After the expense and comfort of the caravan park in Coral Bay, we decided to save some dosh and camp on the side of the road in a gravel pit just outside the Shark Bay world heritage area. It was fine until after dark when I got the complete creeps! Every bird sounded like a mobile phone ringing and my imagination went crazy with our own ‘Wolf Creek’ like drama. Thankfully we survived the night without incident or any more company than the birds and continued out onto the peninsula that is Shark Bay to Monkey Mia.

Monkey Mia is famous for its friendly dolphins who have been hand fed by humans on the beach for the last 20 years. So three times a day the dolphins come in close to shore for a snack. Rob was one of the lucky few who were picked to feed a fish to the dolphin and he was pretty excited!

After a morning spent a Monkey Mia we explored further around the peninsula to Shell Beach. We all know of a beach called Shell Beach and we are lucky if we ever find shells on shell beach. Well, this Shell Beach is very different. The entire beach is shells. No sand. Just shells. Millions and millions little cockleshells have even formed dunes on the shore. I kept singing ‘Mary Mary  quite contrary’ to myself all day.

Before sunset we also visited some very ancient ancestors of ours called the stromatelites. They may look like just ocean rocks, however the stromatelites grow by only millimetres each year and are the oldest living life form on the planet. They are so old in fact that they existed before even oxygen filled the atmosphere and it was these stromatolites, that release oxygen, that actually transformed the planet into an atmosphere filled with oxygen that could support the existence of oxygen breathing life forms like us! These stromatelites are one of the reasons that Shark Bay achieved it’s world heritage status.

Our next day in the Shark Bay  region was to adventure to the most westerly point of the Australian mainland, Steep Point. Access to the point is by 4wd only and it was truly a great drive! Most of it was dirt road however things really got fun once we hit the massive sand dunes. Sand dunes over 12 metres high were criss crossed with a thin track and lead to the rugged cliffs that mark the end of the road. We literally could not have gotten ourselves any further west. We spent some time watching the mighty waves roll in from the Indian ocean and crash against the giant cliffs. It was quite humbling however I couldn’t’ watch for too long all the rolling waves were making me feel sea sick!

Steep Point is very very pretty. The cliffs face the brunt of the incoming ocean, yet the shape of the peninsular means that steep point is also home to some pristine beaches. We spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun and enjoying the tranquillity. Its Eastwards from here!