On the way to Hamelin Pool, we stopped at Carnarvon to have a look around. We arrived in time for the markets at One Mile Jetty on Sunday morning and enjoyed a browse and a walk up the jetty. Part of the jetty was burnt out and closed so we couldn't walk out to the end but we still went a fair way. They were also doing train rides out but we chose to walk as we thought the jetty was so rickety, the weight of a train might be a little scary.
Hamelin Pool is home to the Stromatolites that used to inhabit earth 3.5 billion years ago and produced all the oxygen on the planet that we have today. This is a small patch that still remains due to the water having a higher salt content.
On Sunday night we had our first rain since around Cairns. We had been hoping on rain to wash some of the dust off the tent but found that after 4 months of dry and heat our canvas wasn't very water proof anymore and had a few leaks. The wind behind it didn't help any.
On Monday we went up to Denham, Shell Beach and Monkey Mia, still raining. The dolphins started coming into the beach about 20 minutes after we got to Monkey Mia at around 10am, and a very pregnant one stayed in shore while the rangers talked. The remaining dolphins stayed out a little and didn't come in for feeding, but they still fed the pregnant one. Geoff was picked to feed her but sent Erin out in his place so she was very excited. Denham was a nice little town and we stopped for lunch and a walk along the beach before continuing to Shell Beach, where the shells are around 5m deep and used in the shell quarry.
Due to the rain, the roads were closed out to the National Park and Steep Point and we were really looking forward to going to at least Steep Point.
Another family was camped next to us at Hamelin Pool with two young boys and waited patiently with us yesterday morning to hear if the road to Steep Point had been opened or not. If it was closed, we were all moving on, if open, we'd extend our stays. The rain had stopped early yesterday afternoon so we were hoping the road had dried out enough for us. At 7.30am we got the news that the road was open and as it was 4WD advised to stay together to help each other if needed. That was fine with us as we all got along really well.
Steep Point is the western most point of mainland Australia and about 160km of gravel and sand roads. At about 100km in, tyres have to be let down to 20psi and later on there is a sign notifying everyone that "tyres will be checked and incur a $25 fine if over 20psi". This is on top of the $22 per vehicle entrance fee.
The road out was good, a little slushy in areas from the rain and the grader had also been out and was half way through grading the road. We drove through narrow sand tracks and along the beach and eventually made it to the rocky cliffs of Steep Point just before lunch, after 3 hours driving. The view was fantastic, the sky clear and the ocean a very deep, inky blue. We took lots of photos and swapped cameras so each family had a photo by the sign marking the western point. During the afternoon we did a spot of fishing and had a large whale and her calf come really close to the cliff we were standing on, absolutely breathtaking. The kids all collected heaps of shells along the beaches and we all had a fantastic day, no fish caught though.
We started making our way back to camp about 3.30pm because we knew it would take at least 3 hours and we had to stop and re-inflate our tyres. Half way back, we got a puncture and had to stop and change the tyre but it didn't dampen our spirits. We got back to camp well after dark, all very hungry and tired.
I thoroughly recommend Hamelin Pool Caravan Park to anyone staying out that way, the people there couldn't do enough for us, offering advice and chasing up road closures and were a very friendly bunch.
I've taken over 300 photos in the last week so I have some sorting to do before I can upload them.
