Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Carnarvon - Northern Gateway to Shark Bay

Carnarvon is a moderate sized town of about 9000 people with all facilities and services. Located about 900km from Perth, it has an ideal climate. Average annual temp is 26 and average annual rain is 229mm. They claim they are 10 deg cooler than Exmouth in summer and 10 deg warmer than Perth in winter. Pretty good eh? Carnarvon is located in the Gascoyne River region and the river provides water for many of the 176 fruit and veg plantations in the region. These plantations provide 70% of WA's winter vegetable requirements. They produce 30,000 tonnes of fruit and veg each year. We bought some nice bananas from a plantation for $6.00 a Kilo - bargain! The region suffered from severe storms and floods early this year and many of the plantations are still recovering - some were destroyed completely.

One Mile Pier at Carnarvon

The One Mile Pier is the longest in WA and maintained as a tourist attraction. It was originally used to carry wool, livestock and goods to and from the region. Carnarvon was the first port in the world to load livestock onto ships for transport to markets. The jetty is now the most popular fishing spot in the town.
Stayed at the Coral Coast van park in Carnarvon for 3 days. This park had several people from the south staying for months. A bit like people from NSW and Vic going to Queensland for the winter.
Travelled from Carnarvon down the Brand Highway towards Denham and the Shark Bay area.

Sunset over Lake at Hamelin Station

We decided to have a farm break along the way at the Hamelin Station, which is an operating sheep station about 90km from Denham. Many of the sheep and cattle stations are doing it tough financially and some are going into the tourist business to supplement their income. Hamelin Station have built amenities and facilities on their property to give people a unique camping experience.

Wildflowers at Hamelin Station

Hamelin Station Wildflowers

We have stayed in over 40 van parks so far on this trip and the amenities here were the best we have seen so far. They only have 30 sites which were unpowered but a great place to spend a few days. The wildflowers were starting to come out and were beautiful. It would be fantastic to see them when in full bloom in a month or so. The types and colours of the flowers are phenomenal and you can see why people flock from all over to see them. We were amazed at how they can grow so well in the ground which seems to be hard and barren.

Shearing Sheds at Hamelin Station

The station shears about 10,000 sheep each year. This occurs around November - December and the place would be a hive of activity at this time. The shearing shed had 8 stations meaning it could handle 8 shearers at the same time. With each shearer doing around 100 sheep per day it would take 2 to 3 weeks to shear all the sheep. The shearing facilities looked modern compared to others I've seen with fully electric systems, hydraulic press and plenty of space.

Our Camp Site at Hamelin Station

Quarry for Shell Building Blocks - Hamelin Pool

A few Km from the station is a place called Hamelin Pool. There's an historic telegraph station here which was built in 1884 as part of the Northwest Telegraphy Network. It's been decommissioned several year ago and is now a tourist attraction. The coast here has beaches of shell (not sand). The shells are from trillions of cockle shell fish. The shells in the picture have been quarried for blocks which were used as building blocks in the past. They are still cut to repair or replace blocks in historic buildings in the area.

Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool

Shell Beach - Shark Bay Are

Also in this area are marine growths called stromotilites. These are living rocks formed by the binding of cyanobacteria
in shallow water. This is one of the few places in the world where they can be easily seen.

Some of the Trillions of Cockle Shells

Dolphin Feeding at Monkey Mia

The Monkey Mia Dolphins

A bit further north from Hamelin Pool is Shell Beach. The shells are from the Hamelin Cockle and thrive in the area due to the super salty water. The discarded shells have been heaped into massive piles up to 10m thick to form the beach. The beach is kilometers long and over 100m wide. The beautiful shoreline gives way to crystal clear water with intense green and blue colours. These shells would make ideal shellgrit for chickens to make their eggshells harder but it is forbidden to take them from the beach.

Monkey Mia is world famous for its dolphin interaction experience. Every day between 8.00am and 12 noon on up to 3 occasions, the dolphins come right into the beach up to a metre from the edge to be fed. This ritual has been happening for about 40 years, with a small number coming in. The DEC rangers don't touch the dolphins but its OK if the dolphins touch them. There are about 15 dolphins that come in but only have about 5 dolphins in the feeding program and give prescribed numbers of fish to these. They are still wild animals but appear tame as they swim around the rangers and look at the people spectating on the shore. Its truly a unique experience. 

