Wednesday, 18 August
Woke to clear skies after further rain overnight – and it was a bit on the chilly side, too. We left Carnarvon and continued south, heading for Monkey Mia and the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The road continued to be very good – wide and flat going – with low desert scrub similar to the previous days.
We made a small detour to Hamelin Pool to have a look at the stromatolites, which are living fossils created by cyonabacteria. (Google them for more information.) Shark Bay is only one of two places in the world where these exist. We were able to walk above them on a board walk, complete with very interesting interpretative signs. The sea at Hamelin Pool has a very high salt content and is extremely clear – definitely no swimming allowed here. The walk to the stromatolites took us past a shell block quarry (the beaches are made up of minute cockle shells), which was used to provide building materials for the pioneers.
We had a stop for lunch at the Denham Lookout before continuing to Monkey Mia and the caravan park at the resort. We had received reports from various people saying we shouldn’t stay here, but we have been very pleasantly surprised. The caravan park is part of a resort and is right on the beach where the dolphins come into (hopefully!!!) each morning. The ground surface is covered with the shell sand, our site is large and drive through and we have full use of the resort’s amenities. However, the water is not suitable for drinking or connecting to the caravan – full tanks are a must if coming here.
Lily and her two younger sisters are in the caravan park – we remember them well from Darwin!
Woke to clear skies after further rain overnight – and it was a bit on the chilly side, too. We left Carnarvon and continued south, heading for Monkey Mia and the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The road continued to be very good – wide and flat going – with low desert scrub similar to the previous days.
We made a small detour to Hamelin Pool to have a look at the stromatolites, which are living fossils created by cyonabacteria. (Google them for more information.) Shark Bay is only one of two places in the world where these exist. We were able to walk above them on a board walk, complete with very interesting interpretative signs. The sea at Hamelin Pool has a very high salt content and is extremely clear – definitely no swimming allowed here. The walk to the stromatolites took us past a shell block quarry (the beaches are made up of minute cockle shells), which was used to provide building materials for the pioneers.
We had a stop for lunch at the Denham Lookout before continuing to Monkey Mia and the caravan park at the resort. We had received reports from various people saying we shouldn’t stay here, but we have been very pleasantly surprised. The caravan park is part of a resort and is right on the beach where the dolphins come into (hopefully!!!) each morning. The ground surface is covered with the shell sand, our site is large and drive through and we have full use of the resort’s amenities. However, the water is not suitable for drinking or connecting to the caravan – full tanks are a must if coming here.
Lily and her two younger sisters are in the caravan park – we remember them well from Darwin!
No comments:
Post a Comment