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

 

 

 

 

 

Walking with sharks: Day 2.




The view from Cape Lesueur during todays walk

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 two: From Big Lagoon to Cattle Well. South to North.


“If yer liked your first day, today is even more spectacular” said my expert guide in his broad Australian lingo. We had a long conversation bent over aerial maps relevant to today's hike. Navigating needed to be discussed in detail due to some tricky points traversing around the keyholes of the tidal flats and finding a way through to Cape Lesueur.






The map from Francois Peron National Park

I was dropped on a high point overlooking Big Lagoon and had some work to do to get waterside. After rounding the first of the three large tidal lakes, I came across some old bones that belonged to a dead horse. A kind of eerie discovery from an expired pastoral lease.





Horse bones in the sand

Because of the persistent strong southerly wind, navigation became easy. Wind blowing in the left ear for East and wind in the right lug hole for West. On the back of the noggin is the preferred way today, South. There is no one out here in this arid land and that makes asking for directions impossible. In fact I could be doing cartwheels and backflips naked and no one would know (sorry, no photos included). I must admit I enjoy the solitude which at the same time spurs me on to get back to civilization.




Vast empty spaces around the keyholes

There was a lot of temptation to walk straight across the tidal flats but I was told that the ground could get muddy and uncomfortable to walk on. In my mind I did not want to start a new trail through a World Heritage area or trample over something significant unbeknown to me. I tried sticking to the edge of the flats on a faint car track even though it meant more kilometres.




A Cowtail ray cruising past

Almost around the third key hole a track veers off to the right, up the hill and into the scrub. On top, a couple of hundred metres up, is the last spectacular view you get from Big Lagoon and it is the point where I joined a vermin proof fence for almost 4km to cape Lesueur. It was slow going through the sand but the wild life kept me buoyed. A Bungarra tried to run away from me and kept banging its head to the left into the vermin fence about twenty times in a panic. I stopt walking in its direction to give it some space, even talked to it nicely and then with a presumed headache, the large goanna finally saw the error of its way and disappeared in the bush on the right. I heard bleating nearby from some goats but could not spot them and saw black and white fairy wrens that were too illusive for my camera skills.




One last look at Big Lagoon and a first look at the vermin proof fence

At Cape Lesueur I strolled down the dune taking many photos of the scenery. In fact, I found it hard to put my camera down for the next 10km to Broadhurst. Again, I saw many Nervous Sharks but the cliffs were the highlight of today;s hike. The colours varied from the white beach sand to a yellow clay shade with vivid red on top. In some spots, where rain had fallen down cracks and crevasses of the cliff face, all those colours were mixed up to create what's known as blow outs.






The bluff with an ancient vibe and a little camera trick

A sense of awe came over me at the sight of these rugged cliffs. Walking here felt special as if there was more going on than meets the eye. I would not be surprised if there was any Indigenous significance to these cliffs?





A turtle coming up for a breath and checking me out.

Today;s hike was marred by the underestimation of distance or overestimating of my speed. What does that mean? It was a bloody long way to walk. My lift had been waiting a while at Cattle Well. I finally spotted him perched high above me on top of that cliff. He had been watching me through his binoculars for ages and said in his best Aussie “Looked like you were strugglen.” After calling me “a smelly” which is the local nick name for hikers, we had lunch together and I was made a double spooned instant coffee which tasted “grand” after five hours of hiking.






Checking out the "smelly" from above



Grey bits

Please note, you can not cross Big Lagoon inlet due to strong currents, possible stonefish and sulphur smelling mud. Walking around Big Lagoon is a truly beautiful walk. Don't miss it!

To do a day trip to the above mentioned cliffs you could park your car at Cattle Well, walk four kilometers North and pass a low set of dunes called Broadhurst. This area is very beautiful. There is no public access by car between Cattle Well and Big Lagoon.


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.




Cormorants taking flight over Shark Bay

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

 Emus out for their afternoon dip in the water at Broadhurst

Walking with sharks: Day 1

 



 

 

I would love to explore planet Mars. What an exciting frontier and new landscape this would prove. Imagine walking in a weird gravitational floating movement. You could see rocks and craters no one has seen before. Would there be water or flowers or alien like animals. Unfortunately Jetstar has no scheduled flights to Mars and it may take a fair chunk out of your life to get there. Maybe it is better to come down to Earth.

On our planet most frontiers have been inundated with so-called civilization, most oceans have been navigated, land has been discovered and mountains have been scaled. To be ground breaking on this planet may take some lateral thinking and something off the wall.

