Walking with sharks: Day 4

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

Day 4: From Skipjack Point to Herald bight. North to South.

 

Standing on the edge of a steep cliff next to the light house at Skipjack Point my knowledgeable companion pointed out controversially how global warming had affected this area. "There used to be a goat's trail down towards the beach but it looks like it is all washed away by the ocean" he said. "You've gotta find yer own way down further on". Off I went, following a tiny trail high above the beach. I could only see goat and kangaroo prints on this trail. The soft sand and up and down nature of the trail soon had my heart rate up high. In some places my shins got a good scratching from low, sharp bush I still don't recognise. After about 500 metres my precarious balancing act on the ledge had come to an end when my patience was rewarded with a safe passage down to the beach below. Any attempt to decend before that would had been foolish and would have come to a sticky end.



A little kangaroo trail next to a steep drop

 

 



At the first rocky point I rounded, I pathetically slipped on a wet rock and both my feet slipped into the water. As you can see, unexpected small incidents always happen on hikes like this no matter how experienced you think you are. I took my shoes and socks off against my better judgement and dangled them off my pack in the hope for them to dry.

A slippy rock formation

The wind was offshore which made the water still and crystal clear. I enjoyed perfect walking conditions. Flat, hard beach and later when the tide had receded even more, I could walk on the tidal flats for many kilometres short-cutting to my destination.

Selfie of size 13 foot in crystal clear water

 

 

Walking bare feet is always a risk in these parts and I took a fair amount of skin off my big toe when my foot met a much more rigid object called "a rock". I am sure something nasty happened to my 'second toe in command' ranging from a mild sprain to a small split in the bone perhaps. Just keep going Mars! At least my socks were dry!!!!!

A sea-gull in full flight

 

 

Having rebooted my feet, I noticed there were a few washed up items laying around on the beach. I could have built a life raft out of all the washed up water containers. There was no message in this bottle, nor was there a naked woman running around that belonged to these undies.

 

 

 

Love heart tiger undies???

On the muddy flats that I was walking, many birds appeared. Sea-gulls, oyster catchers, turns and lesser sand plovers. The last are these cute little foragers that will not let you anywhere more than about 15 metres near them. They must be amazing flyers as they lay their eggs above the tree line in the Himalayas and then visit us in Australia.

The Lesser Sand Plover no less

This bunch of goats came running towards me and looked inquiringly at me from about 50 metres. At one point I was rummaging around for my "self defence booklet against goats" but I courageously stared them down. Amazingly, to avoid my glaring gaze, they randomly ran up that same steep cliff I had just walked 500 meters along to find a safe way down. 






Ninja goats









 

Today's pick up was a smooth affair with my man of know-how appearing at Herald Bight as soon as I limped onto its white sand.





Another day, another shark



Grey Bits


To avoid having to hike on a rocky, dangerous ledge I suggest that one could start walking along the beach from Cape Peron and rounding Skipjack Point down below. It is a little bit further, but it is a lot safer option.

Today's walk is approximately 12km long and could easily be done as a day walk with car access on both ends.

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 in this area is a must.

A shovelnose ray

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 at www.seabreeze.com.au

 

Pied oystercatcher



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

 

 

 

 

 

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