Shark Bay – Monkey Mia
This post is part of our Western Australia road trip. In case you don’t want to read this sequentially, or you are looking for another part of the trip, here are some shortcuts:
- Lake Ballard
- Exmouth and Coral Bay
- Shark Bay and Monkey Mia<–You are here
- Kalbarri
- Jurien Bay
Shark Bay
The drive from Coral Bay to Monkey Mia was a long haul, so we got an early start (with a quick stop at the bakery for proper coffee and a cinnamon roll).
The drive was fairly easy, though there was still standing water in some parts.
The highlight from the first part of the drive was spotting a wedge-tail eagle. We both noticed a large shape in a tree from far down the road, but didn’t realise what it was until we got closer. We had to drive down the road a fair bit to find somewhere to safely turn around, and then I had to put the long lens on the camera, but the eagle waited patiently for me to get my shit together. They are one of the world’s largest eagles, with a wingspan of up to 2m/6ft, and can weigh up to 3.5kg/8lbs. And yes, I kept the camera close by for the rest of the trip.
Three things to note about travelling in remote Australia:
- Keep your fuel/diesel above half a tank. We had a few instances where we planned to top up only to discover that the payment machines were down or there was a paper sign on the pump noting “can’t guarantee quality due to recent rain.”
- Learn how to reverse your caravan. The guy on the left backed into the pump.
- Never leave the car doors open and wear bug spray at all times. We had a bad run-in at a rest stop with no-see-ums, which after a trip to the pharmacy in Denham I now know are called biting midges.
We passed a sign for the 26th parallel south, which is the northern border of South Australia and the southern border of the Northern Territory. I’m not sure why this deserves a sign in Western Australia or why the other parallel’s don’t have signs.
Once we turned off Highway 1 the views just got better and better. We had a nice break from the car at Shell Beach, and practically had the place to ourselves.
The beach is covered with shells for a 60 km (37 mi) stretch to a depth of 7–10 m (23–33 ft). It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells. The beach was named because of the great abundance of the shells of the cockle species Fragum erugatum. The shells have formed a limestone that is known as coquina. Before Shark Bay became a World Heritage Site in 1991, the coquina was mined and used for the construction of a number of buildings in Denham. – Wikipedia
About 10 minutes from Shell Beach, we saw a sign with a camera on it. Having lived in Melbourne and Sydney, our first thought was, “Seriously?!? They have speed cameras way out here??” We saw a side road and realised that the camera sign meant photo opportunity, and Whale Bone Point was stunning. It was low tide, which exposed a spit of white sand connecting a tiny island to the mainland. I put up the drone, but have realised I need to upgrade to get longer battery life, better stability in the wind, and higher resolution.
Monkey Mia
Monkey Mia is an RACV resort in Shark Bay. The nearest town is Denham, where there is fuel, an IGA, a pharmacy, and few restaurants and shops. Unfortunately there are no monkeys at Monkey Mia.
Mia is the Aboriginal term for home or shelter, while the Monkey part of the name is allegedly derived from a pearling boat called Monkey that anchored at the now Monkey Mia in the late 19th century, during the days when pearling was an industry in the region. However, the Geographic Names Committee, hosted by Landgate (the Western Australian Land Information Authority) has stated that the most likely origins of the name are that it was included in a list of Aboriginal names and their meanings supplied by the Geraldton Police Station in approx 1899 (the meaning of the name is given as “Salt or bad water”) or after the pet monkeys owned by early Malay pearlers who camped at the location, or as a colloquialism for “sheep”, or that it was named for a schooner called Monkey that arrived in 1834. – Wikipedia
We booked a beach view room and were assigned to #67 on the ground floor. It was more beach front than beach view due to a massive bush, but we weren’t in the room enough to care. Next time we’ll book further in advance and try to get a Superior Beach View Room, which are cabins with beachfront access and bbqs.
The store at Monkey Mia had most things you would need, but it was a lot more expensive than the IGA in Denham. We didn’t have a kitchen so relied on the Boughshed coffee and dinner. The food was great and the portions were large, but our least expensive dinner was $90. We also went to the Monkey Bar for takeaway sunset drinks, which turned out to be full bottles of wine.
Monkey Mia is known for a friendly pod of bottlenose dolphins. Between four to seven dolphins visit for daily feedings between 7:45am and noon. The dolphin experience is very controlled and well organised: You get a ticket at the office, queue on the boardwalk until the dolphins appear, and then make your way to the waterline (socially distanced, of course). The dolphins are fed precisely 300 grams (10 ounces) of fish, so they are still wild and hunt on their own. The dolphins typically visit a few times each morning, and the 2nd and 3rd experiences are far less crowded.
The water here is perfect for paddle boarding or kayaking, and because of the location the sunrises and sunsets were outstanding.
While we were at Monkey Mia, we did a day trip to Dirk Hartog. Continue reading…
