Monkey Mia - 7th September, 2007

This morning we got up early and made the 20 minute drive to Monkey Mia to see the dolphin feeding take place which we were told happens between 8am and 1 pm. It is a free event but they charge $6 per person to go into the Monkey Mia Reserve which gives you a pass to park your car in the car park and apparently return the next day if you like. When we got there lots of people were already lined up along the shore or in the shallows and there were dolphins and some rangers there also. After a while we were asked to step back out of the water and someone brought buckets of fish down ready to feed the waiting dolphins. They actually have specific buckets for particular dolphins since they know what they like to eat and also then can control how much they get hand fed each day in order to ensure that they still go out hunting and teach their young to catch food also. There are usually four rangers there to feed the dolphins and each chooses someone from the crowd to have a turn. Unfortunately they only give them one or two fish each time and then the last fish when they have signalled the others that they have done so and then they wash out their buckets and ask everyone to go away from the edge so the dolphins know it is over and there will be no more. They did this 3 times this morning, less than an hour apart, the timing being dictated by the dolphins, and we were there for each feeding but didn’t get to have a turn. Drat! I got some good photos of the dolphins though and they came up very close. They use their nose to push the legs of the ranger like a dog nudges when it wants something; it’s funny watching the ranger’s legs buckle & hear her say, “You’re going to knock me over. You just have to wait.” They only feed the females and they bring their calves in with them. The calves are amusing; just like kids mucking around nearby, splashing and darting away! In fact one of them came up to where its mum was being fed and, with its blowhole under water, started blowing bubbles. It sounded a bit like blurting! Apparently they do this if they are happy. It was really funny.
We had breakfast at the resort restaurant after the first feeding then had a look around between times until 10:45am when we had to be on the jetty for our catamaran cruise on Aristocat 2. We were taken to the black pearl farm, Blue Lagoon, first where they explained to us about how they farm the pearls and what makes them black pearls. It is not the colour of the pearl so much as the black lip on the pearl shell. The pearls they produce are a darker colour because of the colour of the shell but not really what you would call black. What was very interesting is the amount of money the pearl technicians earn per day; about $1,500 a day and up to $10,000 a day for the really good ones. They have 45 seconds to open the shell and place the nuclide into the pearl oyster before it starts to react and then it is unable to be used and it is a delicate operation which requires a lot of skill. So, kiddies, become an expert pearl technician and you will be laughing all the way to the bank!
Next we headed out to sea to the seagrass meadows where we hoped to see some dugongs feeding and we did! They graze the seagrass until they need to come up for air and when they do we get to see them. The first one we sighted confirmed the belief that the mermaid stories have come from dugong sightings since, especially from a distance, do look like a mermaid. The colour is similar to human flesh and the tail going down after is just the same shape as what we traditionally know as a mermaid’s tail. We saw quite a few of them and got fairly close but they are very quick when they surface to breathe and so not many good photos. Still, it was fantastic to see them for real; we went out prepared not to spot any but were pleasantly surprised. We also saw a rather big loggerhead turtle which swam right towards us for a while. Toward the end of the cruise, they put down the boom net and the very keen kids on board got in and had a ride in the wake. The water was cold when we waded in to feed the dolphins and the wind was cold on board so there was no way any adult would submerse themselves in it but you know kids, no sense, no feeling! And they had a great time by the looks of them anyway. Aah, to be young again! It was a good cruise and, again, I didn’t get seasick and this time it did become rougher so I was able to enjoy the whole experience. Hooray!
BTW, Fin had a chat to the driver of the Gold Bus as they were at the Monkey Mia Reserve to see the dolphins being fed. He told him that they were going off to somewhere else today and then would be heading to Geraldton the next day followed by Perth for a day or two before they fly off home to New Zealand. So now we know where they will be and will finally shake them! LOL!

