Category: Australia

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Day 83: 20 August – Another day, another shark…

Author: Mrs A

Distance driven: 12 km

We decided to stay in Denham another couple of nights, not quite ready to leave this beautiful area. As the campground is fully booked, we had to move to a new unpowered site just up the hill. Once settled we decided to explore the Denham locality a bit further.

Our first stop was just south of Denham, a typically quirky Australian feature – ‘the thong shack‘ (flip flops, not underwear!) right behind yet another stunning beach, and providing a great lookout along the coast beyond the rubber footwear.


From there we headed a short distance south to the Ocean Park Aquarium. This is not your typical aquarium – it is run by marine scientists, and many of the creatures have been rescued and are being cared for until they are released. 

Their speciality is sharks, and they have quite a number in a huge pool fed directly from the ocean, but in addition there are stone fish, eels, turtles, rays and many other fish and sea snakes on site. 

We learned a lot about them and also thanked our lucky stars we didn’t take our pack-rafts paddling in the Little Lagoon estuary – it’s full of poisonous stone fish! Ugh! Can you spot the fish in the picture below? We’re not sure we would. Once disturbed, these ugly beasts throw up a number of poisonous spines. Apparently the pain is excruciating, causing tissue damage and potential amputation, if not, death. Not pleasant.


We enjoyed a delicious and affordable lunch with an incredible view (are we still in WA?!) before returning to camp for the afternoon. Mr A relaxed with a good book while I got started on my presentation for my Chicago visit.

We finished off the evening with a seafood pasta coupled with an Italian Pinot Grigio and a fabulous sunset.

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Day 82: 19 August – Dolphins on cue

Author: Mr A

From: Denham

To: Monkey Mia

Distance: 27 km

It was a 6.30am alarm and on the road by 7 to ensure we were in time for the briefing by the rangers who staffed the 'Dolphin experience' at Monkey Mia. 

For over 50 years dolphins have been fed here, initially by the fishermen who shared their catch with them. Dolphins, as we know, aren't daft and started turning up at the same stip of beach every morning licking their lips. Then the tourists started to flood in and the dolphins who came were breeding pups who didn't know how to hunt for their own fish because they had never seen mum do it. So the WA Wildlife folk stepped in during the early 1990s and now regulate the whole thing, with only a few snacks being delivered by the lucky few chosen from the hundred or so of us watching. 


It was a great experience to see these mammals up so close, literally metres away from the beach, rolling over, waving a flipper, and yet know although humanised they are still 'wild', and make a choice as to whether they turn up or not, and when.



We were back in Denham by lunch time and spent a very productive afternoon washing and cleaning…dull but necessary given everything is covered in red dust. That stuff can get inside a vacuum sealed flask…incredible.  

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Day 81: 18 August – Spectacular Francois Peron National Park

Author: Mrs A

Location: Francois Peron National Park – Big Lagoon, Cape Peron and Snapper Point

Distance driven: 110 km return

Distance kayaked: 4 km

Distance hiked: 4 km

We left early after a light breakfast heading for Big Lagoon (they’re very creative with the names in these parts. There is also a Little Lagoon) in the Francois Peron National Park. We had been told by the information centre that today was to be both the warmest and least windy day of the next five days, so we decided to take advantage.

By 9.30am we were inflating our pack-rafts and setting off on the beautiful turquoise water for an explore.

It was the perfect way to see the shallow lake, which was unsuitable for motorised vessels. We explored right across to the opening of the lagoon, where it met the sea, and clambered up the iron rich sand dunes, cris-crossed with multiple animal and bird tracks, and no signs of humans at all.

We decided to stop and have lunch here, at the brand new national park kitchen and picnic area with the million dollar view. Not another soul was there!

After lunch we decided to drive up to the tip of the national park. I had read some incredible accounts of the scenery and wildlife up there, and couldn’t wait to visit, however as we drove up the extremely rough roads (corrugations and deep sand) for over an hour, I could tell Mr A was doubting my decision. Thankfully the view at the top was incredible, with spectacular scenery and out of this world colours.

Better still, as we reached Cape Peron and the Snapper Point Lookout the sea life appeared as if on cue – within moments of arriving we spotted several sharks swimming past and a huge manta ray, along with multiple shoals of gleaming fish. We both agreed, we could have spent a whole afternoon just there.

