There’s something special about Anzac Day marches in country towns. Only a handful of vets in the Denham march, but I guess that reflects the passing of time and also the small population of this area. Lots of supporters and family on hand, and they’ve all headed up to the local bowlo for afternoon festivities.
After leaving Geraldton, I headed up to Kalbarri National Park, a detour off the main highway. Along with the national park, the major attraction up here is the Pink Lake/ Hutt Lagoon. Apparently a carotenoid producing algae which gets caught in the salt crystals creates the pink color.
The next day was another 4 hour drive to Shark Bay. I’m starting to see some signs of the recent cyclonic weather on the roads – a lot of the red dirt on the side of the roads has turned into a really rich red mud. Good news on the road front though. The Fitzroy Crossing low level crossing opened to 4 wheel drives this week and, after a bit more work, they’re expecting it to open to all vehicles next week. So, looks like I’ll be right to continue north from Broome across the Kimberly and Pilbera. I’m happy that I shouldn’t have to backtrack from Broome. Despite the fact I’ve been on the road for over a week, I’m still only a third of the way from Perth to Broome – possibly something to do with all the detours into national parks.
I’m staying in Denham which is the major township in the Shark Bay world heritage area. Yesterday I headed across to Monkey Mia which is a national park resort about 25 kms away. I arrived in time to watch the morning dolphin feeding before boarding the yacht Aristocrat for a 3 hour wild life spotting cruise. Beautiful weather to float around in and some success in spotting Dugongs, dolphins and turtles.
My site here is right on the beach (think 10 metres) so I’m planning a relaxing 🤪 afternoon watching the waves and the footy. Tomorrow I’m off again up to Carnarvon. The first outing there will be to the local Auto shop to replace a cap off the end of my wiper blade. Hoping it doesn’t rain on the way up.
Round about 