We continue to head south, albeit somewhat reluctantly, but so far the days are still quite pleasant with it only getting cool in the evenings. We are tonight in Kalbarri again after having arrived yesterday. Prior to this we spent a couple of nights in Denham, close to Monkey Mia and in the Shark Bay region where there was so much to see and do it would be easy to spend a week or more if time allowed.
The Dolphins at Monkey Mia were beautiful and we all learned a lot about the way these Dolphins breed and interact with the boys deciding that male Dolphins are in fact bullies!
Peron homestead presented a great insight into how tough it was for farmers in the early days and we were slightly flabbergasted that they persevered with sheep farming for so long given the landscape and challenges that the region presents. The shearing shed & sharers quarters look as though they were simply vacated after a season and never used again! I managed to nearly step on a snake (albeit a little one) whilst we were exploring and it certainly woke me up a bit and got the heart pumping!
The homesteads original artesian bore spa is still in situ and offers a beautiful warm spa / pool for picnics and visitors. As the homestead is now also part of the Fracois Peron National Park there is also a wealth of interpretive and historical signage available including displays that show stuffed versions of both native and feral animals.
Outside of Monkey Mia and the National Park was Denham - really lovely quaint seaside township which despite the tourists has yet to be totally commercialised and still offers a traditional feel - similar to what I remember Torquay being like when I was little. Whilst Anthony and the boys fished, catching numerous blower fish Uncle Ron and I had the chance to speak with a skipper on a WA Department Environment Boat who was doing some maintenance at Denham jetty and we learnt a great deal more about the works that have been done out at Dirk Hartog Island to virtually eradicate all feral animals (goats and cats) and the plans for rehabilitating the island and encouraging the sustainability of same for the re introduction of native species.
I really liked Denham - we stayed at the Denham Tourist Village and although we were on an unpowered site in the overflow section the general consensus was that it was one of the more secluded and peaceful places we have stayed in.
From Denham and enroute to Kalbarri we called in at Shell Beach and the Stromatolites - it has been a continuous eye opener as to the amazing, naturally occurring wonders down this side of Australia!
Shell Beach is entirely made up of Shells, no sand and the waters in this and the Stromatilite area is incredibly saline, more so that normal sea water and it is this factor that has contributed to these wonderful naturally occurring phenomenas. I won't go into the details as I'm sure those interested either already know or will google for more info.
What I will say is that such is the composition of the shells that in the past shell blocks were cut with cross saws from shell quarries and used to build a variety of buildings - these days the shell quarry still exists but blocks are only cut to replace or maintain buildings that were built in this manner.

This morning we ventured out to Kalbarri National Park and checked out 'Natures Window' (this is where the picture for this post was taken by Wil) and we also descended down the rock face at Z Bend to check out the gorge. It was a bit of a challenging climb but totally worth it to once again marvel at what WA has to offer... Given my new found fascination with rocks and the layers, patterns, colours and imperfections I'm thinking perhaps I should have been a Geologist! Aldo of great interest has been the wide variety of different plants and the flowers!!!!!
I will try to upload some more photos shortly although time keeps slipping away that I'm thinking most of my uploads will have to wait til we are back hm with high speed internet connection.

I am sitting on the pier at Kalbarri where the might Murchison River flows out to see whilst typing this update and once again Anthony & the boys are fishing..... I enjoy fishing about as much as I enjoy golf, but that being said I enjoy the quiet of it as they wait for that next bite; all of them still intent on catching a bigger fish than the one I caught near Exmouth- lol good luck boys, my Rankin Cod may have been ugly but it was BIG (60cm) and it tasted GOOD! - I've decided to quit whilst I'm ahead.
Love to all xx
H