gohavealook: WE'RE IN DENHAM IN THE SHARK BAY WORLD HERITAGE AREA

SUNDAY 28TH JULY - We left Kalbarri at 10am and drove to our next destination Nerren Nerren Rest Area, 167kilometres north where we were staying overnight. It was a beautiful day and we arrived at Nerren Nerren before midday. It was a really big area and lots of people had pulled in for a lunch break. We were the second overnight van to arrive there. It didn’t take long for a steady stream of vans and campervans to arrive. By mid-afternoon the area was very crowded as it’s a well known and popular stopover spot. The temperature dropped considerably by 4pm so we scouted around the grounds to find wood for a camp fire. There were lots of concrete fire pits around the place and big round metal pits with metal plates across the tops for cooking on. We soon had a welcoming roaring camp fire going and people came flocking around to share the warmth with a beer and a yarn or two.

MONDAY 29TH JULY - We left Nerren Nerren at 9.30 for our next destination Denham in The Shark Bay World Heritage Area – 3 hours and 208 kilometres further north. There wasn’t a great deal to see on the journey, except a continual landscape of red dust and shrubs on either side. There is such a vast amount of open land in-between destinations in Western Australia. We did see wild goats close to the road a couple of times and had to wait for another few to walk across the road (in their own time of course) further along. We continued driving further along The Shark Bay World Heritage Drive a 150 kilometre link road from the North West Coastal Highway.

We stopped off at Hamelin Pools to see The Stromatolites, flat rock like fossils, amongst the oldest in the World. They grow in Shark Bay as the sea water there is twice as saline as other sea waters. There was a 200 metre board walk to walk above the colonies of micro-organisms. Dogs weren’t’ allowed there, so we had to leave Sally in the van.

We then drove to Shell Beach, aptly named from the millions of small white compacted coquina shells that have accumulated there over time. In some parts they are estimated to be 10 metres deep. The beach stretched for 120 kilometres and had calm turquoise waters. It was very shallow and people walked out quite far and were only calf deep in the water. There were uneven ripples of shells all over the beach area. A sign asked us not to remove any shells from the beach to “take only photographs and leave only footprints”. Dogs were allowed in the car park on a leash but not on the actual beach. Once again, we had to put Sally in the caravan whilst we went for a walk along the beach. Compacted shells were once quarried for building blocks, an example of this can be seen at The Old Pearler Restaurant in Denham.

We eventually arrived at Denham Seaside Tourist Village – the most westerly caravan park in Australia and the only one with beach access. We had barely arrived and were just starting to set up when we were surrounded by some of the men in the caravan park with problems with their satellite dishes - no problem, Richard to the rescue with his trusty “guaranteed” satellite locator box. A good half an hour later, after much discussions between the men, Richard returned to our van loaded up with cold beer cans and a big grin on his face – 2 more happy customers – only another 21 to go for his “free slab”. Honestly, we should get a commission for the amount of times we’ve been asked where we bought our set up from and given them the company name and address in Perth. Our next door neighbour was furious as only the day before he’d had to get the local satellite service in from town to his van as he couldn’t get his satellite dish set up properly and it had cost him $50 (which, at the time, he thought was a bargain). He was seeing red when Richard said he’d have done it for a can of beer and that the locator box was $150 to buy. They’re all now ordering the locator box on line. Enough excitement for one day and we did eventually get fully set up and went for a walk around the town. It was a very pretty place - a small fishing township with a population of 700 and 830 kilometres north from Perth. It was named by Captain Henry Mangles Denham who charted the area in 1858 in his ship the HMS Herald.

Denham began as a pearling settlement in the 1850’s with a rush akin to the gold rush and peaked in the 1870’s. It was hard work but a good harvest could reap the equivalent of $400,000 in today’s currency.

The foreshore at Denham was quite tropical with grass and palm trees along the seafront. There were covered fish cleaning sinks by the jetty. Lots of fishing charters and tourist boats operated from the jetty. It was in a big circular bay with very shallow, calm water. The sand and water were covered with shells and rocks. There were lots of new resorts and holiday apartments by the water. There was a very small IGA and a local supermarket in town, a few cafes and 2 restaurants and a pub. There was a very comfortable, casual feel to the place.

The caravan park was very friendly with good sized parking bays with a large overflow area at the top. It was busy all the time and pretty much as soon as one van pulled out it wouldn’t be too long until another came in its place. We were lucky to get booked in for a week as we met people wanting to stay longer but the park was booked out. It was an easy walk to the beach or the town.

