Denham / Shark Bay
The World Heritage Site Shark Bay is like a dreamscape of impossible color combinations. Red sands, white sands, light blue and dark blue waters. The waters around the bay were the target of Kormoran's mine-laying plan on Nov 19th, 1941 and now it is geographically closest to the sites of the shipwrecks. A marker in front of the Shark Bay Discovery Center in Denham reminds you that the HMAS Sydney lays 235km from this point.
Inside the Discovery Center, you can watch the "2nd part" of the 3D video project form the 2015 expedition. (I watched the first one, "From Great Depths" in Geraldton a few days ago.) This part is called "Fire on the Water" and it is more specifically focused on how the battle unfolded that day. It provides a minute timeline and the film takes you to the parts of the wrecks that show the damage sustained during the battle. Again the 3D-effect made this all the more poignant. The final footage you see is a number of shoes that are strewn around the wreck of the Sydney. Some of them, as in the picture below, are now home to sea anemones. You imagine each pair of shoes belonging to one of the men on the Sydney and the horrible darkness that swallowed them that day.
The battle, aftermath and wrecks stand in such stark contrast to the natural beauty of the Shark Bay area. I wanted learn more about what this place meant to its original custodians, the Nhanda and Malgana people, so I went on a 4wd day trip though Francois Peron National Park with Capes, our amazing guide. (Of course the only other tourists on the trip were Germans, too!) Capes not only helped us spot wildlife from Emu, to Kangaroo, to Manta Rays, he also helped us understand that the flora in the area was both "supermarket and pharmacy" for the people. Capes also grilled us some delicious "Skippy" for lunch. Again, the main idea is that you don't take more than you need, and that you watch nature closely because it tells you exactly what you need to know if you pay attention. Capes had to remind me not to cross my arms while listening and admiring the nature. "Let the place into your heart, not just your eyes," he said.
At the end of the tour we stopped at a place called Skipjack Point, and you could see scores of birds lining the beach. Turns out that these are Pied Cormorants (they almost look like dolphins). I took it as a sign of hope that the real Cormorants are thriving while the metal Kormoran is buried deep in the ocean!
I am slowly making my way up the coast and will be in Carnarvon and then going up to Red Bluff where my grandfather's lifeboat came ashore. Stay tuned!
Loving these write ups Richard. Can't wait for the next one.