Spectacular coastline - around Peron Peninsula

30th June 2014

Today we visited the Ocean Park aquarium to find out more about the marine life in Shark Bay waters.  This included finding out the reason we have seen little life in the sea is because it is too cold.  The ocean is only about 15 degrees which means the fish and reptiles go and find a deep channel and hibernate.

Lion fish

The tour by marine biologists was very informative.  They have fish and reptiles [sea snakes only] from the bay in captivity so they can be seen close up.  There was everything from clown fish and their anemones to a 2.5 metre lemon shark that was so well fed it wasn't interested in the bait being offered. We also saw a metre long sea snake surface to breath which apparently they only do about once every 2 hours when sluggish.

Goulet Bluff

After this we visited and walked various bays and bluffs; it was another stunningly beautiful day.  Once again we were a bit disappointed to see the 4WD enthusiasts had been on a lot of the beaches and dunes which is quite damaging to the otherwise pristine environment.

Sandspit at Goulet Bluff

Shell beach is composed of tiny salt tolerant cockles which are the only creature to survive in the very saline bay.  The cockles live 4,000 to a square metre on the ocean floor and when they die the shells are washed up on the shore so the beach is composed entirely of tiny shells and is a brilliant white.  In some areas the shells are 9 metres deep.

Shell beach

Near to this beach is the aptly named Feral Fence, which stretches across the narrowest part of the peninsular and into the sea about 30 metres on each side.  The fence is sunk into the ground and has an electrified wire along the top.  The only place left for a determined feral animal to get through is at the road.  There is a cattle grid here which stops the goats and sheep but we wondered how the cats and foxes were put off.  This John found out when he walked over the cattle grid.  There is a movement sensor which sets off a recording of a barking dog and he nearly jumped out of his skin!  Any carnivores that do make it through, are subject to a baiting programme though it can't be 100% successful as we had seen a feral fox earlier in the day.

Feral Fence across Peron Peninsula

Little Lagoon - Denham

29th June 2014

Just outside of Denham is a beautiful body of water called Little Lagoon.  The lagoon is almost perfectly circular, shallow and connected to the sea by a narrow channel which flushes the water at high tide.  In summer it would be a lovely spot to swim.

Little Lagoon

We walked across the dunes to the lake, about halfway round and then back along the beach for part of the return journey.  The weather was beautiful, easily the warmest day so far in Shark Bay.

Little Lagoon channel

We were shocked to see that 4WD vehicles are permitted to drive all around the perimeter beach of the lagoon  churning up the sand.  Also, although there are a myriad of formed tracks over the dunes, many drivers think it is more fun to drive over the fragile dunes and plants off the tracks causing considerable damage.  Considering this is a World Heritage listed area we are so disappointed to see such lack of controls which will lead to degradation of the natural beauty.

Tyre tracks spoiling the beauty

Ancient life forms - Hamelin Pool

28th June 2014

Hamelin pool is a huge shallow bay which is bordered on the seaward side by Faure Island and sandbanks.  The sandbanks have been formed by the seagrass growing in shallow water trapping sand and sediments.  This does not allow much water to flow into the pool on the high tide, yet the shallow water evaporates quickly.  The result  is water which has double the salinity of normal seawater making it quite hostile to a lot of life.

Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool

This has allowed stromatolites to flourish in the shallow warm water much as they would have done 3.5 million years ago when they were the only life form on the planet.  Stromatolites are formed by a colony of different microbes working together and they look like rocks.  However the surface is alive and growing.  These particular examples are about 4,000 years old.   The other organism to do well here is a small cockle which flourishes in the high saline environment.

The cockle shells have built up over thousands of years to a depth of about 10 metres on the shore.  Rain washing through the shells has dissolved some of the limestone and effectively cemented them together.  In the absence of other materials, the early settlers cut blocks from these cemented shells to use for buildings.  There are still some examples around.

