7. – 10. November

Shark Bay

Next stop was Shark Bay – we actually followed the World Heritage Drive. In 1991 this area was added to the World Heritage Register und was the first area in WA. You have to meet several criteria's to be registered – these criteria’s are set by the UNSECO. Shark Bay meets 4 criteria of the category “natural beauty” like natural beauty, earth history, ecological process and bio-diversity. There are some more areas which meet 4 criteria like Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands and the Grand Canyon.

We stopped at Hamelin Pool which is famous for the Stromatolites, the oldest living organism on earth. These Stromatolites are still active – they grow around 0.3mm each year  (I don’t know how this would be possible to be measured). Some formations have grown to a size of over 1m and they live in salty areas. The Hamelin Pool is twice as salty as the ocean which means ideal living conditions. The water evaporates so quickly as the bay is really shallow and has only a narrow connection to the ocean.

Shell Beach is not a beach in the typical sense – you won’t be able to find  any sand only shells. The cockle shells formed this beach which is around 10m deep and over 100km wide. It is still possible to find the remains of the quarry – the shells were used for construction. The church in Denham was built with these shells. It was allowed to swim there but we resisted as the water should be saltier than normal (and we didn’t know if we find a shower in the evening).

The lookout at Eagle Bluff was our next stop. There are two lookouts connected by a boardwalk. If you’re lucky it’s possible to spot sharks, rays of other big fishes in the shallow waters. On clear days the view is fantastic – we could see the wharf facilities of Useless Loop. Additional to the lookout we found a nice camping area – just 50m from the bay. The bay invited us for a swim and it was easy to walk in – nice warm water. We finally managed to see some sharks and rays.  There were little ones which were curious about us and came close as 2m.

We found a spa as well – the Peron Homestead (start of the Francois Peron National Park) offers a hot bath tub. We relaxed in the warm artesian waters for quite a while. The National Park is on the top of Shark Bay and only accessible with a 4WD as all tracks are sandy – remember to deflate you tyres if you want to go in! We had a look at Big Lagoon, Gregory Coast and the Cape Peron. It should be possible to get the big catch but we didn’t even see any small fishes – just a lot of birds.

 Of course did we visit Monkey Mia which is the most known place in Shark Bay. You can only call it place as it has a hotel, caravan park and a jetty. The main attractions are the dolphin which should come in every morning. But we didn’t go there for the dolphins we actually booked a cruise – 6h. We were hoping to see lots of wild animals and we did! Some dolphins followed us out of the bay and said hello during the cruise but we saw one of the most funny looking animals – the mermaid. Ah no that’s the myth – they are called Dugongs. Around 10,000 Dugongs should live in Shark Bay which is nearly 10% off all living Dugongs. They are amazing and could swim fast. Sometimes they even swim on their back getting some sunshine on their white belly. We managed to see some scars on the Dugong that was how close they came to the boat. But I don’t know if these were scars from a fight with a shark or for a female. We also saw some turtles, lemon sharks, Eagle Rays and apparently a see snake.  On the way back a bit of wind was blowing so we could set the sails. Yes, we set the sail – K-Leun helped to get the front sail and 1.WO helped to get the aft sail up.

Then happy sailing,

Cheers, Tom and Anja