Denham, WA.

 We were all very excited to head to our next location - the most western part of the Australian continent, Shark Bay.

We stayed at Denham, but most people would know the area for Monkey Mia which is 20km on the other side of the peninsula. We stayed here for a week (so this is a long post). On our first day we got up early and went to see the dolphins. Because they are wild dolphins there is no guarantee that any dolphins will turn up, and 2 days the previous week no dolphins visited, but luckily 4 dolphins visited the morning we were there. We also saw a big turtle swimming under the jetty. No dugongs though, apparently they don't like the cold weather and head out to deep sea in the winter.

Our next stop for the day was the Aquarium - which was more of a hit with the kids than the dolphins. It was a very cool set up - they had lots of open tanks that we could walk around and look at, and then outside they had the big shark tank. We watched the tour guide feed the sharks - they are very cute creatures. The aquarium was started as a conservation centre for the sea creatures of Shark Bay many years ago, and now releases fish and other sea creatures back into the wild. One of the sharks however was mostly blind and has trouble biting her food, so she lives at the aquarium permanently.

Some of our favourites were the sea snakes (which is the most venomous sea snakes in the world), The stone fish (that look hilarious when you look close at his eyes and mouth. They are also very common in Shark Bay and will cause very serious pain with their spikes if stood on, and this is the main reason Kylie did not want to go swimming!), the Sharks of course and Max the Mullaway who is always hungry and loves to constantly squirt water at the tour guides demanding more food. 

We stayed at Denham Seaside caravan park which was complete luxery for us. Multiple full sized bathrooms instead of a shower/toilet block, and a brand new camp kitchen with THREE huge new ovens!!! Oh and don't forget the jumping pillow. The kids loved riding bikes around the huge caravan park, and we were close enough to ride our bikes to the foreshore playground and fishing tables as well. Sometimes we did this twice a day. Bridie's bike seat on the big bike is coming in very handy.

We used the camp kitchens just to make the most of the facilities. We had roast chicken pieces and roast vegetables one night and meet our caravan neighbours who were cooking a roast lamb. Melena shared her special seasoned flour to sprinkle on our the  veggies and it made them extra delicious. We also made choc chip biscuits one day and they turned out very well. 

On the Friday night we were there the Eagles were playing the Tigers and the camp kitchen was full with people watching on 2 big screens and walking back to the caravan it seemed like every other person had their caravan TV on watching the game as well. Sadly the Eagles won in a very close game. 

We spent a few days driving out to the Cape Peron National Park. We fished from the beaches and walked along cliffs, had a swim in the artesian hot tub, which is 40 degress. It was a little bit too hot to stay in for too long, but it was a nice way to relax after a big day in the National Park. Saul found a good beach to fish from, so went out early the next morning with Elsie and they caught their bag limit of 30 sand whiting. Fish for tea for the rest of the week.

The filleting tables were fun this week - Saul was talking to a local man and he generously gave us a coral cod frame to eat and the some cheeks as well. The kids were very excited to see Saul cook the whole fish on the hot plate and then to have the tail on the plate. They were arguing over who was going to eat the tail. The next day we were at the tables, we were cleaning the whiting which are a small fish, and some men arrived and placed a HUGE coral cod on the table. No joke, it was as big as Bridie. (Fish table photographer was Zara both days!)

On our last night in town we had a beer at the local pub with our old next door neighbour Steve and his partner Sherrie. (So sorry if I have spelt that wrong!) It was lovely to catch up and talk all things Shark Bay, Eaglehawk and of course covid. And Elsie was at this gathering, but wanted to be the photographer. She did a wonderful job!

The pub also had an original shark swimming cage that the kids couldn't wait to climb in.

On our way out of Shark Bay we stopped at Shell Beach which was very impressive. 10m deep of tiny cockles shells. We also stopped at Hamelin Pools to see the stromatolites and the microbials mats, but sadly the boardwalk out to the stromatolites was badly damaged during the recent cyclone. The whole Shark Bay area is World Heritage listed and the 4 things that give it that listing are stromatolites (living fossils), sea grass beds (which are the longest in the world), scenery and sea animals (dugongs, turtles, dolphins).