We walked along the headland, reading about the history of the point, with the first European visitors arriving from France back in 1801 and dancing to the maracas to try and convince the local Aboriginal groups they were there in peace. The Aboriginal people of course have been resident on this point for more than 26,000 years, and had never seen anything like it. I can only imagine what planet they thought these strange visitors were from!

Down on the beach we saw hundreds of Little Pied Cormerants, which are regular residents here. The fact there are so many on land in this photo, and not in the water, means there are tiger sharks about. Cormerants, dolphins, manta rays, turtles and the odd pack-rafter are favourite meals for tiger sharks. We remained firmly on land.

We returned to camp exhausted after our busy day, and thankfully had the foresight to defrost a pre-made red curry for dinner. 

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Day 80: 17 August – Are we in the French Riviera?

Author: Mr A

From: Hamelin Station 

To: Denham

Distance driven: 105 km

Distance cycled: 5.5 km

Distance hiked: 5.5 km

A little dusty this morning after celebrating our anniversary a little enthusiastically with our new “on the road” buddies Nick and Laura. A Mr A special of bacon and eggs soon had us raring to go (in our minds at least), so we pulled up sticks and headed off. 

Coming down the hill into Denham we saw this perfect white sand beach, framed by yachts bobbing around on an azure sea…and wondered ‘Did we just get teleported to the French Rivieria?‘


After getting set up in the caravan park we cycled round town, eager to find those lovely little French cafes which the chic looking crowd ambling the markets ….however…the first (and only) cafe-come-bakery in town was staffed by a woman dressed as if she had recently lost a fight with a bag of flour, who,when asked ‘Could madam please make a soy hot chocolate?’, walked away and mumbled something incoherent. After a couple of promts she managed to grunt ‘Nah’, still without making eye contact. Ah well…we are definitely in small town WA where the only caravan park is chock full and every business in town seems to just open its doors and say ‘Take it or leave it, these’s a queue behind you if you don’t like it’. 

On the positive side it is a lovely backdrop to the town…


A popular spot to moor up for the yachties, the water is just crystal clear, and apparently the fishing is good. And in a nutshell that’s the difference between the French Riviera and here. Miles and miles of pristine beaches stretch away into the distance, hardly a human footprint in sight, but those of kangaroos, birds, lizards…..queuing up to be photographed by Mrs A.

We had booked dinner at the one and only restaurant in town (The Old Pearler Restaurant), in a building made completely of shell bricks from the quarry we visited yesterday. As this was a special night, given we ate in on our anniversary, we ordered the seafood platter. Now $115 got us a big plate of seafood each, but no salad, no chips, nothing – just a plate of seafood. Interesting…And they were booked out of course. If you want to eat out in Denham, other than the grotty pub with the pokies clanging away, you have no choice but to come here, whatever the price. 

Now for those of you who are wondering ‘Where the heck is Denham? I must cross it off my gastronomy tour‘ here’s our current location. Very close to Monkey Mia, famous for the dolphins. It is as far west in Australia as you can ride a horse…and amazingly beautiful. 

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Day 79: 16 August – Biking, bubbles and campfires

Author: Mrs A

Distance driven: 452 km

Distance cycled: 14.5 km

We awoke to a perfect blue sky morning and were packed up, hitched up and on the road by 8am. We had a lot of driving ahead of us and we wanted to ensure we made the most of our destination in the afternoon.

Several podcasts kept us company along the way, and by 2.30pm we had arrived. Today we are staying at Hamelin Station on the southernmost tip of Shark Bay.


Hamelin Station Reserve is a 202,000 hectare property, situated on 32 kilometres of coast line and bordering the Shark Bay World Heritage area.  The former sheep station is now owned by Bush Heritage Australia.  The reserve helps to protect Hamelin Pool, one of the only two places in the world where living marine stromatolites are known to occur.

Now, we had no idea what stromatolites were, so on spotting a sign directing us to see them, we jumped on our bikes and headed up to Hamelin Pool. As we rode down onto the beach and boardwalk we spotted Nick and Laura, the couple from Manly/UK who we first met (and last saw) just north of Broome while hunting for dinosaur footprints! On finding they are camped just two spots away from us we made arrangements to catch up for drinks in the evening.


So, stromatolites. These black spongy things are stromatolites, basically towers of living micro organisms, the origins of life on earth. Pretty interesting. We passed several Japanese tourists taking selfies with the rock-like structures – I wondered whether they had any idea what the information boards said or why they were there. Even Mr A and I found them relatively heavy going!

