Shark Bay…
Shark Bay is just a bit up the road from Perth, around about 8-9 hours from my place, an extra hour if you’re coming from the south side of the river.
My first Easter weekend in WA seemed like a good time to explore it, way back then. Having googled and found somewhere to camp, off I went.
It’s a long road, but being my first time heading further north of Perth I loved it.
I don’t know about you but I get kicks out of little things, like names of places, Shark Bay, Whalebone campsite etc. They sound exciting. It stands to reason then that Whalebone campsite, as it’s called on the map, was my first night’s destination.
My site paid for at the nearby sleepy little town of Denham, I headed to camp to set up for the night. Back then I liked to get in early to get a good spot. In the mid afternoon I had the whole place to myself, and, with no facilities at all I wondered if I would be the only one there for the night.
Whalebone campsite is on a small bay with enough space for a number camping set ups, depending on how close to the water you want to get. It’s tucked about 1km off the main road; you could hear the road noise but it was kind of muffled.
It was blissfully peaceful. I felt sure there wouldn’t be too many other campers turning up.
The first car to pull in was a bunch of longtime friends from over east, who had flown over together to do a road trip heading further north. One of them had recently moved from to another city, breaking the team up a bit, I guess. They were excited to be all back together and on an exciting road trip in the West.
The second car was a bunch of what sounded like French guys who set up further down the bay from the rest of us. The only other car was one that pulled in late at night, and took off first thing in the morning.
It was a beautiful night, watching an incredible sunset, watching the brilliant stars twinkle and sparkle overhead, listening to the murmured chatter of the reunited friends blending with the gentle motion of the sea ebbing and flowing on the shore.
I climbed up a large rock to watch the sunrise over the land behind me, illuminating the sea below me, while the others campers slept. It’s moments like that, that I particularly adore. Witnessing the cycle of time moving from day to night, night to day, the colours, the light. It really puts things in perspective, right?
It wasn’t till my neighbours for the night had all had their morning coffee, packed up their campsites and waved goodbye as they departed for their next destinations that I discovered Tibby’s flat tyre. Judging from photos taken while camped, it had gone down overnight. Luckily it was easy to change and I was off exploring again.
Since that first trip to Shark Bay, the first time I visited Shell Beach, my first experience of the Hamelin Pool Nature Reserve, where the stromatolites have existed for 3500 million years. My first discovery of exploring tracks running off from the main road, revealing incredible seascape sights, amazing colours of the land.
The reds, the blues, the cyans, the pinks, oranges, yellows, purples and browns, blacks and near whites. It’s easy to see why this is a protected World Heritage Area.
Its why I’ve been back again and again.
That road isn’t really so long now, you get used to it. It’s a nice drive, and turning off the main highway onto Shark Bay Road is exciting. That’s when you really start to feel that anticipation and excitement bubble up.
That sense of knowing what you’ll find, knowing what you’ll see, knowing how you’ll feel… and knowing it will blow your mind, adds to the overall experience.
The heightened sense of anticipation. When you get to whichever is your first destination… I don’t quite know how to describe it but it’s that huge “Yay” feeling.
I’m here, Im going to have a blast, Im excited to see what I see and experience.
It’s world class 😌
Its been a while since I was last there, Im thinking its time to think about heading back :)
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