Walking with sharks: Day 3

 

 

This is the story of the semi-grey nomad's attempt to circumnavigate the Peron Peninsular, hiking mainly on the beach from Denham to Monkey Mia. 

Day Three: From Cape Peron to Cattle Well. North to South and thus wind smack-bang in the face all morning.

 

 

Here is that map again. Saves a scroll down

Cape Peron itself is truly spectacular. It is here that I developed a dune fetish. There are several red orangey, rippled sand dunes and not taking photos is almost a crime.

 

No sooner had  I left my wise friend behind and walked on an old vehicle track when I bumped into three goats ahead on the trail towards the dunes. Two kids following their mum were happily bouncing along in front of me as if they owned the place.  

 



Tails up

 

Along this 10km stretch to Cattle Well there are three places to camp. Bottle Bay, Gregories and South Gregories with toilets and barbecues. These great camp sites have dunnies I've had the pleasure of cleaning a couple of times when assisting Department of Parks and Wildlife staff during a service run. The best time to camp here is around Easter and in the middle months of the year. In December that southerly is too strong for tenting in my opinion.



Before you reach these campsites you have to walk past Sheila's bluff; a stunning half-bowl shaped cliff face with its colours visible from a long way away. 



Bottle Bay was formerly known as Bottle dump because ships came through and dumped their refuge and bottles in this spot. I can assure you that it is a pretty spot and that Bottle Bay is definitely a more suitable name in its current status. It is a white sandy beach with lots of pristine turquoise water and a bit of seaweed of course. One has to be realistic.




Looking North over Bottle beach towards Sheila's bluff.

 

 

During today's walk I expected it to be busy.  There were car trails on the beach and a couple of four- wheel drive access tracks and the snorkelling is great at Gregories. So far, however, on my three days of hiking I haven't come across another soul.

You just cannot miss that special, pungent sulphur odour of Cormorants that are huddled together on the beach or on the rocks. At first I thought I had eaten something that didn't agree with me but then saw the shags. They are a nervous bunch and they either fly off or swim away on approach. I count myself lucky that I do not live in the time of the old Inca Empire of Peru. Disturbing the Cormorants in those days was met with the death penalty as the guano was a precious comodity. Cormorant excrement or guano in Spanish was used to fertilize their crops; it being rich in Potassium and Nitrogen Phosphate. Some organic farmers of today are using guano as an environmentally friendly fertilizer. In this part of the world Dirk Hartog Island was used for harvesting guano some time ago.

I must say that I feel sorry for the poor soul who has to collect the guano. Rocky ledges, high cliffs and looking for smelly ........

 



Cormorants on mussel covered rocks at South Gregories

 

On today's hike I saw just the one lonely shark in the shallows. So I am gladly notching the one shark under my belt and referring to the title I am still "walking with sharks" even on day three.

Listening carefully to instructions is very important when meeting up with your support crew after a tough day in the boots. Extra kilometres can be had when one enthusiastically makes the decision to change the meeting point without consultation and walk the wrong way in order to mistakenly curtail your support crews waiting time. This is how I ended up walking from South Gregories to Cattle Well twice, adding a highly unwanted 3km to a lovely easy 10km day, earning the scorn of my all-knowing support.

Shouda listened.

 

 

Grey Bits

 

Looking South towards the first beach from Cape Peron

 

 

I can highly recommend the 1.5 km walk to Skipjack Point and back. If you are going to walk anywhere in the national park this should be the place. There are many helpful interpetative signs on this strech and views are awesome from high above the sea. 

Euro kangaroo prints in the dune

 

Please note, that this hike is through very wild, uninhabited country. In my opinion it is not advisable to attempt this hike without a support team or proper communication devices like a satellite phone or  EPIRB. Hiking experience is a must.

Let the Department of Parks and Wildlife  know where you are going to be and when you plan to return. Phone (08) 9948 2226 or click on the following links www.sharkbay.org, www.dpaw.wa.gov.au for more information.

The best time to walk around the Peron Peninsular is at low tide. You can check the tide levels at www.seabreeze.com.au