The beach on which we were cycling was made entirely of miniature white shells, a particular type of cockle which grows prolifically in this area. In one area we passed through quarry from the 1800s, where the original settlers in this area had cut bricks from the compacted shells to build their homes.


We returned to Hamelin Station and explored the beautifully landscaped grounds and onsite lake, rich in birdlife.

Before long it was time to pop the cork on our prosecco and raise a toast. On this day 15 years ago Mark and I became Mr and Mrs Anderson, supported by many friends and family at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Laura and Nick came over to join us, bringing some dips and biscuits, and we set about realising just how many people we know in common. Mr A and Laura in particular – Laura previously worked for SAS and Mr A worked closely with a number of her colleagues in his KPMG days.

We finished the evening under the shooting stars around the campfire with several good bottles of red. A fine end to an anniversary date!

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Day 78: 15 August – Grand country

Author: Mr A

Location: Kennedy Range National Park

Distance hiked: 12 km

Floors climbed: 22

This is big, magnificent country with the sandstone escarpment of the Kennedy Range towering over our van. We had planned to go walking today if the weather fined up, and it had. So a foundational breakfast was called for. Using the fresh tomatoes, garlic, red onion and basil from the market gardens of Carnarvon we mixed up in the hand blender some bruschetta. I had spotted some packaged bread especially for bruschetta when we were in Woolworths. On inspection of the packaging it had actually been made in Italy, shipped to Brookvale (a kilometre away from our house in Sydney!) then onward to Caranarvon. Well travelled bread indeed. Tasted great though!


Fortified,we were on our way. The first walk took us up a steep path to the top of the escarpment, 800 metres above our van with views out over the plains. It was just a majestic place. 


After a clamber back down we marched off to the next walk around the side of the range. The rock formations were amazing. The colours of the rock are so different to anything we have seen before. Rich purples, glowing organge, huge blocks of rock strewn everywhere, it was quite an overwhelming landscape. We came to a huge natural amphitheatre and just sat there. I just listened to the sound of blood rushing through my ears, because the silence was so loud. It reached out and enveloped us in this beautiful stillness, That’s the magic of country.


Back at the camp, we wandered over to the communal fire. A dozen other campers were there, pretty much everyone on the site, and we just drank some wine and chewed the fat. A lovely bunch of people…again. From all walks of life…some Australians, a German paramedic travelling round on his own, it was another great opportunity to understand others’ perspectives on the life decisions that brought them to this place and time. 

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Day 77: 14 August – Stranded in the Kennedy Range

Author: Mrs A

Distance driven: 230 km

We awoke to drizzle and low cloud, and set about packing and hitching up to the car ready to move on. After a quick visit to the Asian grocer for a few ingredients and the camping store for a replacement gas bottle, we headed inland, first to Gascoyne Junction and then across to the Kennedy Range National Park.


The Kennedy Range is about 160km from the coast, and rises up out of the flat desert region. Like many of the other gorges we have visited, these hills are formed with layers of sandstone and shale, formed from an uplifted ancient sea bed. Apparently there are marine fossils to be found in the sandstone.

The rain followed us the whole way inland, the landscape looking quite surreal with pools appearing beside the road and flocks of birds going crazy for the water. The area we are in is considered arid and very rarely experiences rain outside of the November-March period. Lucky us! As we drove along the red roads into the campground the cloud lifted and the sun shone on the ranges – they looked spectacular with dramatic skies all around.


We found ourselves a good spot right near where the walks start and settled in to make lunch. Before we knew it the clouds had closed in and we were in for a very wet afternoon. We didn’t emerge from the mobile apartment for more than five minutes, enjoying an afternoon of reading and basically relaxing with the sound of the rain on the roof.

At around 5.30pm we had a knock at the door. One of the volunteer campground hosts came round to let us know that she’d just got off the radio with the National Parks office, and they had advised her that all roads in and out of the ranges have been closed due to the rain. We are stranded – couldn’t leave if we wanted to! Apparently the roads are shut after as little as 4mm of rain, and we have had much more than that. We are not planning to leave until Wednesday, so hopefully they dry out tomorrow. The forecast is for increasing sunshine, which is just as well as we now have one day to do all the walks and make up for today’s laziness!

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Day 76: 13 August  – “And that sounds like rain…”

Author: Mr A

We woke to the sounds of rain splattering on our dusty roof, hopefully it will clean up those solar panels! It wasn't a rush out of bed sort of day, but when we did we wandered out for lunch amongst the banana trees. Now I've never eaten lunch on a banana plantation, but I did think a banana smoothie might be the right way to start…and it was…delicious.


