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| OUR BIG TRIP MARY & OLI GOING AROUND AUSTRALIA |
WEST COAST - Page 21
20 September 2007, Thursday
One more day to see things at Shark Bay, so we headed towards Hamlin Pool and took in all diversions from the main road,
which included Eagle Bluff and other lookouts. The main attraction of today was the Stromatolites at Hamlin Pool. Those are
bacteria which are responsible for all life on Earth, according to the scientists. Those bacteria lived on Earth more than 3.5
Billion years ago and created all of the Oxygen we have today and what enabled life to diversify as we know it today. Just the
thought of that makes you quite interested in seeing those Stromatolites. All you really care about when you arrive at Hamlin
Pool is the flies around you. Walking down to the beach to see them you cross the old quarry from which shell stones have
been taken for building houses - this stuff gets quite hard!!! Finally at the beach you are maybe a little disappointed seeing
those "things" sticking out of the water - hmmm they are the same life forms as 3.5 Billion years ago.... Anyway, took lots of
pictures and realised that they are special. From here, we drove back towards Denham and took a couple of turn offs
towards Hamlin Bay to see if we could get to the beach again. We finally found one way and saw even more Stromatolites
and also lots of shells again - this was a nice area because I am sure not that many people get here to those side tracks.
Finally, we made it to the Ocean Park close to Denham and saw a few marine animals in their aquarium like park. This is
privately owned and operated. The owner actually does the tours and explains a lot. They are building a new huge tank to
being some of the fishes together in one tank - which will be interesting. Nice place to visit. After all of that we visited the
privately owned Visitor Centre in Denham (you have to pay $10) and were impressed, very nice set-up and worthwhile the
money and time spent. We got so much into the movies and the PC with Shark Bay information that we forgot about the time
and people had to drag us out when they closed. You need a few hours to see it all and the ticket is actually valid for two
days. Now 6 pm, we thought to just walk over to the other side of the street and try a third time to see a Dugong from the pier
and .... Yes, we finally saw one just 5 meters from the pier grazing on the seagrass - this was a beautiful ending of the day and
the visit to the Shark Bay area. Day over and preparation for leaving tomorrow towards Kalbarri started - pictures below from
the day. Overall we have to say that Shark Bay makes it into the top three destinations we have had so far. Not because of the
Dolphins or Dugongs but because of the nature and possibilities you have in this region to explore anything.
20 September 2007, Thursday
One more day to see things at Shark Bay, so we headed towards Hamlin Pool and took in all diversions from the main road,
which included Eagle Bluff and other lookouts. The main attraction of today was the Stromatolites at Hamlin Pool. Those are
bacteria which are responsible for all life on Earth, according to the scientists. Those bacteria lived on Earth more than 3.5
Billion years ago and created all of the Oxygen we have today and what enabled life to diversify as we know it today. Just the
thought of that makes you quite interested in seeing those Stromatolites. All you really care about when you arrive at Hamlin
Pool is the flies around you. Walking down to the beach to see them you cross the old quarry from which shell stones have
been taken for building houses - this stuff gets quite hard!!! Finally at the beach you are maybe a little disappointed seeing
those "things" sticking out of the water - hmmm they are the same life forms as 3.5 Billion years ago.... Anyway, took lots of
pictures and realised that they are special. From here, we drove back towards Denham and took a couple of turn offs
towards Hamlin Bay to see if we could get to the beach again. We finally found one way and saw even more Stromatolites
and also lots of shells again - this was a nice area because I am sure not that many people get here to those side tracks.
Finally, we made it to the Ocean Park close to Denham and saw a few marine animals in their aquarium like park. This is
privately owned and operated. The owner actually does the tours and explains a lot. They are building a new huge tank to
being some of the fishes together in one tank - which will be interesting. Nice place to visit. After all of that we visited the
privately owned Visitor Centre in Denham (you have to pay $10) and were impressed, very nice set-up and worthwhile the
money and time spent. We got so much into the movies and the PC with Shark Bay information that we forgot about the time
and people had to drag us out when they closed. You need a few hours to see it all and the ticket is actually valid for two
days. Now 6 pm, we thought to just walk over to the other side of the street and try a third time to see a Dugong from the pier
and .... Yes, we finally saw one just 5 meters from the pier grazing on the seagrass - this was a beautiful ending of the day and
the visit to the Shark Bay area. Day over and preparation for leaving tomorrow towards Kalbarri started - pictures below from
the day. Overall we have to say that Shark Bay makes it into the top three destinations we have had so far. Not because of the
Dolphins or Dugongs but because of the nature and possibilities you have in this region to explore anything.
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| Eagle Bluff lookout - normally good to see animals in the water - not today. Panoramic below. |
| The shell block quarry on the way to the beach at Hamlin Pool. |
| Three types of Stromatolites, black one sin the water, red ones on the dry land and the spongy black stuff you see between them. Below more impressions of them. |
| Even the cross on the grave is made out of the shell rock. This was a grave for one guy who died at sea. |