One Mile Jetty & Shark Bay - 6th September, 2007

This morning we packed up our gear and drove into Carnarvon to have a look around then to the 1 Mile Jetty which, as the name implies, is one mile long and has rails down the length of it since it was once used as a way of loading ships. Now, it is all but in fallen down, well not quite because they run a tourist ‘train’ down it to almost the end then back again after they’ve had a look around or you can choose to walk down to the end and back again which is what we did. In 1897 the jetty began being used to export wool and livestock produced in the region to Fremantle and essential goods for the town were imported using state shipping. In 1904 the head of the jetty was added and in 1912 the jetty head was widened to cope with increased traffic including passengers. Carnarvon was the first port worldwide to load live stock on board ships for transport to markets. The jetty transport system and diesel loco on the tramway ceased in 1966 when road train transport commenced and the jetty deteriorated until 1998 when the community banded together to save it. The jetty is being progressively preserved and has been listed with state and national heritage trusts. Anyway, now that the history lesson is over – we had to wear our jumpers to walk along the jetty since there was a cold wind blowing. Not used to that idea at all!! BRrrrr!! Still it was a good walk except we had to watch where our feet went since despite the claim that it is being preserved, the jetty had a lot of splintery, loose boards with gaps between on occasions. We also had to watch for the train coming along the tracks also and move to one side. About a third of the walk is over a sandy mangrove dotted shore and then shallow water gradually getting deeper until it is quite deep with pieces of seagrass floating around on the surface. There were some signs of the inevitable wildlife that such a place must contain – we saw a few crabs disappearing into one of the many holes scattered in among the plants and a water bird or two also in the sandy section and then when we were up at t he head of the jetty there were some fisherman and one had caught a reasonable sized shovel-nosed shark which he had already cut the fins off etc so I did not take a photo. Some of the guys were using lures and others were using bait but both looked the same: like small silver fish (little mullets I suppose) One guy had a big fish on his line with a lure a few times but couldn’t keep it on the hook and lost it. While we were looking out at the sea at the end of the pier there appeared a sea turtle which stayed on the surface long enough to catch a few breaths and then disappeared again. A little while later, it or another appeared and then three more of various sizes; it was great to see them in their natural environment and so close like that.
After our walk back we had a coffee and something to eat and read all the information they had surrounding the rotunda which told us a lot about the area we were about to enter which is Shark Bay which is a World Heritage Area. It is where the dolphins come to shore and are fed at Monkey Mia and is made up of a Shark Bay Marine Park which is 748,735 hectares in size and covers 1500kms of coastline, which is the largest marine embayment in Australia and Francois Peron National Park also which covers 52,500 hectares of the northern most tip of the Peron Peninsula. This is an extremely important area due to it having the largest number of seagrass species in the world which is a vital habitat and nutrition for marine life including turtles, dugongs, and many others. Also there are some islands that are cat and fox free habitats for some endangered species of mala, hare wallabies, bandicoots and a native marsupial mouse.
We had a good run to Denham where we are based while checking out this area and booked a cruise on an 18 metre catamaran for tomorrow morning to hopefully see dolphins, turtles, and maybe even dugongs! Should be fun! The flower photo was taken on the roadside up to a lookout we went up to along the way. I thought they were very pretty and unusual.
Guess which bus we saw at the jetty and then at the first roadhouse as we drove past? Yeah, you got it – the Gold Bus Ballarat. We just can’t shake ‘em! I wonder whether they are - in Monkey Mia or Denham? We’ll keep you posted......