TUESDAY 30TH JULY - We got up early to drive out to Monkey Mia for the early morning dolphin feeding session. It took 20 minutes from Denham to get there. We were both quite excited and eager to see the dolphins up close and personal. There was a fee of $8 per person to go into the Reserve. There was a big crowd already by the water and on the jetty when we got there and the dolphins had just starting to come in close. We were allowed to take Sally with us, but she had to be on a lead at all times and couldn’t get really close to the water when the dolphins were in. We stood at the end of the jetty for a long time as there was a big pod of dolphins jumping up and down and chasing fish and being very interactive with each other. They were fascinating to watch and I was totally mesmerised by these beautiful creatures. I could have stayed there all day watching them. We also saw a cheeky lone turtle popping its head up right beside the jetty, vying for some of the attention. It seemed as though there were dolphins everywhere, right in close to the beach, beside the jetty and at the end of the jetty. It was hard to know where to look, yet we wanted to look everywhere at once. Some of the females had their calves with them. These bottlenose dolphins have been visiting Shark Bay for the past 40 years and are all from three families, spanning the past three generations. They are fed at random about 3 times a day. Each session lasts about 45 minutes. When the early morning session finished, we had a wander around the area. There were a few resorts and apartments by the water and a small caravan park (which is over $50 a night). There were also scenic flights, boat trips and camel rides further along the beach. It was a pretty place, but highly commercialised and filled with lots of tourists from all over the World. We went back for the second session at 9.30 and were surprised to find a much smaller crowd on the beach waiting for the arrival of the dolphins. Soon enough, the dolphins came into view and, once again, we were enchanted by their presence. They seemed to enjoy showing off and the interaction as much as we did. I went down to the beachfront and was lucky enough to be chosen to feed a fish to one dolphin. I was in seventh heaven as I absolutely adore dolphins. There was a variety of different fishes in the feeding bucket. I was given a yellow tail. My dolphin didn’t like his yellow tail and turned his nose up at it, dropping it in the water. The Reserve helper retrieved it from the water and handed it back to me to try again. The dolphin still wasn’t interested, but hung around in case there was anything else that he did fancy coming up. The helper told me they can get yellow tail in abundance further out to sea so that was why my dolphin wasn’t enthusiastically taking my fish. I didn’t mind as it meant I could stay in the water longer than the others looking at “my dolphin”. I felt very privileged to be chosen from the crowd and walked around with a very cheesy grin for the rest of the day. All too soon the dolphins left and my dolphin experience was over. I was very sad leaving but had thoroughly enjoyed seeing them.

We got back onto the main road and shortly afterwards saw the funniest thing ever. A 4WD car was on the opposite side of the road towing a box trailer with wire caged sides and 3 HUGE CAMELS were peering out over the top. We just cracked up. They were obviously going further up the beach to where the camel rides were operating, but it’s not a sight you expect to see. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to get the camera out and take a shot. I would have loved a photo to show you.

Shark Bay was discovered on 25^th October 1616 by the Dutch Captain Dirk Hartog. He was the first European to set foot on Western Australian soil. In 1699, William Dampier arrived and was the first English Captain to explore the Western Australian coast.

We drove to Eagle Bluff and walked along the new 200 metre boardwalk overlooking a crystal clear ocean of aqua and deep blue, where you can sometimes see dugongs, whales and turtles (none were visible when we were there). Ospreys live there and we saw lots of them on the tiny island further out to sea. We drove further along the coast to Fowlers Camp, Whalebone and Goulet Bluff, all beautiful scenic spots by the ocean where you can camp overnight for $10. You must buy a permit from the Tourist Information Centre. Heavy fines apply if you’re caught without one.

To finish off a perfect day we visited Shark Bay Ocean Marine Park – an eco- friendly and interactive aquarium, with over 320 species on display. We followed the continual hour long tour and saw tanks of rare and endangered species of stone fish, rays, sea snakes, turtles and sharks – the nervous and lemon varieties being 2 of the 3 varieties that can withstand the cold temperatures of the water at Shark Bay. We also saw lion fish, clown fish, eels and rock eels (very hard to see hidden behind a rock), squid and Bob the 5 year old turtle that only had one fin. He currently weighs in at 20 kilos from constant feeding sessions that he never refuses. They are hoping to release him back into the wild soon. It was a very interesting and informative tour and cost $20 each. There was a café and balcony overlooking the ocean. They were dog friendly there, surprisingly, so we could take Sally inside for the tour and also outside at the café.