The Pepper Trail at Peron Heritage Precinct

We visited the Peron Heritage Precinct which gives an insight into what life was like on an early sheep station, Peron Station. It was interesting to compare this to Hamelin Station where we stayed and is still operating. The property was acquired by the government some 20 years ago and they created this attraction. The old sheds, quarters and yards still exist and tourist facilities have been added.

Peter with Arthur Pepper

A trail has been built for tourists to walk around the precinct to see the buildings, displays etc and this is called the Pepper Trail, after one of the original stockmen at the station, Tom Pepper. We were surprised to meet a gentleman there called Arthur Pepper, the son of Tom Pepper. Arthur was also a stockman on the station when it closed and gave us some factual information on what things were like then. He was a typical country type with a quirky sense of humour and unique accent.

Big Lagoon at Francois Peron National Park

Little Lagoon at Francois Peron National Park

Two features of the Francois National Park are the Big and Little lagoons. These are tidal lagoons with the little lagoon almost perfectly circular in shape. Both are pristine waterways and natural nurseries for several fish species. These are popular spots for fishing, swimming and canoeing but the big lagoon has 4WD access only over a sandy road/track. There's a campground at Big Lagoon and it would have been nice to stay there if we had time.

Leaving the beautiful Shark Bay area and moving south again down to Kalbarri and then to Geralton.

Exmouth and the Coral Coast

Cape Range National Park - Coastline

After a night in a pleasant rest area at Barradale, we arrived at Exmouth which is the northern gateway to the Ningaloo Reef. Also, the Cape Range National Park is accessed from here. The popular activities here are viewing the reef, fishing and viewing marine life such as whale sharks, reef sharks and turtles. Tours to swim with the whale sharks are run but at $375.00 per person, a bit stiff for us. Exmouth is essentially a tourist town with the usual tour operators everywhere. We had 2 nights here then headed into the Cape Range National Park for some real camping.

Sturts Desert Pea Wildflower

The national park is about 40km from Exmouth and has 90 campsites in 9 areas - stretching from Neds Camp to Yardie Creek. They can't be booked and you just have to front up to the rangers office each morning at 8.00am to see if there are any vacancies. We arrived there at 6.10am and there were two cars in front of us. I think they were there all night. We were lucky enough to get the last spot and proceeded to the Mesa camp.

Relaxing on the Beach at Mesa Camp

Each of the camp areas in the park have their own hosts. These are people (usually older couples) who stay in the park campgrounds for the winter, about 4 1/2 moths, and look after the grounds and guests. Our hosts were John and Maureen, a couple from Perth in their seventies and have been doing this for 17 years - pretty dedicated but its a peaceful life and quite cheap as the DEC provide the water, fuel and camp fees. Still there are many people willing to do this and I think a waiting list for those interested.

Camping at Mesa Camp - Cape Range NP

We stayed at Mesa for 3 days which was a stretch for us as far as power was concerned. We were running our lights, TV, Austar, freezer and radio and just managed to keep the batteries charged with the solar panels. From our camp we visited the beautiful beaches and bays along the coast of the park. The water was so clear and calm, probably due to the closeness of the reef which was only a few hundred metres from the shore.Would like to have stayed here longer but had to move on down to Coral Bay.

Snorkeling at Coral Bay

Drove the short 200Km down to Coral Bay and the Bayview van park. This is one of two parks in the town. A very popular spot for West Australians as it has an ideal climate, about 330 days of sunshine each year. The park was full of kids due to the school holidays. Can't win all the time! Coral Bay is a very small community and you can walk to everything, shops, beach and water activities. Many tour operators here also, mainly taking people out to the reef for the coral or marine viewing, As the reef was so close to the shore, we were able to see enough by snorkelling out from the beach.

Snapper Feeding at Coral Bay

One of the popular activities here is the daily feeding of snapper in Bills Bay at around 4pm. Without fail the fish come in to about 40m from the beach, in calf deep water and are fed fish pellets. The fish are very tame and are quite big, at least 15" long.

Coral Bay Coastline

The coastline around Coral bay is pristine and idyllic. Sand is fine and white, the water is clear and marine life plentiful. An ideal place to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle. Activities are all on or around the water but its also possible to do not much at all and soak up the ambiance. In the short time we were there, we manged to do a bit of both.