How about walking around the Peron Peninsular? Lets say I walk from Denham to Monkey Mia but round Cape Peron for good measure.





A handy map of Francois Peron National Park

For two weeks I have discussed the idea of this hike with some of the prominent, knowledgeable people of Denham. The news is good. My local source has told me that there is no memory of such a hike ever been attempted. I am immediately warned that there isn't any car access in many of the parts of the national park. I will be on my own out there, must carry my own water and phone reception will be scarce. Right!!! This is the hard man Bear Grills hike I need to do .........

"and fast"

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


Day One: Big Lagoon to Little Lagoon. 




A bearded dragon spotted on the way

"Yer got to walk to that third dune on the left." I was told with a pair of binoculars pressed to my face. Precious information from someone who has walked these parts on many occasions. "Middle bluff is hard to get around as there is thick mud and lotsa mangroves" said my source of information in ocker 'Strayan'. After a warm "goodluck" I set off for Little Lagoon on a ridge overlooking its bigger brother Big Lagoon.





"See that third dune on the left?" 

The first couple of km's I spend finding my way through shoulder high bush on kangaroo trails. At times I had to go back and find another trail to go towards that third dune. Sometimes there was no way forward other than to push through some of these low scrubs. Branches were cracking, snapping underfoot and brushing past my legs. As I am a novice hiker in this area I did not recognise the scrubs that had sharp thorns. The long trousers I was wearing soon were punctured several times scratching my legs till they bled.

An untouched round birrida

 

 

 

A small birrida or clay pan appeared at the foot of a hill and gave my legs some respite from the assault on my legs as birridas are flat and only low scrub grows on them.





A flower growing on a birrida

After two arduous kilometres I arrived at the tidal inlet where walking became easy on hard flat sand. Rather than walking way-around a large lake I thought it was smart to cross the tidal stream that flowed into it. I leapt up high, far and with camera in hand and landed beautifully at the other end. My foot stomped into the other shore as it should, however, the supposedly hard expected sand wasn't there. A smelly, grey, muddy mess squirted up with force and covered most of my legs, outstretched arm and camera. I spent the next half hour cleaning up my camera with the inside of my shirt, the only part not covered in sulphur smelling goo. Literally a semi-grey nomad I continued to battle more bush and dragged myself over some dunes to finally hit the beach.

 


The point of entry to the beach

The beach was like a walk in the park. That lovely solid summer breeze of Shark Bay was blowing freely into my face. It was low tide which left me with a wide strip of hard sand to get into cruise mode walking style. The shoes came off and I walked some time through the cool, refreshing, ankle deep water. Suddenly I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Only metres away from me.........a shark??!! Wait a minute - there is another one - and another. When life returned back to my extremities and my mouth had closed again, I quickly stepped back on to dry land and gave my camera a fair work out.



A shark only a couple of metres away

While I continued walking some of the sharks stayed next to me.

I am walking with sharks. Priceless!!!

These sharks, I was later informed, were nervous sharks. They were a maximum of a metre and a half long and shot away as soon as I came anywhere near them. Because I have lots of time when hiking I attempted to count the amount of sharks I spotted that afternoon but gave up after one hundred.



All these black spots are sharks

After a couple of hours walking over tremendous beaches, the tide had reached its lowest point. In the distance I could see the golden sand dunes of Dirk Hartog Island. An Emu was strolling, pecking at bush tucker along the beach coming towards me. When eventually the bird spotted me it became panic stricken and in a flap, sprinted past me on the empty mudflat bringing some much needed comic relief from a hard day at the office.






Flight of the flightless

All animals are nervous today.

 

I turned left off the beach and followed the tidal river to and around Little Lagoon. Another little gem in this harsh land. Julie was waiting at the Eastern side of Little Lagoon and in the car to take this weary hiker home. As I sat down she immediately pulled up her nose when she smelled the semi-grey mud covering my clothes. Eaah. You smell!!

Just another day's work for a nomad.

 

 

Grey Bits


Little Lagoon is a great picnic spot and great for walking short distances. Crossing the tidal river here is not recommended due to stonefish lurking in the shallows. 

 

Please note, that this hike around the peninsular 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.




TDugong bones I stood on accidently

The opening photo is of Big Lagoon and Middle Bluff.

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 of the area.

The best time to walk around the Peron Peninsular is at low tide. You can check the tide 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

 

 

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