Exmouth to Denham

The bulk of driving was done over two days. Free camping south of Carnarvon. Monkey Mia was also just an afternoon drive from Denham one day.

 Learmonth
Operation Potshot memorial was quite interesting. Lots of interesting WWII history from Learmonth.  The Learmonth Jetty is also a popular fishing spot. The wind prevented us from bothering with it but a few other people were there and trying their luck. 

Coral Bay
Coral Bay didn't do much for us, an amazing place as far as the beaches and water go. Just too touristy for us. We drove in, looked around for a fishing spot, didn't find much so we moved on. The boat ramp and marina area look fantastic but there is a no fishing zone. 


Carnarvon
We got into Carnarvon late in the day. We wanted to find a place to fish but there was a gale blowing and couldn't find anywhere to get out of the wind enough. We grabbed some take away for dinner, fuelled up the two hunj and skipped town. We made it about 30kms out of town and free camped in a rest area. The wind howled all night long again and it was not a pleasant night. Made worse by the take away dinner re-visiting me shortly after falling asleep. 

The Big Banana at Carnarvon. I think it must be an irony thing because Carnarvon Bananas are tiny and crap, but shhhh, don't tell any west aussies that, they love their Carnarvon bananas.

Monkey Mia
Like Coral Bay, Monkey Mia was not for us. Far too touristy. They charged us $12 each just to get in. Just to walk through the carpark to the jetty. They force you to walk through the gift shop on the way which I also didn't like. Monkey Mia to us just seemed like a desperate cash grab. Sure, it is a lovely spot but so is everywhere along this stretch of coast. It is no better then any other beach or bay we have seen along this trip. Getting charged to see that sort of stuff is bad enough in a National Park but that is $13 for a car load of people not $12 each! Unless you have never seen a dolphin I can't see it being too amazing, as you can see these animals anywhere on the coast. They only go to Monkey Mia because they have leaned that they will get fed there daily. You aren't allowed within 30m of the dolphins unless you pay extra for the "Dolphin Experience" anyway. Apparently its "WA law" that you don't go within 30m of a Dolphin unless you pay they people at Monkey Mia an exorbitant fee, then it's ok to go near them. It's just a rort. We spent all of 18minutes in Monkey Mia.

I hope whoever was in charge of Monkey Mia's advertising and/or public relations 15 years ago was on a good wicket because for all the lovely places along this coast it is the one EVERYONE seems to know and ask about and say "oh I would love to go there". Very nice spot but you couldn't not say the same about any spot along this coast line, Exmouth, Ningaloo, Coral Bay, Denham. I am blown away by how popular it is and everyone that goes there drives straight through or past Denham which is a fantastic spot, a fraction of the price and it's free to walk on the beach. 

When we walked through the restaurant the food did look amazing. Don't know about the prices, we didn't get that far. 

The view of a smaller jetty from the main jetty at Monkey Mia. As I said above, lovely spot but any place on this coastline is lovely. For us, not worth the price of admission when you can see the same thing elsewhere for free and not have to deal with hordes of people and resort prices. Probably a great place to stay, wouldn't know and never will. 

Denham
We LOVED Denham. Caught plenty of King George Whiting off the beach and sandbar north of town. Beautiful little town with a fantastic foreshore area. We stayed at the Shark Bay Caravan Park for 5 nights. The wind once again, was terrible on the first night, a slight improvement over the next 4 nights but still very windy after sunset. The days were really nice, as the photos show. Denham is such a relaxed village, we really liked it. The Shark Bay Caravan Park was very nice. Ablutions block was very outdated but always very clean and tidy and we never had a complaint. The camp kitchen is fantastic. We made the most of having access to an oven (the camp kitchen has 2) for the first time in a while so we (Jacinta) cooked a pork roast, lasagne and a potato bake while we were there. The caravan parks BBQ area and pool area are fantastic too.

A shot of the sandbar north of Denham where we got some nice sized King George Whiting.

Picture perfect spot to wet a line. 

A runnin' bird (Emu) crossing the track to Little Lagoon near Denham. 

Panorama of Little Lagoon near Denham. 


Sunset on night #2 at Denham. The view from the camper trailer in the caravan park.

The view from one of the lookouts just south of Denham township. The colour of the water was amazing. 

 Tested the traction control out on the two-hunj climbing to the top of Eagle Bluff. Just to the south of Denham township. 

Another lookout south of Denham. We could see Stingrays and Shovel nosed sharks swimming in the shallows.

Some friendly visitors we had to the campsite at Shark Bay Caravan Park. They are Shingle Back Lizards to the best of my knowledge. #bingingshingleback

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