Blowholes, Devils and Kestrels - 5th September, 2007

As you may have guessed, we lost Internet access for a few days so was unable to get email or publish the BLOG but got wireless here at the moment so thanks to all those who emailed, SMSed etc saying Happy Birthday! I have been keeping up with writing and saving photos so I could upload when connected again so here it is:
The day started today with the sound of a text message arriving in my phone; it was a birthday greeting from my eldest sister Dianne, a little while later my sister Jen rang followed by my sister in law Jill. I also spoke to mum before we left Exmouth this and headed south to Carnarvon which is below the tropic of Capricorn and so is the start of the cooler weather for us. As we went along the highway we couldn’t believe our eyes when our old friends, the Gold Bus Ballarat entered from the Coral Bay turn-off. We wondered where they had gone after seeing them at the roadhouse on our way to Exmouth and now we know. We passed them and then saw them again when we got to the roadhouse where we had our lunch. Who knows where they are now since we left just after they arrived and we took the turn-off to the blowholes, which we had read about in the Carnarvon Tourist Information booklet, which is about 12km before Carnarvon. Along the road before the turn-off and also after there were carpets of wildflowers, yellow sometimes, or white, and occasionally a bright pink section; just beautiful! I was sorry I was driving or I would have taken some quick snaps through the window just to show how many there are.
We found the blowholes after going in the wrong direction at first because there is no sign once you get to the end of the bitumen road however we should have gone left and they are just a little way from the turnoff. The blowholes are holes in a horizontal rock platform; one bigger one with a smaller one beside it then some even smaller ones on a higher platform. When we first walked up the bigger two were making a fantastic noise like a dragon roaring (yes, of course I’ve heard a dragon roaring!) or something but a really good sound. The spray out was very impressive as well shooting high into the air but after we got there I am sure they got less impressive. Still, it was interesting to watch them and try to pre-empt a good one to get photos. I took a few burst shots to try to capture the most impressive spray out. There is a warning sign as you approach the rocks to say someone has died there and to be very careful and we could see how it happened; the rocks are very rough to walk on and the edges treacherous if you slipped and fell.
Following this we went to the lighthouse nearby and found it had two stick-nests on the railed walkway and one larger one on top. A crow was near the lower ones and two, what I believe are, Nankeen Kestrels were sitting on the ridge above and were occasionally calling out and looking a little ruffled by the wind. I suspect at least one of them was a juvenile but I’ll need a real birdo to help me identify them for sure.
We headed back down the blowhole access road and had only got about 100 metres when Fin braked hard and I looked up from checking my photos asking what he had seen. He said it was a lizard and I asked if it was a big one. He said, “A thorny one!” How cool! I had just said the other day that it would be great to see on in its natural habitat and there it was on the road! I went back stealthily to take photos but I kept getting closer and closer and it didn’t’ move. Fin said we had better get it off the road before it is road kill but it wouldn’t budge. I banged my foot behind it on the road, I gently touched my foot on its tail, jumped up and down to make a noise but it wouldn’t’ move. Fin got out of the car and grabbed a stick and tried to pick it up with it but it fell off so he just used the stick to flick it to the side of the road. The lizard didn’t look injured but it still just stood there as though it was an inanimate object. I guess that is the idea of its camouflage; to make predators think it is a thorny stick that is not worth eating. We certainly thought so!
When we got within mobile reception again, there were about 9 messages on my phone and I got two more phone calls once we had got to our cabin at Carnarvon. Thanks everyone! Fin went to wash all the masses of road kill bugs on our car – there were really big kamikaze grasshoppers or locusts all over the front of the car and splattered on the windscreen. It is obviously a very fertile area around here. Actually we noticed there are a lot of banana plantations which we were surprised about. There is no wireless internet in the caravan park and I still don’t have the Vodafone working despite 2G being available here.

Underwater beauty, whales & big birds - 3rd & 4th Sept. '07

Yesterday we made the trip from Karratha to Exmouth which was quite an interesting route with more hills, mountains etc than we had seen on the last leg of our journey. As we left we filled up with petrol and guess who was there filling up as well? The Gold Bus - Ballarat! We seem to be following a similar itinerary at the moment. The only thing about the trip is that there is not much between Karratha and Exmouth apart from cattle stations, two roadhouses and a few roadside stops; many with no toilets or the most disgusting toilets you have ever smelt or seen. We stopped to have a coffee at one place and low and behold, along came the Gold Bus from Ballarat again! Later on, when we were just leaving the roadhouse after lunch, they came into the car park there to join the other busloads. It’s incredible there is nowhere else to eat and get a break from travelling so we all have to stop there. They must rake the money in; particularly with what they charge for things too.
Today we took a cruise on a glass-bottomed boat to view the coral in the Ningaloo Reef which is part of the Ningaloo Marine Park which protects Australia’s largest and most accessible fringing reef system. It is home to a multitude of corals and more than 500 species of fish. As well, the park is home at various times of the year to whale sharks (the world’s largest fish), turtles, dugongs, dolphins, manta rays and humpback whales. The coral viewing cruise was at 11.30am and they picked us up from our caravan park. The boat was full and the reef is very interesting; there is a lot fairly close to shore but it is shallow and then there is the deeper reef which is even more fascinating with bigger fish slipping in and out of the shelter of the corals. The colours are not as bright through the glass bottom boat and the colours are mainly blues rather than reds like in the barrier reef. I took some photos which are affected by the lack of light, movement of the boat and reflections on the glass so they were not very good. It was great seeing the reef though and we even saw a whale ‘breeching’, as they call jumping out of the water, as well. There were little fish of all sorts including a cute little striped one with a scissor tail called a Scissor-tailed Sergeant.
While we were at the Bundegi Beach we booked the Whale watching sunset cruise for 3pm so we returned by car later to do that one which is a 2 ½ hour cruise. We got to look at the corals again briefly since we had the same boat and the sunlight penetrated the depths better so that I got some better pictures as well as being able to see the corals and fish better. We saw some flying fish flashing silver out of the water a few times and yes, we saw whales! We saw some turtles as well but they swim off very quickly – so cool! The whales mostly were a little way away and we couldn’t get too much closer; it is hoped that they will come closer to the boat which they did on a previous cruise and even swam under the boat but not for us. We were still very happy with the sightings even though the only breeching one was a long way off. Mostly we saw blowing, coming up with their backs out of the water and tail fins up then going under sometimes alone or in pairs and one time a mother and calf. Apparently they spend time here in the gulf and fatten up their calves before moving on to colder waters. On the way back they showed us an osprey’s nest on a post where they tie the ships up. It was a great cruise and good to actually see whales on this trip in contrast to the one at Hervey Bay. On the way to this cruise, near the beach, we had to stop the car to wait for an emu to get out of the way and another was in the scrub on the side of the road. Apparently, emus are very common in Exmouth and you have to get used to them being on the road and give way to them but this was the first time we had seen any since we got here.
Exmouth is a nice, laid back type of town with a lot to offer as far as its marine park and other nearby national parks also. There are bird hides, gorge tours and walks, snorkelling and diving and lovely beaches also. We are glad we made the effort to come up to that sticking out bit on the west coast of Western Australia to see what is here.

