You can’t go to Shark Bay without making a trip to Monkey Mia. I’m sure I’m not the only person who was introduced to this place by the Leyland Brothers, way back in the 1970’s. Their vision from the beach of the family feeding the local dolphins must have started a stampede of visitors to this now famous beach. It’s changed a lot since then, a well developed RAC resort and campground sits just behind the beach, there is a large dolphin viewing area and daily feeding sessions for visitors to watch. Not much participation these days as the feeding is strictly contriolled to ensure the dolphins don’t become dependent on it. These dolphins have participated in the longest ever scientific study of dolphins in the world, and the researchers have a full family tree of all the dolphins that visit the area. Despite it being a significant tourist attratcion we still found the location beautiful and definitely worth the visit. The campground looks very well built with some lovely grassy sites and the resort facilities were very nice. I’d definely consider a few days there next visit as the location is just idyllic.
The beach at Monkey Mia
Local PelicanBeach WalksThe famous Monkey Mia dolphins
We didn’t go to the daily feeding sessions on the beach, but instead decided to take a cruise on a sailing yacht out onto the bay looking for dugong. The cruise was pet friendly so Molly and Sid were able to come along and were quite the attraction of course. Naturally we saw plenty of dolphins and we also found a group of Dugong grazing on the huge sea grass fields in the bay. They are very hard to photograph, only coming to the surface briefly to breathe and they hardly rise above the water surface.
Denham is the only town in the Shark Bay region. It sits on the western side or the Peron Peninsula, facing Dirk Hartog Island, 25km across the bay. It services the whole region and is the main accomodation location for visitors to Monkey Mia, Francois Peron National Park and Dirk Hartog Island. Its quite a drive through sparsely vegetated sand country from the North West Coastal Highway, the 130km trip taking around an hour and a half towing the van. On the way you pass Hamelin Pool and Shell Beach, both interesting places to visit.
Denham itself is quite small, with a permanent population of around 800 people. Most people are employed in either tourism or fishing. Its quite a pretty little village with a lovely forshore and beachfront. There are two supermarkets in town, a bakery and a cafe, along with a few “speciality” shops. We were amused to see most shops selling a bit of everything, it seems diversity is the key to surviving in Denham. Even the “Old” Pub had a clothing boutique in the corner! The town is also home to the Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery & Visitors Centre, a must stop destination to learn all the history of the region and the amazing wildlife and geography of the region. They have an excellent interactive display that will fill you in on everything you need to know about the region.
While we were in Denham we were able to catch up with some friends we had met through our ownership of Evernew Caravans. Bill and Cathy were on a lap, having sold their Sunshine Coast home and spending their time exploring WA. By an amazing coincidence they were going to stop at Denham at exactly the same time we were planing on being there so we spent some time together catching up. We also enjoyed a meal together at the Old Pub, an interesting experience and a very good meal.
The Old Pub, where we enjoyed a meal with some travelling Evernew friends, Cathy and Bill.
We were thrilled to find that Denham also has an excellent outlet for fresh seafood. The Shark Bay region has exceptional seafood, from superb whiting to prawns, scallops and scale fish. We were regular visitors to the “Fish Factory” and enjoyed all they had to offer during our stay. Their freshly filleted whiting was some of the best we’ve ever tried and the prawns and scallops were first class. It was also popular with visitors from Perth who well and truly filled their freezers with seafood before making the trek home.
Some of the old buildings are made from coquina, which are blocks of cockle shells that have been naturally cemented together. The shells are Shark Bay Cockle Shells, around 4-10mm long, which can survive in the high salinity water found in parts of the bay. At Shell Beach and Hamelin Pool, these shells have formed deep deposits that have been cemented together as limestone. They used to be mined or quarried from these beach deposits by cutting them into blocks. Each block is around 600mm long and 200mm square, and very light. Many of the orginal buildings in Denham were built from these blocks. They no longer cut blocks from the quarries, except when repairs are needed to the exisiting buildings.
One of the buildings in Denham made from coquina shells.
Close up of the Shark Bay Cockle Shells found at Shell Beach
Denham Sunsets didn’t disappoint
Sunset over the Jetty
We decicded to stay in Denham for our two week holiday and booked into the excellent Denham Seaside Caravan Park. This is a BIG park and not the type of place where we usually stay, But we wanted a comfortable, relaxing stay in one location and this park proved to be excellent. Althgough there are arpund 200 sites, the park is set out on a number of different levels, separated by banks and trees so that you only ever feel you are parked in a smaller park. The sites are all perfectly level, and the ground is mostly shellgrit covered so quite easy to move around on. Some of the sites have views over the bay, but we knew that would also mean they would probably be windy so we booked a site back from the bay and in a more shaded area. I’d have to say it was one of the best sites we have ever stayed on! It was wide enough to park the van, put the awning out and park the car.
Our site at Denham Seaside Caravan Park
The parks amenities were first class. We were close to the newly built amenities block and what a joy they were! Ensuite style, each cubicle had a big shower, unlimited hot water and big shower rose. There was also a toilet and a big vanity with a large mirror. Plenty of clothes hooks and a stool completed the facilities – perfect. Attached to this block was a laundry with excellent, new front load washers and driers, a large rec room with big LED TV and a beautiful camp kitchen complete with 8 tables and chair sets, 3 full oven/cooktops, microwaves, sinks etc etc. Outside was a BBQ area, again with picnic tables and chairs. And all of this was immaculately cleaned every single day by the large contingent of staff, including every garbage bin in the park emptied daily. There was also the usual array of childrens playground equipment. The park is part of the G’Day (Discovery) Parks Group who seem to be doing a great job upgrading and managing their parks. We have used a few of their parks over the years and find them to be getting better each time we stay.
Denham Seaside Caravan Park
I have been very late posting this, I seemed to forget that I hadn’t finished my stories from our Shark Bay holiday so I’ll try to catch up over coming weeks, then fill you in on our curent plans.
Bob's Big Idea 