Denham

We finally made it into Denham after getting stuck behind the bogged car & trailer in front of us for an hour on the way out of Francois Peron national park & the had to inflate our tyres at the park border so it was almost lunch time. We called the Monkey Mia resort to see if they had any camps available but they were booked out. We had seen a special deal at one of the caravan parks in Denham on our way through the other day so decided to stay there. It was called the Blue Dolphin & had a special stay for 3 pay for 2 nights so that took it to $28 per night, much cheaper than anywhere else is town. It was old, but the amenities clean & we got a large campsite right under a big tree with views over the ocean so we were pretty happy. 

After a quick set up it was straight to the showers for a long scrub & then we walked down to the pub for lunch, a great pub, the most westerly pub in Australia, so of course we had to check it out. They did a good feed & the beers were good, after a few we thought we had better leave or we would end up there all afternoon. 

We walked back along town & checked out the Jetty, plenty of people were fishing. 

Denham is a really lovely town, very tourist orientated with just enough to do & it has most things you need. It was still school holidays but it was really quiet which suprised us, may be the wind keeps people away at this time of year? We have definitely realised that this isn't the best time of year to visit the coast in this area. Ever since we left ningaloo it has blown non stop nearly. Most of the locals say April to July is best. 

Denham

Still feeling lazy we walked back down the street to get a wood fired pizza for dinner. Got to support the town right? The next day we were up early to drive over to a Monkey Mia to see the dolphin feeding. The cost is $8.50 per person to get in. It was packed, hundreds of people. It was still worth doing but we didn't get any close ups of the dolphins as there were to many people. 

Just a smal crowd......

We could of waited for the next feeding, but decided to go as it was school holidays & they expected them to be busy as well. The talk the rangers give is very good & it's worth a look, hopefully you get less people on the day you go, the day before us 350 people attended, not sure how many on our day but it felt like that many, the record is 750 people. Considering they only feed 5 dolphins, you have to be lucky to be in the line near one feeding. 

We then headed just out of town to the aquarium. They have an amazing restaurant overlooking the ocean, so we had breakfast first, with 2 great coffees each, heaven. 

Aquarium view for breakfast

We then started our aquarium tour. It was really great, lots of amazing sea life in tanks of glass & open pools, the guides were great & really knowledgable. The only thing again for us was it was school holidays so heaps of families & they had too many people on each tour. But I bet if you went there outside of school holidays you would almost get the place to yourselves. They did a shark feeding in a huge big pool of water that was great too. A good morning out & at $22 for adults & $16 for kids we thought it was good value, we would definitely recommend it. 

After that we went & had a look at Shell Beach at beach made entirely of tiny shells. Very pretty views.

Shell beach

 We then had a look at some of the other lookouts on the way back to town. A lot of these have overnight camping only for $10 but you have to get a permit from the visitor centre. Great spots, a pity it's only overnight camping. 

Eagle Bluff

Fowlers Bay

Back to town for a quiet couple of hours before dinner. We had booked at table at The Old Pearl Luggers restaurant in town. A very famous place, made out of shell blocks with only about 10 tables & you must book. 

We dug out a few of our better clothes & got spruced up & picked up some wine & beer on the way as it's BYO. We had a lovely night & enjoyed their famous seafood platter & even had dessert. We got talking to an older couple beside us & they were telling us about their travels they have a 5th wheeler that is pretty much a house on wheels, it just shows you how differently people travel this great country & how it is doable for everyone if you have the courage. It was a really nice night. 

Seafood platter for 2 -YUM

The next day we spent the day in town checking out the shops & getting fuel & a few groceries & trying the second pub for lunch. 

Pub lunch, it's a hard life!

The wind was still blowing a gale. Our 3 days in Denham were really enjoyable. It was nice to not have to cook much & to have showers twice a day. We felt nice & refreshed when we left. 

Denham has 2 small supermarkets, 2 servos, a bakery, 2 pubs, pharmacy, post office, newsagent & a few restaurants. There are about 3-4 caravan parks (mostly $40 or so a night but look out for special offers), lots of resort style rooms & apartments. A nice little town with lots to do for families. 

It was time to head further south again. As sadly we couldn't get into Steep Point we headed down towards the Kalbarri area, see where we stayed in our next post, it's a beauty!!

Denham beach