Living in Francois Peron National Park

Sneaking up on a wedge tail eagle at Point Peron

For years I have been a somewhat frustrated holiday-maker. In the short time one can travel in other countries on working holidays, it has been difficult to emerge fully in to the local culture and get to know the people that live there. Travelling became a procession of visits to the major tourist destinations ticking them off the list one by one. Those lists were acquired from a brochure or a top ten web-site every man and his dog has in his possession and passes by the real world with the real people in them.



Herald Bight - one of the camp sights visited during an excursion into the park

Being able to spend the time here in Shark Bay is a luxury not many people get to experience. We have met a lot of locals and getting to know them was easy. We are now on first name terms with 30% of the town, know the greengrocer by name and have been stopped in the main street of Denham by locals to have a chat. This is the ultimate country inclusive tradition I believe.



A camouflaged bearded dragon

As volunteers for DPaW (Department of Parks and Wildlife) both Julie and I have had the pleasure to travel into the national park with some of the DPaW staff. These guys have a wealth of experience in the job that they know well. Every time we are out in the park something unexpected happens. There will be a lizard sitting on a branch or a sea eagle flying overhead. We have seen a dugong just five metres off the beach and helped a sea snake swim back out to sea. There is a wild life avalanche in Francois Peron National Park - all shown to us with expert commentary ocker Ozzy Attenborough style.

 

 

A white breasted sea eagle flying overhead

Some of the places where we've had “smoko” - even though none of us  smoke - are just simply breath-taking. For morning tea we stopped at Sheila’s Bluff. A stunning red semi-circled bay North of Bottle bay. The story goes that two local young men were collecting firewood on top of the cliff (in the old days one could still light camp fires in this area). They threw the sticks they had collected over the edge of the cliff so they didn't have to carry them down. Sheila the dog wrongly jumped after a stick causing her to fly towards the treacherous terrain below. As you can see in the photo it is quite a drop. Sheila dodged several big boulders on the way down, tumbled and rolled a couple of times and ended up laying completely winded on the beach. After the initial shock of seeing their dog disappear over the cliff edge and after making sure the dog was ok they cracked up laughing and named the rock Sheila’s Bluff. Apparently Sheila spent the rest of the day quietly under the ute.  

Sheila's Bluff

At South Gregories we stopped for lunch at a goat cave carved out at the high tide mark. Inside there are several stages of geological evolution going on if you are interested or you can just enjoy the turquoise sea water lapping at the little white beach in front of you while eating your sandwich.




The snorkelling is great at Gregories reef. 

Even cleaning the toilet is exciting in these parts. We were told about a redback spider trapping big bugs, lizards and even small snakes in its web that is amazingly strong and sticky.

Keep an eye out for these redbacks. We have "removed" several from the toilets at Gregories and Bottle Bay campsites. One such beautiful insect had made its home on the handle of the toilet brush. According to Wikipedia, historically humans were bitten in their genetalia as redbacks were hiding in the outdoor dunny. It must have been like dangling a carrot in front of those little spidy's fangs. These days indoor plumbing and better facilities has solved that problem. Makes you look twice right?




This friendly redback spider lives in our toilet at the homestead.

If you are bitten, symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, chest or abdominal pain, agitation, generalised sweating and high blood pressure. For first aid treatment of redback spider bites Wikipedia recommends applying ice and taking Panadol against the pain. Keeping still helps prevent the poison from spreading through your body. If pain persists a hospital assessment may be needed. If I was bitten I would be banging the door of the hospital down immediately. Never mind the Panadol.

Another amazing fact I found about redbacks is that during a horrific sexual cannibalistic ritual, the beautiful red striped female eats the all black male spider genitals first. One last amorous act by the male before turning into crunchy spider food. It must be said that redbacks do not engage in long term relationships




The colours of Skipjack Point.

 

A couple of times now we have been able to walk the 1500 metre trail between Cape Peron and Skipjack Point. A truly remarkable spot, with great sweeping views over the beach and ocean. There has to be one of the largest colony of cormorants (otherwise known as shags) queuing up along the beach we have ever seen. A huge wedge tail eagle was spotted by Julie on top of a low scrub. (see Julie's photo at the beginning of this blog).



The largest row of cormorants we have ever seen at Cape Peron.

From the boardwalk - a vantage point high above the sea at Skipjack Point - on a quiet wind-free day you can see many rays, dolphins, dugongs and sharks.  





A dugong coming up for air in Shark Bay.

We have had many chats with the rangers around the homestead, have been invited into peoples homes for cuppa's and loved the DPaW Christmas party. We would like to thank all DPaW staff for the time they have taken to show us around Francois Peron National Park and making us feel welcome.



Grey bits
 

Who is Francois Peron you may ask or you may not? Francois was a French scientist who came out to Terra Australis as Australia was known then on an ill-fated expedition on the ships the "Naturaliste" and the "Geographe" in 1800. The death toll reaching 40 due to scurvy, fever and dysentery on this voyage The two ships were separated for a long time and the expeditions into the peninsular were lost and late returning on three occasions. Francois Peron, whilst earning the wrath of his captain for getting lost, collected around 2500 zoological, for that time unknown species, and his enthusiasm and excitement about the peninsular wild life I share with him. Maybe he wasn't lost at all and just enjoyed the soft glowing low scrubby hills covered in flowers and strange animals. Unfortunately Francois contracted Tuberculosis and died when he was 35.

