Carnarvon, Hamelin & Monkey Mia

From Cape Range we were heading to Monkey Mia, of dolphins fame, with a stopover for two nights at Carnarvon. Carnarvon was basically a place to rest up, catch up with e-mail, buy some of the beautiful fresh fruit and vegetable produce the town is famed for, plus some great sea-food (we finally learned how to deal with a crab effectively). We met up with our friends Max and Jan (of whom more later) who had criss-crossed our path ever since Keep River. Then on to Monkey Mia and its famous dolphins.
Along the way, it became clear we were now in classic WA wildflower country:

En route to Monkey Mia we discovered stromatolites could be seen at Hamelin Pool at Shark Bay. "What are stromatolites," I hear you say. I'm glad you asked that question. They are the oldest form of biological organism on the planet, and exist live only in a few locations in the world, mainly Hamelin Pool, and Lake Thetis also in WA. They are a form of blue green algae and apparently created a lot of the oxygen in the world aeons ago, making life as we know it possible. One definition says,"A community of microbes forms mats and secretes a mucus that traps sedimentary grains, cementing them into layers. Because the upper part of the mat requires sunlight for photosynthesis, the mat migrates upwards, leaving the layers that are seen in both modern and ancient stromatolites."

Another curious fossil form at Hamelin was the compacted shell beach, which was used for many years, and still occasionally, as a quarry for sand bricks:

Later on we got to see the finished product from the quarry when we stopped at Denham, just before Monkey Mia, to see a little seashell church:

This is what the sand blocks look like:

We had heard some criticism that Monkey Mia was over commercialized and it would be better to go to Denham nearby. I suspect this was from people who knew Monkey Mia as it was in the Sixties, when unrestricted frolicking with the dolphins was allowed. We found it busy but very pleasant, despite some initial chaos about our site booking. I would have happily accepted an offer of free drinks at the bar to compensate but Jean thought that was infra dig :-(

Commercial Monkey Mia certainly was, but in a very capable way. Our booking for a catamaran trip to seee Dugongs entitled us to an additional sunset cruise, which was very enjoyable. the Dugong trip produced just a brief sighting of a mum and calf, which, along with many large turtles floating by at close quarters, we thought reasonable value, given the vagaries of wild creatures, but we were offered another free trip to make up but time did not permit us to use it.

Nowadays, interaction with the famous bottlenose dolphins is strictly controlled for their protection, which we heartily endorse. Nevertheless its still possible to see them up close and enjoy their mischievious antics, along with interesting commentary from the rangers.

Then onto Kalbarri and the serious wildflower and orchid country!