Packed up camp this morning in very short time indeed - we are getting more and more of a routine going, so it is getting easier. Debated over whether or not to see the first dolphin feeding again, but decided it was better to keep the numbers down so that other people only seeing them for the first time could have better odds of being selected to hand over a fish.

On the way out of the Shark Bay World Heritage area, we stopped in to do all the stuff we drove past on the way to get to the resort. Seeing as there is only one road to the resort, it was also easier to see it all on the way in, and stop where we wanted on the way out. First port of call was Shell Beach - a beach composed entirely of tiny shells, to a depth of 5m. The shells were deposited about 100m from the waterline, right down into the water, and we don’t know how far out. Apparently, there are only two places in the world where a beach is composed entirely of shells, with the other site being somewhere near the Red Sea. Quite interesting to look at, but also very blinding as the sun reflects off the pure white shells for the length of the beach - do not forget the sunglasses if you ever go here.

As part of preserving the natural beauty of the area, there is a large part of the peninsula fenced off from side to side, to form an area known as Project Eden. The fence runs up to the road, with a large grid across the road to prevent feral animals such as foxes, pigs, cats and rabbits from getting to the bush area on the side of the dolphin encounters. In this way, the native animals can live in greater safety without the introducted predators, and it is more preserved.

On the way in, we’d stopped at the tourist centre and the man behind the counter told us to stop at the grid on the way out, and walk over it and listen. Seeing as there is a twelve-foot high electric fence, we imagined we’d hear “ZAP-ZAP-ZAP” or “TIC-TIC-TIC” or a low buzzing noise due to the voltage, but this was not the case. An extra measure had been taken to prevent any animal thinking of walking onto the road and jumping over the grid - a motion-activated barking pole. Yes, we walked through the beam and the sound of a large dog barking was played to us over loudspeakers. It was pretty effective, because the sound seemed to be coming from all around us, which meant an animal would panic and flee for cover.

After that laugh, we drove to the stromatalites at Hamelin Pool. Stromatalites are basically large populations of blue-green algae, and one of the most primitive life forms to ever evolve on the planet. They began living 3.5 billion years, they live on today, and are responsible in part for bringing the oxygen level up to about 20% - the current level. There is a boardwalk over them to protect them from people walking on them, because of a desire to protect the world’s oldest living things. However, they were not always recognised as important, and at one point you can see where a wagon loaded with cargo was taken over them 60 years ago to load a ship. Agreed, a fully loaded wagon would weigh a lot, but it was still a surprise to see that the wheel ruts remained after all that time. Perhaps 60 years from now, there will be hover-pads and people will look in surprise at the damage caused by the boardwalk?

Driving back along the same road we came up on, the scenery was essentially unchanged - small scrubby stunted plants, red soil, blue sky. A couple of times there must have been changes in the soil or water status, because there might be a kilometre or two where 30m trees were growing, then it would return to the smaller plants just as quickly.

Arrived in Geraldton, and set up camp at one of the caravan parks. There were ten campsites available for use, but they were watering site #1, so we were allocated site #2. Two guys arrived a few hours later and were allocated site #3 - only 10m from our tent, despite the fact they could have been given any other site so we were not quite next to each other. Luckily, they did not make a lot of noise, although we got concerned about a tape of Spanish music they had blasting in their car until about 9:30pm. When the tape stopped, they did not replace it with any other noise, so it turned out okay. Still seemed weird to have to whisper conversation so as not to annoy the only other campers in the whole paddock-sized area.

Needless to say, our “Stupid Person Of The Day” award went to the woman at the BelAir Caravan Park who put two tents right next to one another for no apparent reason.

Having decided that the fresh fish/port city theory had failed us twice, we went to the supermarket and bought some fish fingers. Probably insulted the local townspeople by buying processed and tasteless fish products in a town that is responsible for a large fishing industry, but still, it meant when we decided to have salad with it, we got salad that we recognised, not a helping of “around here, we call that salad, salad rice mix”, or something similar…

Onward to Bunbury tomorrow…

Categories: Travel, WA 1999