Friday 2nd September
We woke up to a squally shower rattling the awning and rocking the van. We quickly pulled down the awning, but by the time we got it down the squall had passed. After breakfast we packed up and headed south towards our next destination Denham. As we drove south there was a heavy overcast sky and showers all around us. We drove through one or two light showers but the road showed signs that heavy rain had recently hit the area.
Strong cross winds buffeted the caravan so we travelled a bit slower than usual. We stopped for diesel at the Overlander Roadhouse, where the road to Denham meets the main north-south road, and then after some lunch, headed northwest towards Denham and Monkey Mia, famous for its dolphins.
We got into Denham at about 2.30 and set up camp. Then we drove into Denham Township for a look around. Denham is a small seaside town with the main street running alongside the water front. It is the main service centre for the Shark Bay area which includes Monkey Mia, Peron Peninsula, and the Hamelin Stromatalites. We picked up some brochures on things to do and see from the visitors centre, and bought some groceries.
The wind was blowing a gale making things fairly unpleasant. The forecast was for more of the same. Things weren’t looking all that good for our planned visit to Monkey Mia and the dolphins.
Saturday 3rd September
The caravan rattled and shook all night, but the wind had eased a bit by morning. We decided to check out a couple of the local attractions which were advertised on the brochures we had collected from the visitors centre. One was called Eagle Bluff, where a board walk had been erected along the cliff top overlooking a shallow bay where sharks, dugongs and manta rays were known to frequent, and the other was the Ocean Park Aquarium where we could see shark feeding and various other fish that frequent the Shark Bay area.
Eagle Bluff was about 20 km south of Denham. We drove out to the Bluff and looked down into the shallow water of the bay beneath us. There was nothing to be seen. We walked along the boardwalk with about half a dozen other tourists, all expecting to see something.
Finally through the binoculars we saw a shark swim lazily across the shallow waters of the bay. From our position about 300 m away it was impossible to judge how big it was or what kind.
A waste of time but never mind. We had long ago learnt you just have to take what you get when it comes to nature, and so far on this trip we hadn’t done to bad.
We then drove back towards Denham and down to the Ocean Aquarium. The Aquarium consisted of several large open tanks each with different varieties of fish representing the various parts of the ocean. Sea Shore, Coral Reef, and open sea. The guides were very informative, and really knew their stuff. There was everything from tiny brightly coloured tropical fish, to huge lobsters, moray eels,
rays of all shapes and sizes, dozens of different types of fish, and of course sharks up to about 2½ meters in length.
The shark tank had about a dozen different varieties of sharks, and we fairly quickly identified our friends from our snorkelling trip by the Blow Holes.
They were indeed Reef Sharks and we learnt they would only attack if provoked. When we told the guides about them, they were surprised to hear of so many congregating in one area, and suggested that they may have gathered there for mating.
One tank specialized in venomous fish including a Stone Fish who was so well camouflaged even the tour guide took some time to find him in his tank. It took a good hour to do the tour, which included feeding the sharks. A very interesting and educational tour.
After lunch back at the caravan, we decided to have another look around Denham and go for a walk along the waterfront. As we were driving around town we saw a sign advertising the local speedway which was just starting. We drove out to the track and joined a huge crowd of six other cars watching the action. The first race was juniors, and six basically ordinary street cars with the windows knocked out, raced around the track. This was followed by the seniors with another six similar cars doing the same thing. These guys were a bit faster, and Cameron had great fun watching them drift around the bends at either end of the track. After about 5 races everything stopped for some reason, so we moved on.
After a drive around town and a walk along the waterfront, we took shelter from the wind in the pub, and enjoyed a beer and chips. Then it was back to the van for tea.
Sunday 4th September
We had found out that the Monkey Mia Dolphins came in for their first feeding of the day at 7:45, and as it was 25km from Denham across the peninsula to Monkey Mia, we were away from camp by 7.00.
We arrived at Monkey Mia by 7.30, and stood on the verandah of the information centre overlooking the beach where the dolphins would be fed, with about a dozen other early arrivals. We could see several dolphins playing around in the water just off shore, obviously waiting for the feeding time.
By 7:45 when the Ranger arrived, there were about 100 expectant people milling around, waiting to watch the dolphin feeding spectacle. The Ranger gave us talk about how to behave near the dolphins, and then we all moved down to water’s edge, ready to watch the feeding. Remember what happened when we went to Eagle Bluff yesterday, and saw nothing? Suddenly there were no dolphins anywhere. The sea was empty.
The Rangers weren’t worried saying they had probably just gone on a small fishing expedition and would be back soon. So we waited, and waited. The Rangers kept reassuring us the dolphins would return any minute, so we continued waiting. After about half an hour at least half of the crowd had gone. Some to board cruises around the bay, which were obviously timed to follow on from the expected feeding.
I happened to look well up the beach and spotted several Dolphins apparently playing near the water’s edge. With the video camera in my hand I walked up to see if I could catch some of the action. Three or four dolphins were swimming back and forth along the beach about 2 meters from the shore. I soon realised they had several small fish trapped in the shallow water, but couldn’t get at them because the water was too shallow.
Each time the trapped fish would try and escape by going left or right, one of the dolphins would be there to head them off. They gradually moved down towards the feeding area, but by now there was only one fish, a bream, still trapped. They finally managed to grab the fish when it got into slightly deeper water.
It was a fascinating experience watching these very intelligent animals working as a team to catch the fish. Now that they had caught a fish, they weren’t interested in being fed so they all disappeared out to sea again.
We went to the resort cafe and had a coffee and then spent some time lazing on the beach. The dolphins finally came back at about 11.00 and at long last we got to see them being fed.
The Rangers selected people to come out and hold the food while the dolphin came and took it from their hands, and of course Cameron was one of those selected.
We spent the rest of the day lazing on the beach watching the dolphins playing right by the shore, and the big sailing catamarans taking tourists out for harbour cruises.
Monday 5th September
After school work we headed back to Monkey Mia. The wind was still blowing a gale and doing anything in Denham was out of the question as the wind was blowing straight onto the shore. Monkey Mia being on the other side of the peninsula was quite a bit more sheltered. Again the dolphins kept us entertained cruising up and down about 2 metres from the shore. We tried a bit of fishing, but the dolphins must have scared all the fish away.
When the tide went out we went for a long walk along the mud flats discovering all sorts of interesting things, including some moray eels hiding under some coral rocks. At the end of the day we reluctantly packed up and headed back to windy Denham. Tomorrow we would head south again towards Kalbarri.
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