We drove around these small local farm shops picking up fresh veg, it was all so shiny and obviously right out of the ground. Tonight Mrs A's pad thai was full of these crunchy veg and herbs….OMG amazing. Such a lovely sweet and sour type of taste she conjures up. A good old Taylor's Shiraz from the Clare did us proud alongside those robust flavours. 

Not much else to report today. We showed some lovely folk who were staying on the caravan park around the van. They were interested in what the "Best Off-road Van of the Year" looked like from the inside. Splendid of course :) 

So, our fridge is bursting with fresh veg, our water tanks are all topped up, we are ready to hit the road in the morning…Ye hah. We are leaving the coast and heading for the hills. The Kennedy Range here we come. 

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Day 75: 12 August – Market day in Carnarvon

Author: Mrs A

Location: Carnarvon

Distance cycled: 20 km

Saturday morning meant the long awaited market day had arrived. Carnarvon is the centre of the fruit and vegetable growing region, and today marked the final day in a week long celebration ‘Food week’. Just by chance we happened to be here – usually we arrive a week after these events, hearing tales of how good they were. So we jumped on our bikes and rode the 5km into town and the markets, with mediocre expectations. They were good! Not quite as good as the Forestville farmers markets we experience in Sydney, but also not as bad as the ‘markets’ in Derby with three market stalls, two of which were selling doilies…

Incredible varieties of home made jams and preserves (we bought a green mango chilli jam – yum!), plus well priced vegetables and fruits freshly picked.  There were some celebrity chefs cooking chicken, meatball and catfish dishes, all served up for free, and even the TV cameras there to interview blokes in jackets – presumably regional Western Australia celebrities.


We purchased as much as our fridge could cope with and jumped back on our bikes to continue exploring Carnarvon. We rode down to the water and across an old jetty, still sporting rail lines. This, we then learned, led to a 3km ride across salt marsh to one of Carnarvon’s tourist highlights, One-Mile-Jetty, where you can ride an old train out to sea, around a mile for $5. We gave that a miss and rode back to camp with our purchases.


With 20km under our belts we felt a little peckish and decided to try out some of the local seafood. We picked up some fish and chips, bringing them back to the mobile apartment to consume. By now the wind had picked up and we had heard rumours of bad weather approaching. We weather-proofed the caravan. The fish and chips were ok, but nothing to write home about. Very average.

The afternoon was spent competing tasks – washing bedding, washing the car, supermarket shopping. The wind got stronger and the blue sky disappeared.


A very chilled out evening eventuated as the wind dropped and the rain arrived. It is still warm, and the rain seems to be in showers only – just enough to ensure our sheets don’t dry!

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Day 74: 11 August – Pavements and everything

Author: Mr A

From: 14 Mile Beach

To: Carnarvon

Distance driven: 196 km

Distance cycled: 18 km

We dragged ourselves away from our perfect little paradise and hit the road south to Carnarvon. It was quite exciting going to a town, our first one since Broome a couple of months ago. 

Our caravan site is….what caravan sites usually are…cramped and functional. We do our washing (we have managed to fix the washing machine with some help from Zone RV and our air compressor….don’t ask), we charge a few things that need 240v (not much, USB rules in our van), and head into town. There is a cycle way! Pavements! Traffic lights (ok, not really…but roundabouts!)! Mitre 10! A choice of petrol stations….wow. We’re a bit over awed. 


The town is actually quite appealing to us becuase it actually looks real rather than constructed purely for the extraction of the tourist dollar. We cycled in and followed the foreshore round to port. It was packed with hulking, real, working fishing boats….no tour operators, no tour buses, just a couple of sea food joints as the only place you could spend your money. What a change from every settlement since Kunnanurra down through the Kimberley and the Coral Coast. 


A beer was definitely called for, it was Friday arvo, and then we headed back to the van park and the production of a fine chicken Rogan Josh by Mrs A. Sadly the wine choice for the evening purchased from BWS in Port Headland was a shocker. If you see a Shiraz called “The Accomplice” smartly step away from the bottle. Yuck!


So we have wifi from the van park, its appallingly slow of course, but we do live in the lucky country….cough….to have the 52nd slowest broadband in the world. We switch to our mobile plan as its faster,  until it runs out. Ah Australia…if we were in Thailand, Kenya, Estonia or Bulgaria, then we would be better served by our internet providers. How did we get to this position? 

It’s weird going to bed hearing traffic noise tonight….

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