 

Francois Peron never had a chance to become
 a semi-grey nomad.

 

If you like to read more about Francois Peron go to: http://www.sharkbay.org.au/assets/documents/factsheets/francois-peron-v2.pdf



 You can read more about redback spiders at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider

A Perennial Tar Vine or Commicarpus Australis at Cape Peron

 

 

Not just a walk in the park.

  

 

Kent Street Weir. The calm before the storm.

I think I am a cynical guy when it comes to community spirit and events. I don’t think I am the only one feeling a bit out of place at the neighbourhood car booth sale around the corner, local football club or street party and barely have had contact with my neighbours whilst living in suburbia. Currently, my closest neighbour in Shark Bay is 13 km away.

Garmin frenzy and mayhem at the start.

I have to tell you that my cynicism has somewhat faded over the last couple of years by appearing regularly at my local parkrun. Parkrun, which originated in England, is busy conquering the world one sweat bead at a time. Parkruns are 5km long and organised by volunteers all in beautiful spots throughout Australia. Race directors, time keepers, marshals, barcode scanners, cake bakers, supporters, bbq chefs and spectators are all volunteering their time, sacrificing their Saturday morning for the cause.



The man of the moment

My local parkrun, Canning River in Perth, runs through parkland and traverses the picturesque Canning River starting and finishing at Kent Street Weir. Soon you will become familiar with snake bridge, bin corner and our own tiny version of heartbreak hill, a nasty 700 meters from the finish line, This is a superb spot to chase your 'PB' (personal best), take your dog for a run or spend the morning with the kids. It has been known that some participants exercise their jaws more than their legs.



Parkrun is for all shapes, ages and abilities. There is a mythical few runners and walkers that are 'fair-dinkum' grey nomads and keep providing us semi-grey “youngsters” with so much inspiration.




Sheila going for parkrun #91

Many children frequent the course.  Some in prams, some running or walking, some being encouraged along by their mum or dad. Some kids are just way too quick for their mum or dad. Not a tantrum in sight or am I being cynical again?

 

The front runners are absolute guns and if you are lucky you will only see the back of them for 30 seconds at the start as they disappear rapidly from view. Very soon you have the choice to either battle on your own or to chat all the way around with anyone that will listen.

Chris who has won this race 15 times.

 

A brilliant offshoot of parkrun is darkrun. Every Tuesday evening at 6pm at the same venue a group of around thirty runners meet and after some heavy interval work on the oval, a very social torch lit run of the parkrun course is completed. In winter there are thousands of frogs croaking alongside the trail and if the moon is out it makes for quite an atmosphere. Darkrun can be a great training session or just a good catch-up with mates.

 


Pre-race smiles from two avid darkrunners

What is it that drives us to run? Why are we putting ourselves through this bone grinding energy sapping, smelly ordeal with bonus raw chafing bits where the sun ain't shining. There MUST be more to it than meets the sweat filled stinging eye.

In my experience parkrun encompasses a large variety of reasons. I must admit, I for one, love the striving for that ever elusive 'PB'. It is a joyous day when you nibble one or two seconds off your best time. You will remember every detail of that run and the time will be burned into your grey matter for ever.





But it looks like your having fun!


I also love the competitive nature of parkrun. There is that couple of seconds of mental anguish when someone runs past you in the latter stages of the run as opposed to the flood of longer lasting endorphin charged happiness when you chase someone down you have been slowly creeping closer to.

Just gunning it down the straight.

On countless occasions I have been chatting to people I just met for the first time during or after the race or caught up with friends for a coffee at the cafe. If you are not too much out of breath this is a great social event where families get together, singles meet and people from all walks of life encourage one another running together in harmony.





A family affair with many supporters great, small and fluffy.

To top it all off I am sure there are life lessons to be learned here in parkrun world. You can learn about healthy lifestyles, mental strength and physical endurance but most of all feeling that there is a community you can belong to.

Parkrun - not just a walk in the park.



Yeh - just do it!

Grey bits

These photos were taken during what I call “the hang-over run” a special run held on New Year's day and the regular Saturday parkrun that followed the day after.

To join parkrun is very easy. Type “parkrun” into your search engine and choose a parkrun near you. Register online and print out a barcode to bring along to the run so your time can be recorded and sent to you by email later in the day. You want to have a record. Don't you?

There is a lot of parkrun tourism going on. You can travel to other parkruns using the same barcode.

Volunteering for parkrun is also great fun and they are always looking for people.

Even this doggy made it to the finish line

A special "thank you" to Adrian Kenny. He is one of the founding members of Canning River parkrun and has put his heart and soul into this event for the last two and a half years.

Parkrun Canning and its runners will be missed by the Semi-grey Nomad. You can follow my travels, parkrun tourism, hikes and other stories at semigreynomad.blogspot.com