If ever the word 'tired' could be aptly applied to an inanimate object, Hamelin Pool Caravan Park fits the bill. And the real shame of it is that it is located in a prime position, within a five to ten minute walk of the world famous Hamelin Pool stromatolites and all that goes with them.
The sign we first saw on approach set the scene. The original ideas were right but all was now suffering from a lack of upkeep.
On we went along the park approach road towards the entrance
where I was less than inspired by the fact that the gate sign proclaiming the old telegraph station and fence on which it had been placed were nought but a tumbled down pile of stone blocks.
The surface of the park entrance roadway was as rough as some of the local amenity appeared to be, but we pushed on regardless.....we are seasoned travellers by now.
The park roadway to the office and cafe took us past the only area of lawn in the park, but here I must comment that water is at a real premium in this area, so much so that I later learnt from the park manageress that she has to cart drinking water in from Carnarvon, at $1,000 a truckload...ouch! It's no wonder that visitors are restricted to acquiring 10 litres per person per day from the relevant tank.
As usual, we pulled up at the office and made ourselves known and were told that we could pick any site.
This did not surprised us. We were 'it' at this stage, and promptly made ourselves at home on a patch where I did not have to unhitch.
Here we made an interesting discovery. We had noticed just how startlingly white the surface of the park appeared to be. There was a very good reason for this. It is comprised entirely of masses and masses of tiny white sea shells. Apart from the sun glare these created, these make for a very clean surround. This was novel indeed, and we were to see much more of these tiny mollusc remnants later.
From a broader perspective, this is an overview of the park taken from a nearby hilltop.
If you look closely you may just be able to pick out the shape of the cruiser, a whisker off exactly mid-shot.
Once settled it was time for a quick look around. Where are the 'heads' and the camp kitchen, and more to the point, what do they offer visiting itinerants. Well, there they were. The ablution block is the yellow building to the left and the white building to the right is the camp kitchen.
To sing the praises of the ablutions is difficult. Let me merely comment that finding the urinal stacked with plastic chairs to enforce the 'out of order' sign seemed strangely apt.
The camp kitchen was another matter altogether. The table and bench setting under the verandah was more than fit for purpose
and inside this iron clad building some attempt had been made to reflect the era in which it would have been in its heyday (this shot does not really do it justice).
We were less enthusiastic about the BBQ area
but were prepared to acknowledge, that, if as we have been led to believe, a refurbishment programme is under way and the park pool is the first result of that, then some success has been achieved.
Some of the park cabins looked reasonable
but others were far less inviting in their external appearance or location in the park.
We didn't bother with paying the fee and having the old telegraph station opened for us. We were here for other reasons and we had seen quite a bit of this on the Stuart Highway.
Nor did we indulge in any of the fare of offer at the park shop and therefore cannot comment on the quality, but, from the menu displayed out the front it must be said the prices seemed reasonable (for WA especially)
Diners may choose to sit outside on the front verandah
or in the relative cool of the interior.
In the adjoining rooms we found all sorts of goods on offer. The ubiquitous souvenir 'T' shirts did not surprise, nor did the beachwear,
We were somewhat taken aback to find that we could also leave Hamelin Pool with exotic shells, bottles of wine and other odds and sods,
but what completely threw us was this range of genuinely up-market women's clothing arranged around the walls of one of the rooms. We could not believe that, given our location, this would actually move, but according to the staff lass on duty they did sell items from time to time. We remain at a loss to understand why one would feel the need 'to dress' at Hamelin Pool, or immediately beyond, for that matter.
Liz decided she was happy with her current wardrobe. The displayed dresses did not leave their hangers during our visit. We were off to take the track across the front hill to the nearby waters of Hamelin Pool and tick off something which had been on your scribe's bucket list for ages, the famed stromatolites of Shark Bay.
I have included a photo of this sign, located in the park, to provide some idea of the proximity of the stromatolites boardwalk to the caravan park (the park is the whitish area at the bottom right of the photo.....the boardwalk is at the top left.
Our path out of the park took us past a poignant reminder of the hardships faced by our forebears. Here, in this ever so simple grave, lie the remains of Thomas Carmody, aged seven months, who fell victim in 1898 to either typhoid or cholera whilst en route with his parents along the telegraph line from the old Port of Cossack to Denham (quite coincidentally we are planning to visit Cossack later today....we are currently in Port Sampson near Karratha)
After a moment or two of reflection, trying to picture the bleak journey that it must have been across the flat, hot landscape of the lower Pilbara and Shark Bay peninsulas, we climbed to the top of the hill between the park and the beach.
Many moons ago, wool and other products were shipped out of the tiny port of Hamelin Pool (of which nothing now remains). Atop the hill the old signal post was another reminder of a bygone era.
From here we could gain our first glimpse of the waters of Hamelin Pool and our path down to the gritty shore.
Before reaching the shore and the stromatolites, we came across another point of interest here at Hamelin Pool, the shell quarry. As is shown on this nearby sign, blocks of rock were sawn out of the deposits in this are and used as building material.