Shell quarry

Building made from shell blocks

The land adjacent to Hamelin pool is where the telegraph station for the Perth to Roebourne line was built in 1884.  In 1950 it was superseded by a telephone line though the morse code link came in handy in 1964 when the phone link was disrupted by a lightning strike during the Gemini space capsule take off which was being tracked across Australia via the Carnarvon Tracking Station.  The information was relayed in morse code instead.

Hamelin Pool telegraph station

The area containing the old telegraph station is now a caravan park /museum /cafe that seems to be lost in a time warp. We declined the opportunity to pay to view the captive stromatolite they have on display!

The eagles have put the old telegraph poles to good use

Hot water in the desert - Francois Peron NP

27th June 2014

This morning was bright and sunny so we visited the dolphins at Monkey Mia again to see them in the sparkling sunshine.  This time John got to feed a fish to Nicky.

John gives the dolphin a fish

After this we visited Francois Peron National Park which covers the top half of the Peron Peninsula.  From the early 20th century until 1990 the area was a sheep station.  The old buildings have been left in place so it is possible to visualise it as a working farm.  In the 1920's a bore was sunk several hundred metres to the artesian basin for water supply.  The bore flow has been reduced now but enough is drawn to fill a hot tub!  The water flows at a constant 40 degrees.

Peron Station

Enjoying the hot water

We returned to our caravan for a chat with David, Joel and Nathan; Nicole was sick unfortunately.  This week Nathan chatted for about 20 minutes non stop, mostly about football!

Dolphin interaction - Monkey Mia

26th June 2014

Another big experience today which I had been looking forward to for a long time.

The distance between Denham and Monkey Mia is 29kms so we set off early as I had been advised the most likely time to see dolphins is early in the morning.  There was rain last night and it continued to shower on and off all morning, however this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd who turned out to see the dolphins for the first 'ínteraction'of the day.

A nervous young fellow at the 1st session

The dolphins [all of whom are female, some with juveniles] have been visiting the bay and interacting with humans since the 1960's.  However it is only in the last 20 years that it has been understood how damaging this can be for wild animals, particularly the suckling young.  Now very strict controls are in place governing which individual dolphins are given fish, how much, and how long the interaction takes place.  The dolphins may visit up to 3 times between 8:00 and 12:00 noon.  If they visit in the afternoon they are ignored to prevent them becoming dependent on handouts.  An adult female eats about 15kgs of fish a day, but only about 500g of this is provided by the marine conservationists studying them.

Nicky

There is core visiting group of about 5 females with their calves and as this is a behaviour they teach to their young, some of them are the daughters of others.  Up to 3 generations are present.  The oldest dolphin currently visiting is Nicky, so named because of the nick in her dorsal fin.  She's 37 years old and dolphins are thought to live between 40 and 45 years if they manage to survive shark attack that long.

We attended the 1st and the 3rd visit and were very lucky as 11 dolphins turned up the first time and 9 the second.  I got to feed one of them but as I was the first person selected John did not have time to get the camera ready until after the dolphin had taken the fish!

Me just after giving the fish to the dolphin

Is anyone interested, as I was, how Monkey Mia got it's name?  The Asian pearl divers who operated in the area a hundred or so years ago were known as 'monkeys' and mia is the local indigenous word for hut.  So, divers huts.

Some other residents of the bay

Where the desert meets the sea - Carnarvon to Denham

25th June 2014

I think large parts of the west coast should be renamed 'null arbor' as we saw fewer trees today than on the Nullarbor.  The mostly flat desert, broken up here and there with sand dunes sweeps all the way down to the sea where there is an abrupt change from red sand dunes to white.

View to Shark Bay across the desert

Getting to Denham is a long drive down the mainland coast then across the end of Shark Bay and up the other side.  The weather was glorious - no wind and brilliant sunshine.








We settled into an enormous caravan park which is right next to the bay behind some dunes so it was a quick climb up to see yet another beautiful sunset this evening.

Jetty on Shark Bay

Prior to that we had a wander around town and started to plan what we want to do whilst here.

