Denham (Shark Bay World Heritage Area)

Denham is the only town on the Peron Peninsula, most of which has been designated a World Heritage Area for outstanding natural and historic values. Denham is also the most Westerly town in Australia, so after this we will be heading gradually eastward again.

The most famous thing about the Shark Bay WHA are the wild dolphins that come into the bay at Monkey Mia daily to be fed. There are apparently around 16 dolphins that visit regularly, but only about 6 of these actually get fed. The Department of Environment and Conservation have worked out a strict feeding regimen to ensure that the dolphins still get the bulk of their food from hunting, so they do not lose their wild instincts. DEC have also cannily worked out that dolphins tend to hang around in family groups with a dominant female, so they only actually feed a few of the matriarchs and still get the benefit of the whole family visiting the beach. School holidays have started here in WA, so there were heaps of people at the dolphin feeding, unfortunately we weren't one of the lucky few chosen to actually hand over a fish but it was still lovely being there so close to these beautiful animals.

Dolphins aren't the only wildlife in the waters of Shark Bay, it is also home to 10% of the world's dugongs, as well as turtles, rays and, as the name suggests, lots of sharks. Dugongs are large marine mammals, supposedly the basis of the mermaid myth, but having seen the rotund beasts in real life we can only think that those sailors must have been out at sea a LONG time to mistake them for beautiful women. We did an afternoon cruise wildlife spotting, and saw quite a few dugong. The cruise company was offering a deal whereby we also got a free 1.5 hour sunset cruise included with the afternoon wildlife cruise. We figured as it was free we might as well go along the following day, although we weren't really expecting anything special. We should have read the brochure more carefully, the boat was originally built as a racing catamaran and in the brisk evening breeze we hurtled across the water with spray flying. Exhilarating!

Another, more sedate, feature of the area is the stromatolites, spongy rocklike formations created by blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, representatives of the very first life forms on earth. Nearby are areas where layers of shells up to 10 metres deep have hardened and bonded to form a rock like substance that looks just like a pile of shells. Early settlers quarried this for bricks, some of the very first buildings in Denham were made from these bricks and can still be seen.

Until less than 20 years ago the peninsula was a pastoral property, and the original homestead is now open to visitors. Wendy was going to pose for a photo with her legs in the tub filled from the water drawn up from underground springs under the property, but the artesian water was so hot that she couldn't get more than one foot in it! A very sandy 4wd track leads from the homestead to the very tip of the peninsula, where a walking track gave magnificent views into the shallow waters of Shark Bay. We saw rays snuffling in the sandy bottom, dugongs wallowing, sharks circling and a dolphin chasing, and ultimately catching, some prey fish. All in all we had a terrific time in one of the world's truly magnificent natural wonders.