We weren’t sure whether to stay at Denham or Monkey Mia. Denham is 23km from Monkey Mia resort and is a small village with a few shops and restaurants and 3 caravan parks. To our surprise the Tourist Info Centre is shut on a Sunday.

We decided that as we’d come to Shark Bay to see the dolphins we should stay at Monkey Mia, that’s where they come in to feed in the mornings. Camping here is a bit more expensive than at Denham but then we won’t need to get up early to travel the 23km, feed time for the dolphins can be any time after 8.00am.

After we got the tent set up I went for a walk along the beach, I didn’t see any wildlife, apart from birds. Shark Bay is home to dolphins, dugongs, turtles, bilbies and many more animals, birds and fish.

When I got to the beach there were a lot of people standing in the shallows but no dolphins in sight. I’d forgotten to grab my camera when I left so I went back to the tent to get it.

There were still no dolphins when I returned so I went and bought a newspaper and when I got back to the beach the dolphins had arrived. There were two of them frolicking in the shallow water a few metres from the thirty or so people who’d assembled in the hope of seeing them. When they wouldn’t come any closer a resort employee asked everyone to step back out of the water, as soon as they did the dolphins came right in.

The staff went along the line of people on the beach selecting one every so often to come into the water and give the dolphins a fish. The dolphin interaction sessions can happen up to three times during the morning, depending on how often the dolphins come in to shore. This morning I saw two sessions, at the second session there were about five dolphins.

Tony and I went for a walk along the beach. The tide was out and we walked in the shallows. On a sand bar were a lot of black and white birds, we wondered how close they would let us get to them before they took off, we got fairly close. Once we were seated on the sandbar they gradually came back. We took a few photos before continuing our walk. As we were heading back into shore I found a large shell, I’ve never found one so large before, it’s about 25cm long and will make a nice souvenir of Monkey Mia.

We relaxed around the tent in the afternoon before completing the 2km Monkey Mia Walk Trail late in the day. The walk took us from the white sandy beach and coastal dunes and up across the adjacent red sand ridge. It’s unusual to see the red and the white sand side by side. On the walk we passed a cave and a grave of a 3 year old child who died in the early days of the state. There is also a lookout and a bird hide.

While in Denham I talked to the man at the Tourist Info Centre, he thought that we were from Geraldton because of the Ulysses patch on my jacket, he didn’t realise Ulysses is a national club. He told me that there’s quite an active group in Geraldton. I also asked him about the condition of the roads to some of the attractions that we would pass leaving Shark Bay.

First stop was Eagle Bluff, when the tide is right sharks, stingrays, dolphins, loggerhead turtles and dugongs can often be seen from the lookout. It’s an excellent lookout; a boardwalk runs along the top edge of a cliff and there are information panels along its length. From the main road there was 5km of dirt road to reach this lookout.

Next stop was Shelly Beach which has dunes made entirely of shells, up to 5 metres in depth at some places. It’s a beautiful place, the pristine white of the shells that make up the beach set against the turquoise blue of the sea.

Our last stop for sightseeing was Hamelin Pool to see the Stromatolites. This is one of only two places in the world where Stromatolites exist. They are ancient organisms that are extremely slow growing, they look like rocks but are actually living organisms. Also at Hamelin Pool is a Shell Quarry, shells were mined and used in the construction of early buildings at Shark Bay. Shell grit is used by the poultry industry.

AT THE MOST WESTERLY TOWN IN AUSTRALIA
SHELLY BEACH
STROMATOLITES
SHELL MINE

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