WA’s North West Coast, 15-19 May

Day 43, Sunday 15 May, Kalbarri to Denham

Another driving day. The car’s odometer trips over 10,000 km on our trip In the same day and hour as our trip started six weeks ago, and we are halfway through our estimated 20,000 km journey.

We make a quick stop for coffee and charge at the Billabong Roadhouse. We stop again around 100 km before Denham at Hamelin Pool to view the Stromatolites, regarded as the oldest and largest living fossils on earth, part of the earth’s evolutionary history. The Hamelin Pool Stromatolites give an indication of what earth may have looked like around 3.5 billion years ago when Stromatolites grew widespread across the water. Unfortunately the viewing walkway was damaged by Cyclone Seroja and is due to be repaired in 2023.

Day 44, Monday 16 May, Denham

Denham is the most westerly town in Australia. And the good news is that the flies seem to have moved on. The not-so-good news is that mosquitos seem to have replaced them, and dine heavily at our expense.

Early start for the 0745 Dolphin Experience across the peninsular at Monkey Mia (pronounced My-ya, not as ABBA would sing it). Human interaction with dolphins has been shown to cause stress in the animals and WA’s Parks & Wildlife rangers now carefully control the interaction. Only a handful of individual dolphins are allowed to be fed and one of those is already waiting with two infants. No touching of dolphins occurs, except when one dolphin nudges the ranger’s leg to indicate please move no further in that direction.

We return via Little Lagoon and make a late morning visit to Ocean Park, an aquarium facility that either rehabilitates sea life or takes them in temporarily to be re-released after a few months. We take an intriguing guided tour with a marine scientist who advises that among other gems, in terms of intelligence, Octopus are the most intelligent animal, followed by Squid, then Cuttlefish, with humans a lowly fourth. We stay on for lunch overlooking Shark Bay before heading back in time for yet another beach walk at sunset followed by a full moon rise.

Day 45, Tuesday 17 May, Denham to Carnarvon

On the road out of Denham we make a short stop at Eagle Bluff, a viewing area for birds, including eagles (of course) and osprey as well as marine life, including turtles, dugongs, sharks and dolphins. We drive down the unsealed access road that was closed until this morning for repairs. And stop again at the appropriately named Shell Beach.

Today is a driving day with arrival in Carnarvon expected early afternoon. It doesn’t quite work out that way. Due to a crew failure we feel the need to charge en route, unnecessarily as it turns out. (See Car & Charging)

We arrive late afternoon and walk the streets of Carnarvon. Later we drive to the local pub for a dinner overlooking sunset over the water. Again.

Day 46, Wednesday 18 May, Carnarvon to Coral Bay

We time our departure to be first in line for Carnarvon’s Space & Technology Museum, located on the old Carnarvon tracking station site. This station was actively in use for Nasa space flights in the 1960s including Apollo 11’s journey and landing on the moon and return in July 1969. That year is memorable in aerospace for not only the first moon landing but also the first flight of the B747 in February and Concoirde in March.

The museum has accumulated quite a range of memorabilia from that period, a fascinating nostalgia trip for me while studying aeronautical engineering at that time. Jules does a quick trip to the moon and I try my hand at landing the space shuttle.

We then drive to the exotically named Ningaloo Reef Resort at Coral Bay, seemingly a tourist town solely for those keen to access Ningaloo Reef or to top up their melanomas.

Day 47, Thursday 19 May, Coral Bay

Out before sunrise and then an early morning walk in the local sand hills. We have a 1230 boat trip planned to the Ningaloo Reef which is close, less than a kilometre offshore.

The Ningaloo Reef is almost synonymous with swimming with whale sharks. We don’t make this tour and choose instead the turtle cruise. We suspect the whale sharks will survive without us but we are not so sure about turtles. Sea turtles are regarded as one of the world’s most endangered species. And Monday 23 May is, after all, World Turtle Day.

No sooner are we are onboard and starting underway when two dolphins enter the shallows around us, apparently a very unusual occurrence. Not too many metres off shore we pass over more coral than I have ever seen. The colours are not as vibrant as on the Great Barrier Reef, apparently because the local water temperature is a little cooler. The tour guide advises that the Reef has not experienced coral bleaching in recent years but expresses concern for what may happen as sea temperatures rise. The range of coral types is huge, as is the density, with little sand visible on the sea floor.

We eventually track down a couple of green turtles and tour guide Ellie shares a photo of her recent, and rare, sighting of a leatherback turtle. Sea turtles have a very low life expectancy, estimated to be only one in 1,000 or perhaps just one in 10,000. Their early life is particularly hazardous with predators waiting on land and at sea as the hatchlings make a dash for water. Those that do survive reach sexual maturity at 20-30 years of age and live to 50-100. Green turtles are the largest hard shell turtles and leatherbacks the largest turtles of all, at around two metres in length.

On the boat trip back to shore we chat to a couple of other tourists who completed the whale shark experience just yesterday. Apparently this is quite a logistic exercise. The tour company sends out an aeroplane to locate a passing whale shark and communicates with their boat. The boat captain then tracks it down and launches tourists into the water ahead of the shark as it swims past. The experience is heavily filmed and our fellow tourist kindly share a photo.

Whale sharks are regarded as the largest fish and typically are 5.5 to 10 metres in length but one has been recorded at 18.8 metres. Adults may be 19,000 kgs in weight and are estimated to live to 80-130 years.