There is so much more to Shark Bay than Dolphins (or Sharks)

From Kalbarri we headed north along a dry and desolate landscape to Shark Bay.  We fuelled up at the Overlander Roadhouse, and headed towards Denham, the service town on Peron Peninsula.  Our destination for the evening was Big Lagoon, a camp-site in the Francois Peron National Park.  The best part about the camp, was it was about 12 kilometres down a sandy track - and DPAW had installed a tyre station so you could quickly let down and pump up your tyres!  

Letting down the tyres at the DPAW tyre station!  Brilliant idea.

The vegetation in Francois Peron National Park is much more prolific than the surrounding countryside, due to a large vermin proof fence across the peninsula, and a very active baiting and trapping program being carried out.  Called Project Eden, the aim is to return the country to what it was before Europeans came to stay.  The project has re-introduced native animals that have become extinct in the area due to predators such as feral cats and foxes, and it is working to protect the vegetation and other small animals from overgrazing and damage caused be feral goats.  It seems to be doing a pretty good job - but I fear this country will never be able to return to what it was before.  We wondered if Francois Peron were to return here, whether he would find the same thousand plant and animal specimens he did on his first visit here back in 1801.

But as impressive as Project Eden is, no one comes to the Peron Peninsula to just visit Francois Peron National Park.  No, just down the road is Monkey Mia and the famous wild dolphins that come in daily to interact with the people that come from around the world to feed them.

Right on time - the dolphins come into the 'interaction zone'

Mr Pelican and the Dolphin eye each other off, each looking for a free feed.

Once upon a time, you could come here and buy a bucket of fish to feed to the dolphins.  Unfortunately the dolphins soon came to rely on the ready supply of food, and started to loose their hunting skills, and become more vulnerable to shark attacks.  Regulation was inevitable, and today only a handful of dolphins are fed a small 500 gram allowance of fish between 8.00am and 12.00pm.  The ranger giving the talk was most interesting and we learnt a great deal about the behaviours of dolphins and the way the feeding is managed.

With such a small number of dolphins allowed to be fed - and only a small amount allowed to be given to each one, it is a real privilege to be selected to feed a dolphin at all.  It was therefore a real highlight for our boys to be selected out of the 72 people on the beach to feed one of the dolphins. 

Wow - lucky boys get to feed a wild dolphin!

After feeding the dolphins, we went for a sail around Shark Bay on The Shotover - a sailing catamaran.  We went looking for dugongs, dolphins and turtles - and managed to spot all except the dugongs.  The water was a little turbid, but to be honest - it didn't really matter.  It was lovely to be out on the water - and the best bit was that we were passengers!

Kicking back on-board the Shotover!

Relaxing with a capital R

We had planned to spend three nights at Francois Peron National Park, however a rain system was developing and with a few clay pans to negotiate, we heard the Rangers were going to close the park.  The rain wasn't due until the evening, so we hooked up the camper, left it at the Homestead, and decided to spend the morning visiting the rest of the Park.

Our first stop was Cape Peron itself, where the red Peron Sandstone meets the blue waters of Shark Bay.  It was beautiful - and we were very glad to have taken the drive up here.  We met the Ranger here, who told us that the Park was indeed closed.  We meandered back south, and took advantage of the Artesian Hot Tub at the homestead - glorious to have the place to ourselves!

Cape Peron

With the rain coming in, we decided to make ground to Hamelin Pool.  On the way we stopped at Shell Beach.  The cockle shell here thrives in the high salinity of the bay - living in such large numbers that a shell beach, some 120 metres wide and up to 10 metres deep has developed. It is incredible to walk down the water on this each,

At the Shell Beach

A bit further south is the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool.  This ancient life form has been found in fossils dating back over 3 billion years.  They aren't much to look at - but considering life only started walking out of the oceans some 400 million years ago, they are an incredible link in our biological history.  The Little Fisherman did a project on the Stromatolites that can be read here:  http://project2014australia.blogspot.com.au/p/lachlans-projects.html

On the way out to the Stomatolites

Yeah - fascinating Dad!

We got in the car, and checked the forecast again.  The rain was definitely on its way, so we decided to keep driving and ended up 200km further north in Carnarvon!  The last part of the drive was most uncomfortable, being completed in darkness, with feral goats being the least of our concerns.  There were cattle on the road - big dark cattle - and even the trucks were slowing down for them!  I was very relieved when we pulled into our caravan park for the evening.  It had been a huge day, but now it could rain!

Of course a rainy day means a chance to catch up with school!  Not everyone was happy with that, but it had to be done!

Not everyone loves a rainy day!

At least Carnarvon had a link with Space, so we spent International Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) checking out ground control!  A small museum manned by enthusiastic volunteers, the highlight for the kids was getting dressed up in a space suit!  The Little Fisherman was most put out when he realised the orange overalls worn by brother had a patch on the chest reading "Commander".  We had to swap outfits after a few minutes just to restore order!  

The Space Museum at Carnarvon

The weather started to clear the following day - so we decided to take our chances on the coast.  An exposed camp on the edge of the Indian Ocean.  We had seen the last of the rain for the season, right?  Er, perhaps not - but we didn't expect what was coming!