Peron Peninsula and Monkey Mia

Introduction

This is a brief note about the area around Monkey Mia and the Peron Peninsula.

Road to Nanga Station.

This is the traditional land of the Malkana people whose neighbours were the Yinggarda Watjarri and Nhanta people. People were living in this area over 20,000 years ago, but between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago, as sea-levels fell and the coast receded about 100kms, it appears the area became uninhabitable.

William Dampier named Shark Bay in 1699.

When the first Europeans landed - Dirk Hartog (1616) this was the point of landing. When Nicolas Baudin and party (1825) landed, they found a settlement of 12- 15 huts some with the fires still burning. The owners had left hurriedly on the arrival of white man.

Europeans started to exploit the guano (seabird droppings) in the 1850’s and the pearls of Shark Bay in the 1860’s. Bernier and Dorre Islands were used as Venereal disease "hospitals" (prisons).

Places

Denham

Denham is Australia's most westerly town and sits opposite Dirk Hartog Island. Named after Capt. H.M.Denham who charted and named many of the features in 1858. Freshwater soaks attracted pastoralists and there sheep in the 1860's. European Pearlers and their indentured labourers quickly followed them from S.E. Asia. A salt mine at Useless Loop is a later industry.

Right: Denham lookout.

Shell Beach

One of only two beaches in the world made up of non-fossilized shells. The shells are from tiny white coquina bivalves that can live in the extra-salty waters of Shark Bay. The shells can be compressed into a layer 10 metres deep and the compressed shells when mined can be used as building blocks. There is a sculpture made from these shells at Monkey Mia near the Ranger Station.

Hamelin Pool

Named after the French Captain of the Naturaliste. It is situated at the southeastern end of Shark Bay. A shallow sandbar and a bank of sea grass limit tidal flushing and this fact plus a rapid rate of evaporation make the water twice as salty as the surrounding sea water. This protects the world's largest display of Stromatolites.

Some Stromatolites (right) date back as far as 3500 million years.

Monkey Mia

Possibly named after a pearling boat called "Monkey" which anchored here at the end of the 19th Century. The main attraction is the Pod of Bottlenose Dolphins that visit here.

Shark Bay

Named by William Dampier in 1699. 1500 kms of coastline and an area of 30,000 square kilometres- 55% water and 45% land. World Heritage listed in 1991.

Nearbye Attractions

• Francois Peron national park (4WD access only)
• Steep Point - Great Fishing (4WD access only)
• Mount Augustus - Largest monocline in Australia. Great walks, Rock art.
• Kennedy Ranges.
• Kalbarri National Park.
• Hawk's Head lookout (right) Kalbarri National Park.

Comment

Monkey Mia is a great place to visit after a trip to the Cape Range Peninsula (Exmouth and Coral Bay), the Kennedy Ranges or the Kimberley. We stay at Nanga Station and make day trips along the peninsula. One is also able to camp in the Francois Peron National Park. Nanga has good facilities. Its proximity to the road to Steep Point and the main coastal highway means that no great distances are involved in returning to the highway for the next leg of your journey. Booking at Nanga, Denham or the resort of Monkey Mia is essential in school holidays.

References

• Dampier's Voyages. ed. John Masefield, 1906 pub. Grant-Richards.
• Encylopedia of Aboriginal Australia. ed. David Horton, 1994 pub. AIATSIS.
• Shark Bay Days, G. Fry, 1988 pub. Hesperian Press.
• Guide to Australian Places, Reader's Digest 1993
• Dolphins and Porpoises, Richard Ellis, 1982, pub KNOPF
• Shark Bay, 1989 C.A.L.M.
• Northwest Bound. 1990 C.A.L.M.
• Shark Bay, Paul Raffaele, Australian Geographic 1989 No.14
• Yammatji Aboriginal Memories of the Gascoyne. Bryan Clark, 1992 Hesperian Press
  (*Yammatji: The Watjarri word for Man. It has gained widespread use as a general name for Aboriginal People from the Gascoyne and Murchison districts of W.A.)
• Map: Streetsmart - The Gascoyne

A plethora of information exists for this region and is only limited by the time to obtain and research it. Remember: "A Bushie never has more baggage than he can carry."

- Nigel Buxton

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