Pilbara - 2nd September 2007

Today we took the relatively short journey (about 290km) from Port Hedland to Karratha but since we were there early we decided to go into Dampier and have a look there as well. As we left Port Hedland we had a quick look at the port and also stopped to take some photos of the salt fields just as we were leaving town. The area up here in the Pilbara is rich in natural resources and much of the wealth in the area comes from iron ore, the Onshore Gas Plant in Karratha and salt which is produced in Dampier Solar Salt Fields by Rio Tinto Minerals. The Pilbara is ideal for salt production due to its hot, dry climate and the area is rich in iron ore, nickel, copper and ammonia and the Pilbara Coast contributes over 15 % of Australia’s national economy through exports, taxes and royalties. A pamphlet we picked up on Port Hedland is titled: Port Hedland – Economic Heartbeat of Australia. It also says: “Red dirt = iron ore = steel = your car, your house, your caravan, even the kitchen sink! The Pilbara supplies 34% of the world’s sea-borne iron ore trade. Was your car born in the Pilbara WA?” We attempted to visit the Visitor’s Centre for the North West Shelf Venture so we could learn more about natural gas industry but it is not open on Sundays. As well as all these resources, the Pilbara’s fishing industry plays an important part in the local economy.

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We did go to Hearson’s Cove which is a nice swimming beach with a shore completely made up of crushed shells. I walked down to the water’s edge and felt the water and it was quite warm and would have been nice to swim in but we wanted to go and look for the aboriginal carvings that are in the area as well so had to forgo that opportunity this time. The carvings are in a place called Deep Gorge on the Burrup Peninsula, Dampier and it is a lovely little area between two rocky hills with some vegetation and a little water further in. We could see how it would have been a good place for early aborigines to live being close to the sea and with what was probably fresh water available to drink as well as plenty of marsupials for food as well judging by the droppings all around. We had to look hard at first to find any carvings but once we saw one or two we saw lots; the first ones were on the rocks on the hill that was more exposed to the open plain but then we went down into the gorge part and found many more. It was exciting finding them ourselves with no-one to tell us where to look and imagining the early inhabitants of the area doing them and why. For instance, the kangaroo featured and so did emu footprints and these would have been important animals for food. The area was quite a way by foot from the beach but there were a lot of shells and shell fragments around on the ground so we assumed these were left by the aboriginals who brought the shellfish back to the shelter of the gorge to eat and share with the mob. It was really very interesting and fun to explore down the gorge and not many tourists seem to do so, I guess because they have to look themselves and there are to definite signs or viewing points like many other tourist attractions. Actually, two guys came wandering down the gorge behind us and I don’t think they had seen one carving; I pointed out some emu footprints and explained that you need to look hard because they are everywhere but some are hard to see since the rocks have probably fallen over time. They looked at the ones I showed them and one guy followed on to look for more but the other guy went back to their campervan. I think he was probably too hot and since neither of them was wearing a shirt, they probably got sunburnt as well!
On the way back up the dirt road I yelled in excitement because there was Sturt’s Desert Pea growing along the edge. Fin stopped at the next lot we saw, I took some photos and noticed that some of them had a red centre instead of the usual black one. I read in one of the tourist brochures that it is unique to this area. Further on, along the asphalt road up to the North West Shelf Visitors Centre, there was a carpet of them in places along the roadside. Just beautiful!
After this we went up a dirt road to a lookout mentioned in the tourist guide also. It was quite a drive up being a much deteriorated rocky track but going down was much more of a challenge! Fin did a great job of it using the manual override function in the car to control it better. I have put up photo I took through the window during the bumpy ride (lousy photo) to show what it was like. The view is 360 degree around but there was another lookout showing Dampier town and harbour as well that we went to.
So we had a busy day before we booked into our accommodation then basically settled in, cleaned up and went out to the pub for dinner. What we found out there is that you don’t order your entree and mains at the same time or you get them at the same time! Very strange way of doing things and they didn’t tell us when we ordered or we would have only ordered entree and gone back of course. We saw another guy with the same problem – someone needs to tell them how to do it I think! So, that was Father’s day 2007.

