Four Wheel Drive Tracks

It was time to put this 4WD to use. Since Memory Cove on SA's Eyre Peninsula, I could have undertaken much of this journey with a conventional 2WD vehicle. A national park and a private park, each accessible only by high-clearance conventional 4WD vehicles - not all-wheel-drive vehicles or caravans.

Francois Peron National Park and Steep Point, Shark Bay

Francios Peron National Park lies in Shark Bay. Project Eden has been established to take advantage of this peninsula's narrow isthmus. Just 3.5 kilometres wide, an electric fence has been constructed to isolate the peninsula so a comprehensive feral eradication program can be undertaken, and native species can be reintroduced.

Hamelin Pool, a shallow lagoon of hyper-saline water cut off from the main bay by a sand bank is home to some stromatolites.These stromatolites don't appear significant. Blue-green algae flourish in shallow waters trapping floating sediments and building these stromatolite rocks. These rocks though are thought to have been the very first bacteria on earth, forming extensive reefs and dominating all life forms on the planet for two billion years. They released oxygen raising the oxygen levels of our atmosphere to 20% which allowed other lifeforms to develop. As plants and animals evolved competition reduced stromatolite populations, today only a few areas remain. They are regarded as the oldest fossils (the dead rocks left behind when sea levels fell)) and the oldest living fossils (being some 3.5 billion years old). I had seen similar bacteria rocks - thormbolites - in Lake Clifton north of Bunbury, but they were of so little interest I they didn't make it to my blog. These stromatolites though have been signposted with much more informative and interesting display signs.

Just inside the electric fence marking the beginning of Project Eden is Shell Beach. Despite widespread occurrences of place names like Shell Beach, this is one of only two beaches in the world comprised entirely of shell fragments. Depending on which information board you choose to read or believe, the beach is up to five metres or up to ten metres deep.

The 4WD tracks in Francios Peron National Park are either sandy and sometimes deeply rutted, or solid claypan. There were plenty of travellers around in Francios Peron National Park to help out if I got stuck so I didn't need to worry too much. I thought that driving through the 120 kilometres or so in this park would be good confidence boasting training for what lay ahead at not-yet national park Steep Point. However, the opposite was true, although since I entered Steep Point after Francios Peron National Park I guess that cant be so. The tracks in Steep Point were much easier to negotiate and the speeds greater than those in Francios Peron National Park. The tracks in Francios Peron National Park were particularly bad in the north of the park.



In Francios Peron National Park I camped at Bottle Bay where the red sand dunes met the white beach sand. Easily the most picturesque of the campsites. Further north at Cape Peron there are red sand dunes and red cliffs which abruptly meet the white beach sand. The red sand and cliffs are quartz sandstone with an iron oxide content formed in ancient sand dunes. This red sandstone underlies much of Shark Bay but is only exposed here on Peron Peninsular and Faure Island. The white beach sand is Tamala Limestone, formed from shells and other marine skeletons. It younger than the Peron Sandstone but is far more common being widespread in Western Australia.

On the second night I camped at Big Lagoon, a picturesque lagoon. This lagoon is a gypsum claypan known as a birrdas. There are numerous birradas throughout the peninsula and most are landlocked saline lakes. Some, however, like the Big Lagoon, the sea has invaded to form a shallow inland bay.

Steep Point is now managed by government department responsible for national parks, the nearby station having recently relinquished their pastoral lease upon it. It is soon to be declared Edel Land National Park. The property is popular with fishers, it is claimed to be the best land fishing spot in Australia. I'm no fisherman but I have only heard that said here, so am not quite sure about their claim. Steep Point is also the most western point of the Australian mainland, the point plunging abruptly into the sea below due to the Zuytdorp cliffs. The other extreme points of the mainland are Byron Bay in the east, Wilsons Promontory in the south, the southern point only being accessible by walking in and out for two days, and the tip of Cape York in the north, accessible by ferry or a five day 4WD trek.

The Zuytdorp cliffs that stretch from here south to Kalbarri. Named after the Dutch ship the Zyutdorp which was last seen sailing from the Cape of Good Hope in 1712 headed for Java. There were no survivors to tell their story, the fate of the ship was a mystery until 1958 when parts of the wreckage were found at the base of these high cliffs. Objects found on the clifftop show that a number of people, possibly 30, survived here for some time. They had salvaged parts of the wreck to build tents and signal fires at the top of the cliffs, even trying to raise a cannon hoping to signal passing ships. It's possible survivors were absorbed by the local Aboriginal people, relics from the wreck have been found at Aboriginal campsites and wells in the regions to the north and inland of the wreck. Mysterious rock paintings have been found at Walga Rock which might indicate Dutch castaways.

I camped a night out on a beach near Steep Point between the fishie people. I could smell it, their fish cleaning. Mind you, I wouldn't be all roses to smell either since I haven't showered in a week. Behind me lay the highest sand dune, so I spent I night listening to people's strained conversations on their mobile phones, the high dune providing the best reception. "Hi there, it's mum. Yes, mum. I SAID IT'S MUM. MUUUUM. YEES. CALLING FROM STEEP POINT. WHAATT. MUUUM. STEEEEEP POOOINT. YEEESSS. HANG ON... (moving two steps) is that better? I SAID, ISS THAT BETTER?" The campsites all have intriguing names and are quite spread out, so the sound of the waves gently lapping on the shore drowned out the sound of distant generators.