Beach adjacent to the caravan park

The entire shark bay area, land and sea is World Heritage listed so there is plenty of wildlife.  The land animals have been given a boost recently by the construction of a fence across the isthmus leading onto the Peron Peninsula.  Known as Project Eden, the fence keeps out feral animals and the ones already on the peninsula have been selectively poisoned.  This has been done using an Australian plant toxin to which native wildlife are tolerant.  Having cleared the feral animals some rare and endangered mammals lost to the region have been re-introduced.

Blowholes at Point Quobba

24th June 2014

We travelled back up the coast to visit Point Quobba, a remote outpost where the ocean pounds through sea caves to produce spectacular sprays of water.  The coast here is treacherous, despite being inside the Ningaloo reef and many people have lost their lives to sudden king waves and surges.

Blowholes at Point Quobba

Treacherous seas at Point Quobba

By contrast just to the south of this is a delightful natural aquarium with calm water, coral and tropical fish.  The pool is bounded by a rocky island and a small reef making it a safe and tranquil place to swim.

Sheltered mini lagoon at Point Quobba

Behind the beach the sand dunes are windswept and desolate, we walked across the dunes to the light house which is set a good kilometre inland.

Point Quobba lighthouse

Along the back of the beach an odd little campground exists - I think people arrive here with vans and camp for months at a time.  Some people have erected more permanent tin structures so there seems to be quite a community.

Informal beach shack community

Back in Carnarvon we treated ourselves to lovely fresh fish and chips at a little cafe on the fishing harbour. The cafe overlooks the fascine channel and we watched the sunset over the sand island.




Good news today, the insurance company via our broker Ken Tame & Associates has re-imbursed the cost of the windscreen replacement less the $100 excess which we were expecting to pay.  This was excellent service and we are so pleased we insured with Ken via our CMCA [Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia] membership.

Going South - Coral Bay to Carnarvon

23rd June 2014

Carnarvon is a pleasant green oasis after seeing so much desert.  The source of all the water is the Gascoyne river, the 2nd longest in WA.  Despite this the river bed is dry but the water is only just under the surface, common in rivers in these parts.  Extensive irrigation has been set up in the region and an abundance of fruit and vegetables is grown to supply Perth.  One of the major crops is bananas which are quite different to the ones on the east coast;  they are small and sweet.

I had a great time stocking up on fresh produce from the farm gates, we have only seen really tired looking 'fresh' produce for many weeks.  I bought the most enormous avocados ever and a type of papaya I have not seen before along with citrus fruits, squash, tomatoes, beans and broccoli.  Plus some lovely fresh rocket.  We will be eating well for the next week or so.

Jetty from the water tower

In the afternoon we parked on the foreshore, which is actually the estuary of the Gascoyne river and all sand flats.  The edge of the ocean is about 3 kms away when at low tide as it was this afternoon.  In 1897 a mile long jetty was built from the edge of the outermost sand island in order to reach water deep enough to moor ships.  Livestock [and wool] from the Gascoyne area were kept in holding pens on the sand island then driven along the jetty onto ships to be taken to Perth.  The jetty was soon fitted with a tram track and the tram track extended a further 3 kms across the sand islands to the edge of the settlement.  At this point it was used not only to transport sheep and cattle, but also passengers and incoming goods from ships moored at the end of the jetty,

Sand island section of the walk with old tram stop in background

View toward shore from the end of the jetty

We walked the entire length of the system and back again. The tram tracks are in the process of being restored and a tourist train runs along the jetty.  We were quite shocked at the dilapidated condition of the jetty as many of the original jarrah timbers have not been replaced.  Not only were there broken planks and rotting piles, but also no fencing and no lifebuoys in the event of someone falling into the ocean.  I guess it is all down to insufficient funding to make a proper restoration.










Before we set off we parked our car [still covered in red dust] under some palm trees which seem to be a favourite spot for hundreds of corellas.  They used our car for target practice!