Maud Sanctuary - Ningaloo Marine Park

A few km from Coral Bay is the Maud Sanctuary - this is a marine sanctuary and a rugged but serene coastline.
The Ningaloo Reef itself is some 260Km long,  stretching from Bundegi Beach (near Exmouth) to Amherst Point (near Coral Bay). There are 250 species of coral and 500 species of fish here. The fish are colourful but the coral although having normal coral shape, lacks colour and is mostly brownish. Exmouth, the Cape range national park and surrounds have been nominated as a World Heritage area and this may soon be granted.
From here we head to Carnarvon and on to the Shark Bay World Heritage area.

The Pilbara and Tom Price

220 Tonne Haul Truck at Tom Price Mine

Tom Price is a town built to accommodate the iron ore mine and its people. It was built in the 60's after an American, Thomas Moore Price, discovered iron ore in the mountains here. Apparently he lobbied State and Federal governments to allow mining to proceed and for the ore to be exported.

Diane with one of the Smaller Mechanical Shovels

Tom Price was a vice president of Kaiser Steel in the US, and was the person most responsible for the mine being developed. Since then the mine has grown to be one of the largest in the world and produces some 28 million tonnes of high grade ore per annum. In addition to this shovel, the mine has another 8 with a capacity of up to 27 m3. Pretty big! They also have 35 huge haul trucks which have a payload capacity of 220 tonnes and weigh 164 tonnes unladen. They cost about $4 million each!

Tom Price Mine from the Lookout

More than half the truck drivers are female as they are much gentler on the equipment than the males.
 The mine is wholly owned by Rio Tinto and they must believe there is a future in iron ore as they plan to expand the mine to almost 40 million tonnes per annum in the next 10 years. The mine has plenty of ore to last another 50 years.

Kings Lake at Tom Price

Due to its livelihood being mining and associated activities, most of the workers are young people. The average age of the town is just 29 and the average wage is more than double the national average. A high proportion of the workers and contractors work on a fly in fly out basis but its a hard life.

One of the few recreational areas in the town is Kings Lake. This looks nice enough until you find out the water comes from a sewerage treatment plant and the water is contaminated!

View of Tom Price from Mt Nameless

Mount Nameless overlooks Tom Price and at 1128 m above sea level, its the highest accessible peak in WA. Its about a 20 minute drive from town or 1 1/2 hour walk. The drive up is pretty rough and suitable for 4WD only. Each year they have a running race up the mountain and the record is just 19 minutes! After two pleasant days in the nice van park, we took off for Exmouth and the Coral Coast.

Karijini National Park

Circular Pool at Dales Gorge

The Great Northern Highway travels south from Port Hedland to Karijini National Park. There's not much along the way, only a fuel stop at Auski Roadhouse. Booked into the campground at Dales Gorge which is set up really well for a National Park. The park is in the Hamersley Range and its beauty results from a unique combination of geology, climate and natural vegetation.

Circular Pool

The main attractions in the park are at opposite ends and some 50Km apart. The road into the park is sealed but all other roads are unsealed. 
Circular Pool is located at the park's eastern end and in Dales Gorge. There's a short but steep walk down into the gorge but it's worth it to see the beautiful pool up close

Fortescue Falls

After an hours walk along the gorge floor you come across the Fortescue Falls which flow all year round. The water was cool and the falls spectacular.These falls are a popular attraction as they can also be reached from the carpark at the gorge top via another short but steep descent.

Peter Diving into Fern Pool

About 300m further along from the falls is a beautiful spot called the Fern Pool. The picture really doesn't do this spot justice as it was just beautiful. The water a deep aqua colour and again, not too cold. I didn't have my swimmers with me but that didn't stop me from having a dip (in my underwear!) It was so inviting that several other people (including some older ladies) went in as well.

Diane with Fortescue Falls in Background

Although some of the tracks were a bit steep, all were graded on the class 2 to 6 scale so people could determine what they could undertake.Diane could manage a class 3 track which requires a moderate level fitness. Some of the others were class 5 (rough terrain and some climbing involved) and a couple class 6 - (rock climbing and abseiling involved!)

Flock of Corellas in Knox Gorge

At the western end of the park is the Weano Gorge area. There are about 4 gorges in the one area and have a unique appearance and attraction. We were fortunate to see a flock of white corellas make several swoops along and into the gorges, as if to put on a display for us. .