Long drive, Flat plains, Good samaritans

Today was almost a photo free day! Yes I know – it is shocking! I only took a couple of photos of Sand Fire Roadhouse because you just have to see it to believe it; I mean it is the only place to stop in about 300km or so with toilets, petrol and food but it has been reduced to a portable building with a lot of hot red sand in front of it and some petrol pumps. You have to walk around and through the rather small caravan park to get to the toilets which, and I can only speak for the Ladies, consists of two loos and two showers, a basin and handtowels. Walking across the hot red sand I could see how it got its name – Sand Fire, actually I could feel the heat from the sand on the ground. They were selling sandwiches and pies and cold drinks but there was nowhere to sit and eat it so we just sat with the car doors open, ate quickly and left. This was along the highway from Broome to Port Hedland which is really a very boring drive. The countryside for a lot of the way is flat with fairly open plains and not much to look at; we got excited when we saw a different feature in the landscape occasionally or a new flowering plant. Fin likened it to the Jerilderie Plains on the Newell Highway in NSW but I think it is worse because there really isn’t any town or much else between Broome and Port Hedland. A Traveller’s Tip here: take your own food and drinks (we always have our own drinks in our car fridge and some food too) and make sure you stack the CD player with music you want to listen to, to break the monotony.
The only interesting thing that happened along the way was that we were waved down by some people about 50km out of Port Hedland; they were Aboriginal people with the bonnet up, I think there was four of them. I was a bit hesitant but Fin said we can’t leave them there without seeing what the problem is since we carry spare petrol so we stopped. Fin had a talk to them and agreed to take one of them to South Hedland where he lives to get help. We moved some stuff around in the car and squeezed the guy in the back seat behind the driver’s seat. (I was driving and was thinking I hope this guy isn’t going to get nasty!) Anyway, he was quite harmless and tried to make conversation as we went along; asking where we are from, telling us where he is from, Derby, and places he’s been, football – West Coast Eagles of course! He has a strong accent and was a little bit hard to understand but we got by; he thought Fin was a nurse because he is travelling around, and maybe he thought the car fridge on the back seat carried medicine or something. So we dropped him at an address in South Hedland and that was that; I hope they got their problem sorted out. I would hate to have been stuck on that highway in the heat like that.
I started this post not long after we arrived at Port Hedland and had only taken the two photos of the roadhouse but Fin came in after his wander around the caravan park and said it was interesting around here with the ocean just next door virtually and the other side with mangroves so I took some more including quite a nice sunset. It’s amazing what a mining town’s air can do to the sunset!
My night finished really well with a webcam session with Tristan – it was great to see him after all this time but it made me a bit homesick. I suppose being away for Fin’s birthday today and mine coming up makes it harder too. I would like to see mum even though I talk to her regularly on the phone; it’s not the same. Oh, I know, many of you would like to swap places but it is a long time to be away so I am entitled to be a bit homesick once in a while. Still we are seeing some amazing things and having a great adventure that we will not forget in a hurry.
Oh, a funny thing that keeps popping up wherever we go is a bus saying: Golden Bus Ballarat. Now it has turned up where we are staying and the group had dinner at the sports club where we ate tonight. It turns out they are from New Zealand and have driven up through Ballarat, Adelaide etc and are doing a similar route to ours so if Fin becomes too annoying I can put him onboard with the other old people! After all, they keep following us so they probably are waiting for a chance to grab him since he looks like he belongs to their group. Hey! He’s the one that said he was nearly an old age pensioner today, not me!!