Corellas by the hundreds

Rainy day in Coral Bay

22nd June 2014

Lots of rain during the night and the rain continued in squalls all day until about 4:00pm when it started to clear.  This led to a little cabin fever on my part cooped up in the caravan all day.  John was happy as it gave him time to spend all day programming his software.

I went for a walk along the beach around dusk and the clarity in the very still shallow water at low tide was incredible.  I saw lots of rays, 2 different species in water about 20cm deep and only about 2 metres off the shore.

Coral Bay on the shortest day of the year

21st June 2014

We went on a snorkelling trip today on the lagoon.  Just a small group of 7 people on a sailing catamaran.  Lovely boat but not much wind so we didn't manage much under sail. This was good for the snorkelling though as the surface was very calm and good light penetration.

Relaxing after the snorkels

We had two really good swims and saw lots of corals, fish and turtles.

John relaxing back at the caravan [sleeping really]

In the late afternoon we had a lovely phone catch up with Simone, Rob and Amelie. Katherine [20 months] contributed quite a bit to the conversation but not much of it was in English.

Coral Bay

20th June 2014

Another lazy day, got up late and did nothing much all day!  We swam out over the coral from the beach, there is sandbank then a big drop off so getting to the coral is very easy.

Pink limestone cliffs at Coral Bay

Then to finish the day another beautiful sunset.

Sunset over Coral Bay

Clean up day - Coral Bay

19th June 2014

Coral Bay is a very laid back place, nothing to do except sit on the lovely beach, snorkel over the coral which is very close into shore and generally do nothing.  The water is quite warm and the daytime air temperature reaches 23 - 26 degrees.  There is virtually no wind here, which is good.

Laid back beach life

So now the car is fixed, the morning seemed like a good time to give the interior of the car a thorough clean as the red dust had been accumulating in every corner and over everything.  Driving hundreds of kilometres with no back windscreen only made it worse.  So we both got stuck in with buckets of water and the little battery operated vacuum cleaner John bought before we left, which I have to say has come in very handy, particularly when we were trying to lift the shards of glass straight after the breakage.  Cleaning the outside of the car is a different story; we should be able to do it when we reach Carnarvon.

Eliminating the red dust

In the afternoon we went to the beach for a swim followed by a swim in the pool, which is very warm as I think the caravan park uses the bore water to fill it.

Car fixed - Cape Range NP to Coral Bay

18th June 2014

Heavy rain occurred during our last night in the park but we managed to pack up and leave by 7:20am for the drive to Exmouth.  The panel beater wanted the car by 9:00 and promised to have it ready between 1:00 and 2:00pm.

Our first stop in Exmouth was at the visitor centre to fill up the water tanks.  We knew that Coral Bay is on artesian water which is hot and salty, not the kind of thing you want to run through the caravan plumbing.  Desalinated drinking water is available for drinking, but very expensive for general use.

After filling up the tanks in the rain we parked the caravan outside the local shopping centre and unhitched.  John took the car in whilst I tackled the mountain of washing in the launderette.  Rainy days in Exmouth must be washing day for campers as the place became quite crowded after a while.  Next chore was grocery shopping to stock up for the next week or so, Coral Bay is a tiny place.  Then John and I tackled the rather grubby interior of the van and had it all spick and span in no time.  By this stage the rain was starting to clear and we treated ourselves to lunch in a cafe.

The car was ready at 1:00 so John went and picked it up [Exmouth is a very small place so easy walking distance] and we were soon on the way for the relatively short drive to Coral Bay arriving at about 3:45.  Here the weather was warm and sunny.  We set up the van and enjoyed the novelty of a powered site; no more watching how the batteries are faring and hoping there is enough sun on the solar panel to top them up!  We enjoyed a quick catch up on the phone with Nicole, David and a very taciturn Nathan.

Look, we have a  rear window!

Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Reef - 7 nights

11th - 17th June 2014

We had 7 great days in the National Park.  Due to the crazy booking system we spent the first 3 nights at Kurrajong campsite in the south of the park, followed by 4 nights at Mesa campsite in the north.

Kurrajong was immediately behind the sand dunes opening onto a beautiful stretch of beach.  The camp sites in this area are very widely spaced so there is a great sense of privacy.  As the park is very arid there are no trees so it was windswept, especially the first night.  Although the rain had cleared by the time we entered the park the winds kept up for several more days.  The awning over the slide out on the van was flapping alarmingly at 3:00 in the morning the first night so we came up with an anti-flap fix for the subsequent nights.

Anti flap device improvised from brooms and rope

Whilst at Kurrajong we enjoyed some wonderful sunsets over the lagoon and as it was a full moon on the 13th we had a lovely moonlit night, so bright there was a moon shadow.  Next morning I got up at 5:00 and walked to the beach to see the full moon hanging over the ocean.  Beautiful.

Sunset at Kurrajong Beach

Full moon at Kurrajong Beach

We went for long beach walks, but it was a bit cool for swimming in the early part of the week, though John went for a quick swim.

Kurrajong Beach

Kurrajong Beach, reef is close here

Gorge visits
There are two gorges on the western side of the range and both are inhabited by the rare black footed rock wallaby.  They are beautiful animals with long bushy tails.  The wallabies live in the limestone cliffs of the gorge, which are full of caves and crevices, and they eat the sparse vegetation growing on the cliffs.  The wallabies are very agile and able to leap up to 3 metres, even though they are only the size of a small dog.

Black footed rock wallaby

One of the gorges, Mandu Mandu had a dry bed which we walked along.  The torrents of water which destroyed so much of the park during the recent cyclone tore down this creek bed ripping out river red gums.  However, those that had manged to keep a few roots in the stones were already regenerating with new growth from the fallen trunks.

Mandu Mandu gorge with now dry creek bed

Yardie gorge is flooded with sea water and not often open to the sea, however the cyclone has opened the sand bar for the first time in 3 years which alters the ecology, a natural event though.  On Yardie we went on an informative boat trip run by the Dept of Conservation.  There are osprey nests on the high cliffs, but unfortunately the birds were out fishing when we were there.

Yardie gorge

Mesa campsite was quite different.  The campsite is smaller and the sites are close together.  There are conifer trees around the camping area from the days when oil exploration was going on in the area; they must have been planted for wind breaks and to provide shade.  Now there is contention within the Dept of Conservation on whether they should be removed or not.  The campers like them but they are not native to the area or even to Australia.

Mesa camp

Mixed flocks of corellas and galahs

Our camp here was on a creek inlet, though no fresh water is present.  Once again the beaches were glorious.

Beach at Mesa

The wind improved enough to produce a day towards the end of the week when it was warm enough to go snorkelling.  This we did at Turquoise bay which is very pretty.  The coral is within 40 metres of the shore at low tide but is not that spectacular.

Sunset on last evening at Mesa

Two days before we left we did the whale shark swim.  This was the big highlight and the main reason to go to Ningaloo.  It was a full day trip and due to the temperature in the lagoon, which was only 20 degrees, the educational snorkel took place outside the reef where the water was 26 degrees.

Ready for the whale sharks!

The company uses spotter planes to find the sharks and soon we were in an area with lots.  The participants are divided into 2 teams and we each got 4 dives into the water with individual sharks.  The largest I saw was about 8 metres in length and really close!  This was a wonderful experience.  During the trip we also saw turtles, indo-pacific dolphins, dugongs, huge manta rays, reef sharks and a very playful humpback whale,  He wanted to interact and dived under the boat a couple of times and came up right alongside.

Magnificent whaleshark

Tour group after the fantastic day on the reef

After the boat trip on Monday we drove out of the park and up to the lighthouse, which is the nearest place a telstra signal can be obtained.  John called the panel beater and found the rear windscreen had arrived that day so we booked in for the repair on Wednesday.