What a story this is. As you will see from many of the photos of this area, timber is scarce to say the least, as was good building stone. Early settlers to the area soon discovered that they had another resource, 'coquina', a rock like amalgamation of the billions of tiny shells which were deposited here.
The local 'Fragum Cockle' thrives in the hyper-saline waters of Hamelin Pool, where the salinity levels soar to between 55-70 parts per 1000 and the water temperatures between December to March can reach a staggering 45 degrees. These are one hardly little mollusc. They are much smaller than their counterparts from less saline waters, but what they lack in size they more than make up for in numbers. With no natural predators able to survive in this environment, they have grown in mind-numbing numbers.
The spent shells have heaped up over the ages. Rain water then leached out some of the calcium from which they were composed and this liquid hardened over time to form a cement like bond. The result......a soft but hardy stone, used extensively locally throughout the Shark Bay area for construction.
Here is one remaining example of a 'shell building', a restaurant in Denham.
Looking more closely at the blocks of 'stone', the mass of compacted tiny shells is clear to see.
Removing material from this old quarry site is now forbidden for any reason other than to make repairs to the few remaining buildings which are constructed of this material.
The precision with which the building blocks were hewn out is quite clear in some parts of this old quarry.
We wandered on past this testament to the ingenuity of the early settlers of this area along the flat, wide, hard, gritty track
and within short order the viewing platform over the stromatolite area came into view.
Here, interpretive and explanatory signs abound, and they are very well done,
but at this point, for the sake of accuracy and expediency, let me quote directly from the World Heritage website relating to Shark Bay.
"Hamelin Pool - Stromatolites
In the hyper-saline
water of Hamelin Pool at the base of Shark Bay's eastern gulf the rocks
aren't quite what the appear to be. They are living things,
Stromatolites, which are the oldest living organisms on the planet. Some
scientists believe they were the first living things on mother earth.
Hamelin Pool is the location of the best example in the world of living marine stromatolites. The water of Hamelin Bay is twice as saline as usual sea water because of a bar across the Bay's entrance and rapid evaporation from the shallow water. Most living animals, which feed on the bacteria and algae of which stromatolites are composed, cannot tolerate such saline conditions. As a result stromatolites can grow here successfully, undisturbed. Most stromatolites are extremely slow growing. Those in Hamelin Pool grow at a maximum of .3mm a year, so those which are up to a metre high are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Stromatolites are formed through the activity of primitive unicellular organisms: cyanobacteria (which used to be called blue-green algae) and other algae. These grow through sediment and sand, binding the sedimentary particles together, resulting in successive layers which, over a long period of time, harden to form rock. For at least three-quarters of the earth's history stromatolites were the main reef building organisms, constructing large masses of calcium carbonate.
However their most important role in the history of the earth has been that of contributing oxygen to the earth's atmosphere. The organisms which construct stromatolites are photosynthetic. They take carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates, and in doing this they liberate oxygen into the atmosphere.
When stromatolites first appeared on earth about 3.5 billion years ago there was little or no oxygen in the atmosphere. It was through the oxygen-generating activity of stromatolites that other animal life on earth was able to develop. Conversely, it is believed that the decline in numbers of stromatolites is related to the evolution of animals that consumed cyanobacteria and algae.
Stromatolite fossils are evidence of the earliest life on the earth. Western Australia perhaps has the best stromatolite fossils, giving a record through the eons of time. Fossils of the earliest known stromatolites, about 3.5 billion years old, are to be found near Marble Bar in the Pilbara.
Evidence of the beginnings of life on Earth can be found in saline waters of Hamelin Pool - the famous stromatolites. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is one of the only two places in the world where living marine stromatolites are known to occur and it is the only place where they can be easily seen from shore. Microscopic organisims - invisible to the human eye - concentrate and recycle nutrients which combine with sedimentary grains to form domes of rock - like materials known as stromatolites.
Hamelin Pool gives an indication of what the earth may have looked like 3.5 billion years ago when stromatolites were widespread. Because of their range and numbers it is a place of great interest to botanists and geologists alike. A jetty has been constructed allowing the stromatolites to be viewed without doing them irreparable damage.
It's a humbling thought that all life on this planet could have started from something so simple as the blue-green algae which created these rocks millions of years ago."
Hamelin Pool is the location of the best example in the world of living marine stromatolites. The water of Hamelin Bay is twice as saline as usual sea water because of a bar across the Bay's entrance and rapid evaporation from the shallow water. Most living animals, which feed on the bacteria and algae of which stromatolites are composed, cannot tolerate such saline conditions. As a result stromatolites can grow here successfully, undisturbed. Most stromatolites are extremely slow growing. Those in Hamelin Pool grow at a maximum of .3mm a year, so those which are up to a metre high are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
Stromatolites are formed through the activity of primitive unicellular organisms: cyanobacteria (which used to be called blue-green algae) and other algae. These grow through sediment and sand, binding the sedimentary particles together, resulting in successive layers which, over a long period of time, harden to form rock. For at least three-quarters of the earth's history stromatolites were the main reef building organisms, constructing large masses of calcium carbonate.
