Denham 24/5/15

Driving to the Shark Bay region today, basing ourselves at Denham. We have struck an early start to the tourist season, mostly caravans everywhere and most parks booked ahead. We are camped in the overflow section which is fine, out of the hum drum!! Mostly fishing here but good for those who like to scuba dive and snorkel. History lessons return- Dirk Hartog and William Dampier are prominent explorers of this region. Monkey Mia was the highlight of our stay - a short drive across to Peron Peninsula to be present for the dolphin feeding. They only come into shore at certain times of the day for feeding ranging from several to half a dozen Dolphins at a time. We had the opportunity to feed them on our visit, that was special. We spent some time at Shell Beach where tiny cockle shells collect and build up to 10 mts in depth over a long stretch of beach . In the past, these were quarried and used to build walls of buildings, some still standing. Hamelin Pool Stromatolites was very interesting. These age old organisms (oldest on the planet) are rocky looking lumps in shallow water and only grow at .3mm a year. Some exciting wildflowers in this area as well. I managed to spot some Sturt's Desert Pea growing wild as well as the beautiful gold Christmas grevillea. Once again, our bikes were very useful to leisurely take in the scenery. Black Pearls are prized in Shark Bay where the black lipped oyster shell is unique to these waters. Photo - Stromatlites Hamelin Pool