Natural Amphitheatre at Joffre Gorge

I took the track down into the Joffre Gorge to see the natural amphitheatre and pool at the bottom. Rocks exposed in and around the gorges originated as fine-grained sediment which accumulated on the sea floor 2500 million years ago. Over the millions of years the iron rich deposits have been transformed by the pressure of more sediments laid down. Trapped water was driven out and the sediments gradually turned into the tough well-bedded rock.

Joffre Gorge Waterfall

Horizontal compressions later on caused the rocks to buckle and develop vertical cracks, before being lifted to the surface to form the land. Erosion over millions of years has finally sculptured the rocks into the present day landscape.

Junction of 4 Gorges at Karijini National Park

This picture from the 4 gorge lookout, shows the junction of the Hancock, Red, Weano and Joffre Gorges. Four gorges meeting at the one point - pretty spectacular!

Waterfall at Kalamina Gorge

Diane Negotiating a Difficult Walk at Kalamina

The last stop for us was the Kalamina Gorge which was a smaller one, more suitable for families and older people as it was smaller and easier to access.




 Even so, some of the tracks were a bit tricky, requiring some dexterity to negotiate the rocks and ledges. Reminded me of when I was a kid and rock hopping along the beaches at Thirroul and Austinmer.

Kalamina Gorge

There are three types of rock especially common in this gorge area. They are Banded Iron Formation, Dolomite and Shale. The deposits are stacked on top of one another to give the colours of red brown, pale brown and soft purple or pink.
This completes the geology lecture for today, but if anyone is in WA and the Pilbara in particular, they should not miss Karijini.

Our Camp at Dales Campground

As mentioned at the start of this blog, we stayed three nights at the Dales Gorge Campground. This is a well laid out area consisting of several loops of camps, each comprising about 20 sites. The campground, like most other WA National Park camps, has it's own camp host. This person looks after the campers, tends the toilets and keeps things in order. They also manage bookings and assist with tourist info. A great initiative by the WA DEC.
From Karijini we set off for Tom Price just 80Km away and then back to the coast.

Broome to Port Hedland

The distance from Broome to Port Hedland is about 600Km of mostly uninteresting scenery. We decided to make 3 stops on this leg of the trip and these were at two great rest areas - Goldwire and DeGreys and a van park at 80 mile Beach. Rest areas in WA are very well laid out and promoted by the WA government. They even produce a booklet advising travellers of where the rest areas are and what facilities they provide

Sunset at 80 Mile Beach

80 Mile Beach is a remote but very popular spot for caravaners from the south of WA as well as people like us from other states. The beach is actually 80 miles long and fishermen staying in the park travel long distances along the beach in buggies and quad bikes in search of the perfect spot. There's no shop to buy supplies near the place so people staying here have to bring in just about everything they need for their stay. The nearest town, Port Hedland, is about 250Km away.

The White Sand on 80 Mile Beach

 When we arrived the water on the beach was at a normal position about 50m down the beach. Later in the day at low tide, the water was way out, at least 400m with people sitting on chairs where the water was metres deep at high tide. The water was a bit cold but not enough to stop us having a dip. No surf but refreshing just the same.

DeGrey River Rest Area

The DeGrey River is about 80Km north of Port Hedland and one of the best and most popular rest areas we have seen. There were at least 50 vans there in an area spread out along the river and in bushland. We were lucky enough to get a spot right on the river bank and witnessed a beautiful sunset with a great camp fire. Tough way to live!!

Iron Ore Train at Port Hedland

Port Hedland is the place where iron ore from BHP Billiton's mines is loaded onto ships for transport to Australian and overseas ports. The ore arrives here on trains from mines such as Newman which is 400Km inland. Each day 12 trains arrive and 12 leave after unloading. The trains usually contain 230 cars and 4 locomotives - a total of 25,00 tonnes of ore each trip. The length of the train is over 2.5Km. The world's longest train was set here at 630 cars, 8 locos and 7.5Km long.

Ore Carrier in Port Hedland Harbour

The port is one of the world's largest for exporting iron ore with BHP shipping 150 million tonnes annually. The harbour is huge with ships arriving and leaving each day. We counted 15 ships waiting off shore to be loaded and this is normal every day. We stayed in a park at South Hedland which is 18Km from the Port. This is a satellite town built primarily to house the people who work at the port. The town has most facilities but its main attraction to tourists is the port and rail facilities. We had booked a tour of these facilities but this was unfortunately cancelled following the fatality of a 23 year old worker  due to a crane collapse. This happened the day we arrived.
After 3 days at Port Hedland we set off inland and to the famous Karijini National Park.

