Plating up – at Dirk Hartog Island

[JohnM]

Outstation ruins.



The lakes became more evident as being pink once we had passed them and looked down from a greater height, and with the sun on our side of the lakes.

 

[JohnM]

The last part of the track to Dampier’s Landing is very soft, deep sand. Rather than risk getting bogged and wasting time, we walked the last 400m or so.

 

[JohnM]

On to Turtle Bay, a major loggerhead turtle breeding beach.



Ruins of a jetty and tramway built to service the Cape Inscription lighthouse back in the day.

 

[JohnM]

And our destination in time for lunch. The old lighthouse keepers’ residence has been restored and seems to be used occasionally by the park authorities.



Some plaques on the lighthouse.

 

[JohnM]

 

[JohnM]

Swinging south on the west side of the cape to Urchin Point and West Point/The Block. Both of these locations are near sea level, which is unusual for the west coast of the island and are highly regarded fishing spots. Both have a shed that is wired for plugging in a generator, and a toilet.



A group was ‘in residence’ at the West Point shed. They were saying that the fishing was excellent, but the sharks were getting well fed off their lines if they couldn’t reel in fast enough. They also said that whales were coming in so close as to swim under their lines on occasions!



The Block – speculated to have been deposited by a tsunami.



We opted not to continue further south on the west coast to Mystery Bay as we were advised of very soft sand, nor to cross back to the east side of the island through the large dune field which is also soft and shifting.

It would have been doable, and we had MaxTrax and a good shovel in the back of the vehicle, but we preferred not to face the prospect of delays and getting back after dark.

So, we retraced our path and got back to the Lodge just on 1700h. As on the way out, we detoured short distances into various bays and camp sites.

A great outing and mission accomplished!

 

[JohnM]

OK, we’re now back from our Kakadu interlude and resuming transmission.

Day 5

Another glorious day begins. Low tide and windless, so time to explore the beach and rocky island at the Lodge.



Some of the seagulls were very noisy and showed ‘swooping’-like behaviour. Clearly we were not welcome. We were soon to find out why.

 

[JohnM]

We then took another excellent packed lunch and went back to the barge landing beach for a deeper dive into the south end of the island.

Steep Point in the background and the remains of a loggerhead turtle.



And another one. More recent. Suspected shark attack victims.



Around to Surf Point and this time the nervous sharks were in great abundance, compared with our brief stop there after coming off the barge on day 1. Spectacular.

 

[JohnM]

Steep Point. Aptly named. And the SW wind was picking up – a good omen for our re-visit of the Blowholes to follow.

 

[JohnM]

And the Blowholes – of many sizes - are working.



And it’s not every day you see a LandCruiser 200 used as a grader. Just doing the track near the settlement, not in the NP.

 

[JohnM]

Back to the Lodge and serenely protected from the SW sea breeze. The gentle horse, name forgotten, is 31 years old.

Later, a sundowner at the Inscription Bar, followed by another delicious dinner.

 

[JohnM]

Day 6

Chill day at the Lodge before the day’s highlight of an excursion to Herald Heights for ‘Australia’s Last Sunset’. Like the marine safari next day, it’s included in the stay at the Lodge.

Good morning from the supervisory staff.



Heading into the sunset with first stop at a large dune for a fitness class.

 

[JohnM]

Looking back, then going down, while the wind works to soon erase tracks.

 

[JohnM]

OK, so I just learnt from that little climbing excursion that I’m not a heartless b@stard after all…

Pressing on.

 

[JohnM]

 

[TheRealTMA]

Looks like a fabulous trip and photos are not too shabby either @JohnM

 

[JohnM]

Day 7

The final full day on the island and, as forecast, the strong wind of the previous three days dropped away overnight to make it PERfect for the marine safari scheduled for about 1000-1400/1500h. It turned out, as we headed back around 1430h, that it fell to completely still, producing a glassy calm sea.

This made for an even more suPERb encounter with whales, amazingly just off the end of the homestead bay, an experience that kept us on the water for almost another hour until we had to go back to shore for the boat to be used to return day trippers to Denham.

An absolutely sensational day and a great way to wind up a great trip.

A walk around the Lodge area, bidding good morning to all and sundry and checking out the old shearing shed before a cooked breakfast once the lay-ins had arisen. They do a cooked breakfast on alternate days.



A nifty technique of briefly covering the eggs with alfoil to congeal the last of the egg white around the yolk to get PERfect sunny side up fried eggs without that sometimes-frustrating last bit of runny white.



Out to the NAIAD.

 

[JohnM]

A dugong, for which Shark Bay with its extensive seagrass beds is famed, was spotted on the surface but too far away to photograph with my pocket camera. They are very shy and quickly dive; similarly for the two turtles we spotted. Birds on the surface are a sign.



Plenty of cormorants.



Friendly dolphins.

 

[JohnM]

And then… a manta ray. And another but gliding just a little too deep or on a wrong angle for the best view. Soon rectified as we encountered a group.

 

[JohnM]

Then whales breaching in the distance. I missed getting a shot of one in the air but one of the others captured an instance of a vertical whale very nicely on their phone. I captured the splash…



Having a whale of a time…



It was after 1330 by the time we broke off from the whales out in Shark Bay and headed close inshore for lunch and then started to make our way back.

That’s when the ocean totally glassed off. Little did we know it as we fanged back to the settlement from about halfway up the island that things were about to change - big time!