I left Carnarvon on Friday 15th November and drove 140 kms to Wooramel River Retreat because I had heard about their hot Artesian baths...and they didn't disappoint!!!

I parked my van on the edge of the dry Wooramel River...It was very quiet with only half a dozen campers. The station will close for the season shortly. You had to be fully self contained, but rustic showers and toilets provided (made from water tanks) were excellent...The overnight cost to camp was minimal . It was a great experience.

The dry riverbed beside the campsites.

The baths were fabulous. I only stayed overnight, but had three sessions in the baths. They were very warm (almost hot) to get into, but once in I could have stayed all day. I might have ended up a prune though!!! I'd been warned...do NOT wear good bathers...wise words as my old bathers were red when I got out, although a wash in fresh water got most of it out, thank goodness.

The bar and social area...no one around at this time of the year, but they tell me it gets a real party atmosphere in busy times

The sunrise on Saturday morning.

Next stop is Monkey Mia on the Shark Bay peninsular, but on the way I made a few sightseeing stops. I also had to watch out for emu's and goats ...These goats are behind a fence, but many were right on the roadside.

A little further along the road I drove into a stunning lookout point . This photo looks back on the road I've just travelled

Another view from the lookout is over the Wooramel river flats entrance into the ocean at Shark Bay. Wooramel River is the only river that runs into Shark Bay region and it only flows for around 2 to 6 weeks after winter rains or a cyclone. It may not run at all through drought years . As Shark Bay receives almost no fresh water the sea water is extremely salty and scientists from around the world come to Shark Bay to research the ecosystem. This would be an amazing sight when filled with water after heavy rains!!!

This rubbish pile you see is a strange memorial!! It seems that people put an item of significance (much of it appears to be just rubbish), but everything has a RIP, a name or a memorial message written on it!!

Although it's difficult to see, the sea was just visible on the horizon around 78 Kms away.

I called in to Hamlin Pool to check out one of the worlds most ancient living forms surviving in the Shark Bay area,"Stromalites". These living microbial structures are fascinating. I've attached the description from the website as it explains them far better than I can...

 https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/destination/stromatolites-hamelin-pool

I then stopped off to check out Shell Beach...Undulating shells packed hard like concrete until you get to the beach, which is just over the horizon in this next photo. The compacted shell are made into bricks and houses can be built from it.

Stunning, but hard to walk on in bare feet . 

Finally I'm on my way to Monkey Mia...the peninsular road seemed to go on forever. Around 130kms of straight road with this vegetation and not much else 🙃

I arrived at the Monkey Mia Resort mid afternoon and parked my van in a huge open area that was very windy and almost empty. The resort is an international tourist spot due to the Dolphin feeding and has a pretty swanky swimming pool, bar and restaurant. The majority of people there were international visitors. I stayed for 2 nights to see the dolphins and then left as it was very open to the elements...hot sun and strong ...very strong winds.

I was greeted by this family of Emu's as I arrived. They're everywhere in the towns and caravan parks. They are scavengers!!

The dolphins were beautiful, coming in to eye us off, but only a select few are offered the chance to feed them these days. I wasn't one of them😢

...But a lovely family from Switzerland whom I'd met were one of the lucky ones to be invited to feed the dolphins.

November 18th I drove back to Denham and parked my van at the Denham Seaside Caravan Park. Although I am just as close to the beach it is a little more protected and has a little bit of shade. I caught up with a couple who I have met on numerous occasions and went to the pub for a drink with them. The following night we caught up again around the camp kitchen for dinner.

One of the really beautiful spots around Denham is Eagle Bluff lookout, where you might see turtles, sharks, rays and sometime dugongs in the shallows feeding on the sea grass beds. It was blowing a gale when I was there so it was difficult to see into the water. I only saw a shark or two, but the views were beautiful.

Shark Bay has the largest sea grass banks in the world and the dark water seen in the shallows here is a sea grass bank.

Denham has a great Ocean Park Aquarium with ongoing fish and shark feeding and a great cafe. Here's a few photos...

Sea Anemone

Feeding fish to the turtles

Lion fish...one of the worlds most venomous fish if you are stung by a spike😱

Sea snake...so our guide said they are far more poisonous than a brown snake, but they have very short fangs, are very docile and won't attack unless cornered. He was picking it up, but I noticed if it turned it's head towards him he moved his hand away!!

Stone Fish...they inhabit the inlet waters at little Lagoon in Monkey Mia and if you stand on one the spikes along their back it will inflict pain worse than you can ever imagine, according to the tour guide. They look mean and are almost impossible to distinguish from a rock!!!

I finished off my visit to the Ocean Park with a calamari lunch,,,and it was one of the best I've had in a long time. Just delicious👍

Dirk Hartog Island is the largest and most western Island in WA. It is a part of the world heritage listed Shark Bay National Park. Check it out if you want to know more...

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Hartog_Island 

I did a half day trip which turned out to be a bit of a thrill seekers ride with high winds and rough seas during the boat trip over.😳 (The following day the weather was beautiful...Doh!!) The homestead is gorgeous & the scones & coffee we were dished up were delicious. The blow holes weren’t blowing (the wind & therefore the waves were coming in from the wrong direction), but the island is beautiful. The scenery is a blend of contrasts that continually take your breath away...well it does for me!!

Looking back towards the mainland (over the horizon) having just arrived. We're on the eastern side of the island in sheltered waters here.

The homestead. The rustic, but beautifully appointed onsite accomodation looks fabulous!! Pretty expensive to stay there though!!

Steep Point in the background is the furtherest most point in WA.

Some of the beautiful sand vegetation as we approached the blow hole cliffs

The blowhole (see the hole on the dark flat rock). We only visited the southern tip of the island as it's around 650 square kilometres and would take a lot longer than half a day to see it all.

Shark Bay gets it's name because of the amount of sharks (at least 28 varieties) in the area and this particular bay is always teeming with sharks in the shallows. These small sharks are called "Nervous sharks" and they will flee if you get too close to them. They swim and stay in the shallow water to get away from their predators...other species of larger sharks!!

There were masses of these crabs all over the Shark Bay beach.

😧He's trying to hide and not succeeding!!😁

I spent the rest of the day in the Shark Bay Discovery centre which had an amazing 3D documentary on the HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran battle on 19 November 1941 and the discovery of the two wrecks. I saw a short video on this at Carnarvon Museum, but this film was so much more informative and fascinating. Great displays of all things marine and history of settlement of the area as well.

Yesterday, November 22nd I left for Kalbarri around 375kms south from here. The next edition will be at the end of the month and will probably come to you after I get to Geraldton.

Thanks to everyone again for your comments, here on the blog and on FB or in emails. Julie, it's lovely to hear you are enjoying the blog. If you'd like me to respond please send me your email address as I can't access it through the blog.

I hope all those in the fire areas stay safe.

I hope you continue to enjoy the journey with me

🥂until the end of the month

Anne