Broome and The Dampier Peninsular

Gantheaume Point at Broome

Arrived in Broome and ready for a rest from driving every day. Have driven over 8,000 Km in 7 weeks to get here. Booked into the Cable Beach Caravan Park – a bit pricey at $50.00 per night but we were looking forward to the rest. This is a very big park with 480 sites and 4 amenity and blocks and a great pool. It is easy to get lost in this park. Broome had grown since we were here last, about 7 years ago. It’s very spread out with most of the conveniences you would expect in a large town. 

McKellars at Gantheaume Poin

 Two shopping centres as well as most types of businesses. We had seen most of the attractions on our previous visit so we decided to take it easy for 8 days.

We did visit Gantheaume Point again as it is a beautiful spot. There are dinosaur footprints in the rocks here but you can only see them at very low tide. The tide in Broome is very big – a variation up to 9 meters, almost as big as Derby where it can be up to 11 m.

Sunset over Cable Beach - Magnificent

 

There's no doubt that Cable Beach is the big attraction at Broome. There are hundreds of people here every day to lay on the beach, soak up the sun or just to admire the scenery. It's especially popular at sunset when literally hundreds line the promenade to take photos. This one didn't do the sunset justice as it is just magnificent.

North Cable Beach - Very Nice

We were within walking distance from Cable

Beach where we went on several days. The first couple of times to the main beach and then to the Northern beach where we could drive onto the beach and pitch our umbrella right next to the car. Very convenient. This was also a nudist beach as we found out to our surprise. No, we didn’t partake although most of the nudists were old people (like us!) We took our lunch and drinks a couple of times and had a very relaxing time of it!

Normal Day at Cable Beach

 

The main beach was as we remembered it – very busy and full of rented umbrellas and lounge chairs. A great business at $10 each for the chairs and umbrella for ½ day. One morning I counted 95 umbrellas – that meant at least $3,500 for the day! The sand is very white (almost as white as Huskisson) and the water a very pleasant 21 degrees. At this time of year the weather in Broome is a constant 29 – 31 degrees every day and no rain or wind. You might say perfect. This is probably why the 6 Van parks in Broome are always full in July and August. A lot of people from southern WA come here for the winter months to get away from the cold. Much like us and the Sunshine Coast in Qld. It is also a mecca for tourists like us from other parts of the country.

Peter & Diane at Cape Leveque Beach

Left our van with a refrigeration mechanic to replace the fridge 240V heater and went up to the Dampier Peninsular for 2 days. Stayed 2 nights at Middle Lagoon in our tent and visited Beagle Bay, Cape Leveque and One Arm Point while we were up there. . 

Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Beagle Bay

Beagle Bay is an aboriginal community and it has a well known church – the Sacred Heart Catholic church. Very well kept with a beautiful altar made almost entirely from local shells. Not much else here but worth a visit to see the church.

Coastline at Cape Leveque

Cape Leveque is essentially a tourist resort, Koolijman, which is another aboriginal community but again, run by others. There are several types of accommodation here ranging from tent sites to luxury units. An interesting feature was their beach shelters where you erected you tent under a shelter right on the beach. A bit dear, though at $65 per night. Had a swim and lunch at the beach at Cape Leveque. It was beautiful – white sand, clear water and spectacular scenery.

Beautiful Colours at Cape Leveque

The water at cape Leveque was very mild and calm. Not good for surfing but most enjoyable just the same. Access to the beach has been kept as natural as possible and you have to walk over small rocks and sand hills to get there. It is as pristine as you could get for a popular wilderness resort area.

Middle Lagoon Shoreline

Middle Lagoon is popular for fishing and several people from the south come here for long periods of time to fish. It’s pretty remote at about 180km from Broome and along a 33Km dirt track off the main road.

The Main Road to Cape Leveque

The road up to the peninsular is about 220 Km with only the last half sealed. The rest is like the photo – red dirt! You can imagine the state of the car after travelling about 400Km on roads like this!

On return from the peninsular (a 600Km round trip!) we had another night in Broome at the Broome Van Park (nice pool here also) before setting off on the trip down the Northern Highway towards Port Hedland.