However their most important role in the history of the earth has been that of contributing oxygen to the earth's atmosphere. The organisms which construct stromatolites are photosynthetic. They take carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates, and in doing this they liberate oxygen into the atmosphere.
When stromatolites first appeared on earth about 3.5 billion years ago there was little or no oxygen in the atmosphere. It was through the oxygen-generating activity of stromatolites that other animal life on earth was able to develop. Conversely, it is believed that the decline in numbers of stromatolites is related to the evolution of animals that consumed cyanobacteria and algae.
Stromatolite fossils are evidence of the earliest life on the earth. Western Australia perhaps has the best stromatolite fossils, giving a record through the eons of time. Fossils of the earliest known stromatolites, about 3.5 billion years old, are to be found near Marble Bar in the Pilbara.
Evidence of the beginnings of life on Earth can be found in saline waters of Hamelin Pool - the famous stromatolites. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is one of the only two places in the world where living marine stromatolites are known to occur and it is the only place where they can be easily seen from shore. Microscopic organisims - invisible to the human eye - concentrate and recycle nutrients which combine with sedimentary grains to form domes of rock - like materials known as stromatolites.
Hamelin Pool gives an indication of what the earth may have looked like 3.5 billion years ago when stromatolites were widespread. Because of their range and numbers it is a place of great interest to botanists and geologists alike. A jetty has been constructed allowing the stromatolites to be viewed without doing them irreparable damage.
It's a humbling thought that all life on this planet could have started from something so simple as the blue-green algae which created these rocks millions of years ago."
As we had first discovered last year at Cervantes, where a few further examples of this incredible organism can be seen on the edge of Lake Thetis, stromatolites have played a major role in shaping the planet as we know it today.
At the triangular end of the protective boardwalk
we were able to view the world as it may have been millions and millions of years ago.
Masses were exposed in the low tide conditions, but there were still more underwater.
They stretched away along the shoreline to the west
and to the east of the platform.
Although obviously neither Liz nor I were as excited about all this as the scientists of the world, it was quite an experience to have finally seen one of the largest collection of these 'living fossils' on the planet.
So, with another 'bucket list' item ticked off, it was time for one last look back over the shell grit beach of Hamelin Pool
as we made our way along the trail through the stunted coastal scrub back to to our digs.
The only remaining thing to be done was to again climb the hill and see what the sunset over Hamelin Pool had to offer. Not much by way of colour this evening, unfortunately, but Liz did take the time to hone her skills in managing to sip champagne under her fly net. Have I mentioned the flies???
In another most incredible coming together of circumstances, in a happy hour discussion last evening (at Point Sampson where we are currently staying) we discovered that one of our neighbours actually built and installed the very benches here at Hamelin Pool on which we sat. He had worked in the park for a few months some years ago.
We were able to assure him that they were still in good order and well used, and with the bottle emptied (I did help) and darkness falling, it was time to wander back down the hill,
say goodnight to the chooks,
and retire for the evening. It had been an interesting day. Tomorrow, Denham and Shark Bay proper loom large on our agenda. We went to bed this night thinking about the potential the Hamelin Pool Caravan Park has given its unique location....redo the cafe, rationalise the stock, renovate the amenities, arrange for a better water supply, replant all the grassed areas with salt tolerant couch, run proper short tours of the old telegraph station and contemplate using the quaint camp kitchen to provide evening meals in the genuine Aussie outback fashion for hungry punters. Easy for us to say!
At the triangular end of the protective boardwalk
we were able to view the world as it may have been millions and millions of years ago.
Masses were exposed in the low tide conditions, but there were still more underwater.
They stretched away along the shoreline to the west
and to the east of the platform.
Although obviously neither Liz nor I were as excited about all this as the scientists of the world, it was quite an experience to have finally seen one of the largest collection of these 'living fossils' on the planet.
So, with another 'bucket list' item ticked off, it was time for one last look back over the shell grit beach of Hamelin Pool
as we made our way along the trail through the stunted coastal scrub back to to our digs.
The only remaining thing to be done was to again climb the hill and see what the sunset over Hamelin Pool had to offer. Not much by way of colour this evening, unfortunately, but Liz did take the time to hone her skills in managing to sip champagne under her fly net. Have I mentioned the flies???
In another most incredible coming together of circumstances, in a happy hour discussion last evening (at Point Sampson where we are currently staying) we discovered that one of our neighbours actually built and installed the very benches here at Hamelin Pool on which we sat. He had worked in the park for a few months some years ago.
We were able to assure him that they were still in good order and well used, and with the bottle emptied (I did help) and darkness falling, it was time to wander back down the hill,
say goodnight to the chooks,
and retire for the evening. It had been an interesting day. Tomorrow, Denham and Shark Bay proper loom large on our agenda. We went to bed this night thinking about the potential the Hamelin Pool Caravan Park has given its unique location....redo the cafe, rationalise the stock, renovate the amenities, arrange for a better water supply, replant all the grassed areas with salt tolerant couch, run proper short tours of the old telegraph station and contemplate using the quaint camp kitchen to provide evening meals in the genuine Aussie outback fashion for hungry punters. Easy for us to say!
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