Day 76: Sun 02 Jun 24 - Denham

Sun 02 Jun 24 - Denham 

17 to 22 Deg C. A strong cold front moved across the coast overnight bringing strong winds gusting above 60km/h and steady rain, making for a sleepless night. With rain and strong wind  persisting into the morning, we had a slower than usual start to the day.  

By 10:30, after we got ourselves organised, the weather had cleared enough to venture outdoors. At 09:45, we drove 11km out of town to the Ocean Park aquarium on the shores of the Shark Bay Marine Park. Here we joined a one hour tour learning about the local marine life and watched an array of sharks, stingrays and fish being fed. It was interesting learning about the different marine life and their behaviours, but we felt it was not worth the $30/head cost. Afterwards we sat inside the cafe out of the fresh gusting wind for a not-so enjoyable coffee. We did enjoy the views across the Bay though. After our visit, we stopped at the Denham Hill lookout on the way back to town to the Discovery and Visitor Centre where we read more about the fate of HMAS Sydney II and watched another excellent three-D video - just as moving as the one seen in Geraldton. This was followed by a walk through a stunning landscape photography exhibition by renowned WA photographers including Christian Fletcher before we returned to the van for lunch. After lunch, I went for a walk around town to find a couple of old buildings reputedly constructed from shell blocks cut from a local quarry. The blocks are formed when the tiny cockle shells (Fragum erugatum) compact and cement themselves. I found two such buildings - the Anglican Church built in 1954 and a restaurant built in 1974.

When I returned to the van, Noel and I went for a drive about 12 km into the Francois Peron National Park to the Peron Heritage Precinct. The Peron Homestead was a working pastoral station in the early 1900s, and is now a historical attraction providing an insight into life on a sheep farm during the earlier part of the last century. A self-guided walk around the precinct explains the history and operation of the shearing shed, shearer’s quarters and stock yards. There is also a small and very popular artesian hot tub which once supplied the pastoral station. When free-flowing, it produces 170,000 litres per day at a constant 40Deg C. After keeping Noel waiting for me for about 30 minutes while I enjoyed a hot bath (as she wasn't interested), we returned to the van for the evening. The strong winds and rain that we had overnight and through the day, eased a lot by late afternoon, so we intend to drive across to Monkey Mia in the morning to see what all the excitement is about the the local dolphins. 

Ocean World Denham

Ocean World Denham

Ocean World Denham

Ocean World Denham - Hand feeding a stingray

Ocean World Denham - Hand feeding a stingray

Ocean World Denham - A large Coral trout

Ocean World Denham - ...and large Snapper looking for food


Denham Hill Lookout

Denham Hill Lookout

Denham Hill Lookout - Thong Shack



Discovery and Visitor Centre - Landscape Photography Exhibition

Discovery and Visitor Centre - Landscape Photography Exhibition

Discovery and Visitor Centre - Landscape Photography Exhibition

Discovery and Visitor Centre - Learning more about the fate of HMAS Sydney II

Denham War Memorial

Denham War Memorial

Denham - Anglican Church built from Cockle Shell Blocks


Denham - Anglican Church built from Cockle Shell Blocks

Denham - Anglican Church built from Cockle Shell Blocks


Denham - Anglican Church built from Cockle Shell Blocks

Denham - Anglican Church built from Cockle Shell Blocks

Denham - Old Pearler Restaurant built from Cockle Shell Blocks

Denham - Old Pearler Restaurant built from Cockle Shell Blocks

Denham - Old Pearler Restaurant built from Cockle Shell Blocks


Peron Heritage Precinct


Peron Heritage Precinct

Peron Heritage Precinct - Cookhouse and Mess

Peron Heritage Precinct - Cookhouse and Mess


Peron Heritage Precinct - Old Shearers Quarters - home for the shearing crew

Peron Heritage Precinct - Cookhouse and Mess

Peron Heritage Precinct - Old Shearers Quarters - home for the shearing crew


Peron Heritage Precinct - Shearing Shed & Yards


Peron Heritage Precinct - The Artesian hot tub




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