Day 4 - Saturday 7 July - Monkey Mia and Denham

Day 4

Saturday

7 July 2018

Hamelin Outback Station  - Monkey Mia – Denham

With the wind flapping the awning and the chiming wedgebill birds singing the new day, we were awake relatively early and figured we may as well get ourselves up and ready. Our plan was to check out Monkey Mia and Denham a further 130km up the road, so we knew we needed to be on the road at a reasonably early time. 

Just after 8.30am, we had the Getz packed and we were on our way. The roads were fairly quiet, so we could burn along quite freely without bothering anyone. There wasn’t much to the landscape. Plenty of samphire in the lowlands and salt bush on the rises. The sky was blue and we could see it was going to be another beautiful day, if not for the strong, cold desert wind blowing in. 

We stopped at a couple of lookouts along the way, Eagle Bluff being one. Here there was a boardwalk to wander offering views over the water between here and the most westerly spot, Steep Point and Dirk Hartog Island. I scoured the very clear water below for signs of life, but to no avail. 10% of the world’s dugong population live in this water, feeding on the sea grass. I want to see one, but fear without being on the water I won’t be so lucky. 

We skirted around the major tourist town of Denham to head out to Monkey Mia first, the place made famous by the visiting dolphin population. I had read that there are 3 feedings a day and they start as early at 7.30am and are usually done by 12noon. We arrived just after 10am. Paid the $12pp to enter the park and made our way to the info centre and out on to the boardwalk. It was then I read the board, all feeding had been completed by 9.40am. Boo! 

We walked the beach boardwalk that sits alongside the resort. Breakfast smells were wafting about making us a drool and plenty of people were in taking advantage of the picturesque spot, as they enjoyed a morning brew. 

Having seen the extent of the establishment we turned and followed our footsteps back along the wooden path. This time we walked out on the jetty, checking out the choppy waters. The breeze kicking in over the ocean was making us shiver and unfortunately dislodged my Wildcats members hat from my head. I watched it bounce on the jetty, attempted a futile chase, before it plunged into the water below. With the cool morning no one was about swimming and I was left to watch my hat bob about. Bugger, now what will I do to cover my windswept hair?

After the dismay at the loss of my hat, I went back to looking for dolphins. I number of pelicans were out on the water, which was churning and bubbling around them. It wasn’t long before dolphins were spotted and a crowd began building. We watched from the jetty before wandering to the gathering. Unfortunately, they weren’t particularly close to the shore, but it was still fun to sit and watch. 

Just as we thought it was all over, some more dolphins entered the scene and were happy to venture up and down the water’s edge, moving in closer and we could get a far better look at them. The pelicans weren’t so keen though, as they were stirring up the fish and preventing them from grabbing their belly full. 

With the show finally over, we made one more look over the jetty, checking to see if my hat had returned and then made our way back to the car to make the 30km journey to Denham. We passed little lagoon, a very round patch of water that appeared cut off from the ocean, but we soon found a channel that feeds into it. We stopped at a small lookout that gave a good view over the bobbing boats and the Denham town site before finally making our way into the main strip and parking. 

We walked along the waterfront, admiring the art and historical information outlining the European explorers as well as the pearling history. It was still quite cool and we were in need of warming, so we stopped at the bakery for a pastie and a hot chocolate. It was so hot I burnt my tongue. 

We resumed our walk along the heritage trail, checking out the hotel and church that are constructed from the shell blocks. We then dropped into the info and discovery centre. Part of it is a paid exhibit of the area and the sea life, while there is a free HMAS Sydney exhibit. We wandered around reading the boards about this ill fated encounter with the German Kormorant. The undersea footage of the wrecks was incredible, considering they lie 2500m below the surface, about 22 nautical miles from Steep Point and some 20km apart. 

After taking in some of the WW2 history, we returned outside to the sun, checking out the glass memorial set up for the Sydney and then crossed the road to walk the jetties and check out the clear waters. A quite distinct channel has been carved in the waters to allow boats to come in close to the shore. 

With our exploration done, we returned to the car to continue our way back towards home, though not straight away. Our first stop was Denham lookout a few km’s out of town. We parked at the top of the hill as the road looked slightly boggy, but after walking the road we realised we could have driven. 

At the end of the road was the beach and the ‘Thong Shack’. We did a look around the used flip flops and then walked along the beach before returning to the vehicle and our next stop, Ocean Beach Aquarium. We were hoping for a place to take in the view ad have lunch, but you had to enter the café to use the decking or visit the aquarium and at $25 each, we chose to return to the car and move on.

The next sign along the road said Whalebone, so Paul detoured onto the dirt road, stopping at the end. There were some people fishing, so we wandered past to see how they were fairing, before following the track back to the car. 

Our final stop was Goulet Bluff. This was as rough as guts to get into and soon softened out, so we back tracked and returned to the main road and ultimately home. We arrived just after 3, happy to take the afternoon easy. 

People came and went and soon the park was full again. We busied ourselves with not much, before going for a walk and checking out the old shearing shed, still full of much of the old equipment. 

As the sun began to set, I suggested a quick drive to the stromatolites, so we were back in the car and then checking out the sunset over the ancient animals and their rock creations. The wind was still and the water of Hamelin Pool was flat. The midgies were out and the swallows were dancing through the air catching the bugs for dinner. 

Once the sun had disappeared, we returned to the van for dinner. I spent some time going through the day’s photos before heading to bed to read my book.