Sunday 23rd September 2018 - We left early this morning for Denham the gateway to Francois Peron National Park and Monkey Mia.

We had a short stop at the Wooramel Roadhouse to buy some pies and pasties as we had read that they were very good. Well they looked good but as it was only 8am in the morning it was too early to comment on.

Back on the road we saw a wild goat grazing beside the road - that's a first! Oh! actually there were lots of them…

The landscape was flat & heath like in its appearance, scattered with lots of wild flowers in red, lavender, pink and yellow and the earth has turned a light/dark coral pink in colour.

We arrived in Denham and set up camp overlooking a lovely bay before venturing into the small seaside town. Visited the Discovery Centre, looked around the shops before taking a drive to Eagle Bluff. We walked along the boardwalk where we looked out across Shark Bay and saw very large Sting rays and a lone Green Turtle taking a leisurely swim together with lots of Gannets sitting amongst the rocks on two small rocky islands.

Drove back to town and stopped to walk out on the pier where we saw a Dugong (a sea cow/medium sized mammal, that is distinguished from a manatee by its forked tail) feeding amongst the sea grass and small rays swimming and jumping out of the clear water.

Monday 24th September 2018 - An early start today as we prepared to spend the day in the Francois Peron National Park. We stopped at the entrance to the Peron Heritage Precinct to reduce our tyre pressures. We drove off along a very soft sandy track where the deep sand covering the underlying corrugations can only be described as if we were on the high seas riding the waves.

We visited the following locations within the National Park:

Herald Bight where the long crescent beach was the site of a fish canning factory established in 1933, it was then converted to a freezer before it was eventually removed and relocated in Denham. We took a walk along the beach.

Cape Peron was striking as we walked around this small cove where the deep red coloured cliffs dropped on to a white beach before running into the clear turquoise ocean. We stood for a while soaking up the glorious scene before continuing to the top of the deep red dunes where we could see hundreds of Cormorants lined up along the shoreline.

From out vantage point we could see a Pelican drifting with the current and a small school of dolphins playing by the beach.

The track back to the Cape was covered in beautiful pink and white flowers that appeared to glitter in the sun.

Skipjack Point had a board walk that led to a lookout across shallow water below where we saw another Dugong swimming across the bay.

Bottle Bay was where we had lunch on the beach watching the waves roll along the shore of white sea shells.

Gregories was a small secluded bay with a strip of rocky outcrops that led into the clear water where Sting rays were swimming.

Having decided after a full day to make out way back to camp we drove along the soft sandy track that at one point led us back across a vast Clay Pan that was firmer to ride over. Here the vegetation changed from densely populated shrubs and flowering plants home to many animals and birds to smaller scattered plants silver, red and purple in colour growing low to the ground with salt covering the surface that appeared to glisten in the sun.

Kraskoes Tank, a Heritage site of a small water tank in memory of Mr Krasker who was a one-legged entrepreneur who rode his horse from Denham to Herald Bight every week to buy pearls & collect mail. In 1916 he perished trying to reach the water tank after falling of his horse & breaking his remaining good leg.

Peron Heritage Precinct was where we stopped again but to reinflate our tyres before we wandered around the precinct that gave an insight of what it was like to live during the pastoral era. Then we made our way back to camp and on the way two Emus ran out of the bush and ran across the road in front of us - safely. We have also seen today a few Gould's Goannas that have quickly ran across the sandy track for cover amongst the bushes that lined the track.

Back to camp for dinner and to baton down the hatches as a windy night has been forecast.

Tuesday 25th September 2018 - Today we were up very early so that we can view the Bottlenose Dolphins who regularly swim to Monkey Mia that in 1990 was established as a marine reserve to protect them.

On arrival we walked along this beautiful beach waiting for the dolphins to appear and apparently, so too were three large Pelicans who often accompany the dolphins when they find a shoal of fish.

We didn't have to wait long before four dolphins swam towards the beach and when a couple of marine guides walked up and down the shoreline the dolphins swam back and forth chasing fish providing us with a great display and a photo opportunity.

After the dolphins swam back out to sea we wandered around the sandy bay taking in the lovely sight of clear shallow water rippling over a wide sandbank before reaching the deep blue sea before we left Monkey Mia.

We drove back into the Francois Peron NP so that we could have lunch overlooking the picturesque turquoise Big Lagoon.Deflated and reflated our tyres and drove again on the soft sandy track and this time we saw Gidgee Skinks that slowly moved across the track.

On the way back into Denham we stopped off at Little Lagoon a small version of Big Lagoon. We drove back to camp for a flask and our books so that we could return to spend the afternoon parked on the beach.

Then back to camp for dinner and another windy night. Tomorrow we head for Hamelin Pool.