Aus Day 49 - Dolphins, Sharks and an Eagle Bluff

Sunday 7th November Aus Day 49


Alarm sounded at 05.30 and we were up straight away, shower and breakfast before doing the bit of tidying up that was necessary to get away by 07.00. We actually managed to depart the site at 06.50 and made the 28 kms to Monkey Mia by 07.15. We parked up and walked the short distance to the beach area where we spotted a number of dolphins already hovering, obviously waiting for the feeding session.

Dolphins at Monkey Mia

Dolphin at Monkey Mia

Dolphins Line Abreast at Monkey Mia

Dolphins Waiting to be Fed

It was a lovely experience seeing these wild animals coming so close to shore and demonstrating such trust in humans we took lots of photos and a considerable amount of video.

After the feeding session we visited the shop and got a few souvenir trinkets before heading back into Denham to refuel pausing to take photos of the “Little Lagoon” on the way.

Eileen at the Little Lagoon Near Denham

We set off from Denham back down the road towards the Highway with a few stops on the way. The first one being at the Ocean Park Natural Marine Exhibition, where Ralf gave a splendid tour explaining all about the many various fish types on the way round, finishing off with the sharks which were not hungry enough to be interested in the food that was being offered. It was an excellent exhibition which we both enjoyed.

Sea Anemone and "Nimo"

Young Turtle at the Ocean Park Natural Marine Exhibition

Shark at the Ocean Park Natural Marine Exhibition

The next port of call was Eagle Bluff, at the end of a 4 km dirt road where a boardwalk high above the bay provides an uninterrupted view across Shark Bay and on this occasion we were fortunate to observe 6 sharks coasting along in the clear waters far below.


View of Shark Bay from Eagle Bluff



View from Eagle Bluff Looking North

Eileen at Eagle Bluff

Leaving Eagle Bluff, we visited Shell Beach which has been created from hundreds of millions of tiny sea shells which are thought to be up to 4000 years old and are up to 5 metres deep in places. The beach is almost pure white and is a beautiful place for swimming.

Eileen at Shell Beach

Next up was Nanga Bay which is reached via a sealed road at the end of which is a caravan park and another lovely beach. We would have taken the opportunity for a swim if it were not for the strong wind which was now blowing.

Eileen at Nanga Bay With Foam Produced by the Wind

Soon we reached our final destination for the day, back at the Hamelin Pool Caravan Park which we had visited briefly yesterday when checking out the Stromatolites. There is not a lot else here, no mobile phone signal, no Internet signal but, it is a good jumping off spot for tomorrow when we intend to get to Kalbarri and maybe as far as Geraldton.

Hamelin Pool Caravan Park

We took another walk along the beach trail to the Stromatolite area before getting back to the van for sundowners at about 5.15 pm.

With no communications and no TV, we had a quiet evening with me desperately trying to catch up with drafting Blog entries and Eileen reading her book before turning in at about 10.00.