Denham (Shark Bay)

Today (Monday June 29) felt like our last proper day of holiday up on the Coral Coast. The remaining days are transit days back to Perth and more time with relatives there. We'll be home by Friday. 

We only had one full day in Shark Bay and we elected to divide and conquer. Louise took a boat tour to Dirk Hartog Island, the place where Europeans (Dutch to be precise) first landed in Australia, all the way back in 1616. It's strange to think that Europeans knew about this place when Shakespeare was still alive (but only just), when James I was on the throne, and only a few short years after Galileo proved the Earth went round the Sun. But they did. Anyway, she had a wonderful time, seeing Leopard Rays and Dugongs and all sorts. It's a true wilderness out there. 

I was feeling a bit sick of the sea, so I went on a birding trip out to Monkey Mia, which is more famous for bottlenose dolphins, but I was more interested in the elusive Chiming Wedgebill, which I saw, and recorded its song. I got two other new birds as well.

Monkey Mia is an odd place nowadays. The era when you could freely cavort with the dolphins os over, because constant overfeeding was causing their young to grow up without a clue how to hunt, among other problems. Nowadays they get only a tiny fraction of their daily diet, and tourists must keep a respectful distance. So, all the frivolity has gone but it's much better for the dolphins...which seems about right. 

This evening we ate more delicious fish (trevalley this time), and watched a spectacular sunset over Little Lagoon. The Coral Coast really turned it on for us on our final day above the 26th parallel. 

Pics will include a few from yesterday afternoon when we first got here - Hamelin Pool stromatolites, and the famous Shell Beach, both in one of the world's most salty marine environments.