Mackenzie: today we went to Carnarvon we setup the caravan . then we went into town before we got to Carnarvon we went to the Stomatolites they are the oldest thing on earth they are 3.5 billion years old they are rocks. When we were at Carnarvon we finished shopping and we went to the pool.
a fish swimming over the stromatolites
Fletcher : today we drove from shark bay to Carnarvon .we stopped at a lot of cool places like Hamelin pool there were living stones called stromatolites those things created oxygen and had lived for 3.5 billion years and still live today. If those stromatolites weren't here first us humans wouldn't exist.
the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool
Another great day today. We left Denham and headed towards Carnarvon. We made a few stops along the way, the first was a lookout point over shark bay about 20kms out of Denham, this was at about 8am and it was creeping towards 30 degrees already. Our next stop was shell beach, the name is pretty self explanatory, as it is so popular most of the shells are crushed into tiny pieces but still amazing to be on a beach made of shells, we couldn't work out if the tide was out but the walk to the water was unbelievable, we decided not to go the whole way, but later found out that it is infact just the way the beach is with a long beautiful walk to the water and that the shells are 10metres deep in some parts of the beach. We then stopped at Nanga Bay which is a resort right on the beach but has full facilities such as petrol, restaurant, bar, motel, cabins & caravan park plus a hot artesian spa which looked gorgeous. The next stop was the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. Words can not explain this amazing sight and the photos don't do any justice either. There has been a boardwalk built over the water by BHP, the water is very shallow and the clearest I have ever seen. At first glance you would think they were just rocks but these amazing things are living creatures 3500 million years old, a time when no other complex creatures were present on the planet. In a timeline provided on a bill board there history shows -over a period of 2 billion years stromatolites form extensive reefs and dominate life on earth, they release oxygen which begins to support air breathing life forms. 550million years ago plants & animals evolve rapidly, 230 million years ago age of the dinosaurs begins, 65 million years ago age of mammals begin, 2 million years ago humans appear. The information was incredible, the little stromatolites were just as incredible. We all loved being there and could have stayed all day just looking at them. We then drove thru to Carnarvon. We got here after lunch and drove down their amazing avenue of honour which is a sight to see, there is so many memorials, that we later found out are all the people off the HMAS Sydney11. We had booked ahead to the Wintersun Caravan park which was just as people had told us, green lawns and shady sites. They are re-laying new power & water lines through the front half of the park so a bit of a construction site but considering the amount of work they are doing there is no disruption to our camping. The only noise is the constant beep of the tradesman's spirit level which to be honest is driving me insane but the other 3 don't seem to notice it . We were given a map and told to set up on any site we liked which doesn't really happen in caravan parks so it was great to be able to chose what we wanted, we got a lovely shady site, close to all the amenities and set up the van. We made a trip into town and a big shop at woolworths, $170 worth lots of things that are expensive in the small towns, some water and a few treats. A quick drive around town to see what was about and a look along the foreshore at all the fancy houses that back onto the Gascoyne River. We came back and unpacked and we all had a swim to try cool down before tea. Carnarvon is strangely not as humid as the places we have been and has an amazing cool breeze in the late afternoon, still need the air conditioner on but we could sit outside today in the shade.
Dan & Mack at Shell Beach
Look out point at Shark Bay
The Stomatolites
On the boardwalk over the stromatolites
The Stromatolites
What an amazing day,how fantastic.Tell that Bentley he needs to start taking some photos of you all.Love you xx
ReplyDelete