OK it has been a bit slow coming but here is the next installment.
Tuesday morning we left Carnarvon for Denham and Monkey Mia. About 90km before Denham we stopped at Hamelin Pool to have a look at the Stromatolites. These are extremely slow growing microorganisms that build rocklike structures. The Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool grow 30mm every 100 years and are thought to be one of the oldest surviving organisms on earth. As Stromatolites grow they release oxygen into the atmosphere. We could easily see the tracks left by wool wagons through the Stromatolites created 60 years ago and will probably still be visible in another 60 years.
Sixty year old Wagon tracks through the Stromatolites
With it now being low season we hadn't come across many caravan parks that offer good deals to entice us to stay with them. Even where there were multiple parks in a town the parks didn't seem to compete. The Denham Seaside Tourist Village gave us the best deal so far in WA where the parks are generally expensive. If we stayed three nights they would give us a site with private bathroom for $45/night normally $80 for a family of five. Sold.
Wednesday morning we had an early start to get to Monkey Mia Resort about 30km away. The dolphins come into Monkey Mia up to three times a day to get a little bit of fresh fish. Wednesday morning was a very low tide so the dolphins weren't going to come in early. While we waited for the dolphins to show up we had a buffet breakfast at the resort (thanks to the occupants of room 35). Just when we were finishing our BIG breakfast the dolphins decided to come in.
Down at the waters edge after having the rules explained to us we were invited into the water, only calf deep. While the staff gabbed on about the dolphins and who was who the dolphins swam around looking like they were becoming more impatient as the minutes ticked by. The dolphins even nudged and bumped the staff as if to say 'get a move on would ya, I want my morning tea'. Eventually we were asked to exit the water so the feeding could begin. It seemed as though the volunteers had difficulty arranging five fish in a stainless bucket. The volunteers then chose the tourists to feed the fish to the dolphin. For our feeding there were three dolphins but only one hung around for the feeding. First some international tourists were chosen, then some old people, then some backpackers (they probably didn't even pay to enter!), then some middle aged people of about early 50's, then they chose three very well behaved young girls (who you might recognise), and finally some other people. Unbeleivable that our Chelsea, Chantelle and Bianca got to feed the dolphins right up close. What an amazing treat to be chosen to feed a fish to these amazing mammals.
We hung around for the dolphins to come in again for another feeding. They arrived again just before 11am. The same routine for the trained tourists. "Don't come into the water", then "come into the water" and finally "please leave the water while the volunteers chose people to feed the dolphins". Would you believe the girls were chosen again to feed the dolphins! Being such good people we declined to allow some other kids the opportunity. We spent the rest of the day in and around the resort; there was swimming in the bay but no dolphins came to swim with us.
Thursday morning was a bit of a nothing morning. We took a walk down the town and posted some letters and had a look at the two buildings that are built of shell stone. There is a restaurant and an Anglican Church built out of 'stone' blocks that are mostly shells of small creatures.
After lunch we drove out to the Denham aquarium to see the shark feeding. The aquarium had a constant tour going on so what ever time we arrived we could pickup the tour and just stop when we arrived back at the tank we started from. It was a really simple but good concept. In one tank they had some Southern Rock Lobster (same as crayfish just a name the makes them more valuable). One was over 7kg the others not much smaller! Every time Nicholas surreptitiously tried to pluck one from the tank the guide turned around. No lobster for dinner for us tonight, unlike the tusked jewfish that only eats lobster or crab. Apparently that is why that particular fish, though ugly, is really good eating fish and quite favoured by fishermen around town.
Out the back was a huge pond that housed the sharks and in particular Sarah the largest of their sharks at over 2m. When they say feed they really mean tease the sharks! Meagan attached a filleted fish to a steel trace then waved it down in front of the sharks to make them a bit excited. Wow they did thrash about in the water with the dead gutted fish about. Mostly the sharks were Lemon yet they were neither yellow nor smelled of citrus. Some of the sharks would bite the fish and just not let go. After lots and lots of bites at the fish it eventually disintegrated enough for the fish to come off the trace and be consumed. Meagan certainly teases the sharks so much that I wouldn't want to be her if she happened to fall or slip into the water one day, could be pay back.
Friday morning it was time to packup and move on again. The next stop was Kalbarri but before we arrived there we stopped off at Kalbarri NP and inparticular Hawks Head and Ross Graham lookout. Hawks Head is a view over the gorge that the sometimes mighty Murchison river has cut through the sandstone with a rock formation that resembles a hawks head (not the ex-prime minister but the bird type). Ross Graham lookout is a lookout over swimming holes in the same river. Ross Graham was something of a local identity from the early days of Kalbarri. Ross was the first school teacher at the local school and also a naturalist and local explorer. He was much appreciated by the local community, after he died young the community built a memorial to him near the lookout.
After exploring this part of Kalbarri NP we headed into the town, about 60km, to setup for the night and take a walk around town.
Saturday morning we were able to leave the trailer at the caravan park and drive back to the Kalbarri NP to explore the area closest to town.
Before going antwhere we went across tge road to see tge feeding of tge pelicans. At 8:45 every morning a lady comes down to feed whatever pelicans turn up for a feed. The pelicans that turn up changes all the time. There is an almighty din while the pelicans are deciding who should get the most fish. All our girls had a turn, however Chantelle only succeeded in feeding the seagulls her three prices of fish!
Our first visit at Kalbarri NP was to Z Bend which is a massive letter Z that has been carved through the rock by the Murchison river over thousands of years. We also finally found out why we have gorges in Australia and not canyons. A gorge is what is left when a river cuts through rock, a canyon is created by wind and a Fjord is created by a glacia. So according to this source America is wrong, again, because Colorado has a Grand Gorge not a Grand Canyon cut by the Colorado River.
A short drive from Z Bend took us to the equally short walk to Nature's Window. Nature's Window is an impressive rock formation that has created a lookout window through the rock over the gorge (canyon or fjord). We took several photos of us in the Window and met an Aussie couple and we took photos for each other in the window.
After exploring Kalbarri NP we drove back to the town of Kalbarri to hitch up the camper and drive to Geraldton. On the drive we passed the Pink Lakes at Port Gregory, the lake gets its pink hue from bacteria (Dunaliella salina), which becomes trapped in the salt granules. There is also the BASF Chemical Salt Plant along this road. Nicholas read later that there was a serious spil of acid at the BASF plant about the time that we drove past that took several days to contain and cleanup. A little further down the road was the ruins of the historic Lynton Hiring Station. These ruins were built by convicts, housed convicts and is where people would come to 'hire' convicts to work their farm, mine, salt pan, or other commercial venture. The convicts housed here had 'tickets of leave' allowing them to work externally but return each evening to sleep.
Just south of Northampton we stopped at Oakabella Homestead. The homestead had closed early this day so we just wandered around the out buildings. The most striking building was the original buttressed barn. The buttresses were added years later when cracks and movement started showing and were purely for additional strength. The homestead is now known as the 'the most haunted house in Western Australia' probably due to the number of deaths at the homestead since it was built in 1851. George Jackson, one of the owner's family, accidently shot himself in his bedroom while cleaning his gun, his room is said to be abnormally cold compared to the rest of the house. It was Chelsea who particularly wanted to visit this house.
About half an hour after visiting Oakabella Homestead we were setting up camp in Geraldton.
And?, .....
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