you the eye. The Japanese tourists were going crazy, and almost had to be restrained. There is no touching, and sunscreen has to be applied at least 20 minutes prior to entering the water, to avoid diseases and eye irritations.

Carolyn feeds Surprise.

The rangers make sure that the dolphins are relaxed and

The ranger relaxes the dolphins.

happy to be here, and then we are asked to move back onto the beach to allow the feeding to take place. Four volunteers carrying huge buckets, each containing 4 tiny fish, walk into the water and will pick at random, the lucky people who get to feed a dolphin. The rangers detail the way it works, emphasizing that waving arms and jumping and yelling, will not be tolerated, as it spooks the dolphins. The message is conveyed to the Japanese through their guide, and obviously lost something in the translation, as berserk led to frenzy! I told Carolyn to put on her best pleading, pick me, smiley face, while I elbowed the Japs out of the way! It worked a treat and Carolyn got to feed a dolphin called "Surprise". I was so happy for Carolyn, who just adores every creature big or small. Once the feeding is done, the dolphins slowly swim away. They and others will usually come back twice more during the morning, but the numbers drop off each time. It was a wonderful experience.

John's pork chops
on roasted veggies.

Carolyn's Salmon on
sweet potato mash.

For our last night we decided to get a bit dressed up and have a night out at The Boughshed. We started with margaritas at the bar, and then had a lovely table looking out over the bay. They had some special deals with a 2 course meal for $39.00. The food was excellent, and we had a really lovely night.We've really loved our time in the Shark Bay Region. The history, the natural beauty of the landscape, and the amazing wildlife, have made it a memorable stay. We will come back, at a less windy time, to visit more of this incredible place.