Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5 The Midwest & the Northwest: Where the Outback
Meets the Sea ¡
The Midwest and Northwest coasts of Western Australia are treeless, riverless
semi-desert, occupied by vast sheep stations and a handful of people. Tempera-
tures soar to over 115°F (46°C) in summer, and the Outback sand burns orange
in the blazing sun. But it's not the land you come here for—it's what's in the sea.
Since the 1960s, a pod of bottlenose dolphins has been coming into shallow
water at Monkey Mia , the World Heritage-listed Shark Bay Marine Park, to
greet shore-bound humans. Their magical presence has generated worldwide
publicity and drawn people from every corner of the globe.
Another 87km (54 miles) by road north on the Northwest Cape, adventure
seekers from around the world come to snorkel with awesome whale
sharks —measuring up to 18m (59 ft.) long—every fall (Mar to early June).
The Cape's parched shore and green waters hide an even more dazzling secret
though—a second barrier reef 260km (161 miles) long and 2km (1 1 4 miles)
wide called Ningaloo Marine Park . It protects 250 species of coral and 450
kinds of fish, dolphins, mantas, whales, turtles, and dugongs (manatees) in its
5,000 sq. km (1,950 sq. miles). Some people say Ningaloo is as good, if not bet-
ter, than the Great Barrier Reef. Even the Great Barrier Reef can't beat Ningaloo
Reef 's proximity to shore—just a step or two off the beach delivers you into a
magical underwater garden. What is so amazing about the reef is not that it is
here, but that so few people know about it—a mere 8,000 tourists a year. That
means beaches pretty much to yourself, seas teeming with life because humans
haven't scared it away, unspoiled scenery, and a genuine sense of the frontier.
The Midwest and Northwest are lonely, remote, and really too hot to visit
between November and March. The best time to visit is April through October,
when it is still warm enough to swim, though snorkelers might want a wet suit
June through August. Both regions are too far south to get the Top End's sticky
Wet Season, and humidity is always low. Facilities, gas, and freshwater are scarce,
and distances immense in this neck of the woods, so be prepared.
SHARK BAY (MONKEY MIA)
853km (529 miles) N of Perth; 1,867km (1,157 miles) S of Broome
Monkey Mia's celebrity dolphins may not show on time—or at all—but they
rarely pass up a visit. Apart from these delightful sea mammals, Shark Bay's waters
heave with fish, dolphins, turtles, the world's biggest population of dugongs
(10,000 at last count), manta rays, sea snakes, and, June through October, hump-
back whales. On the tip of the Peron Peninsula, which juts out into the Shark Bay
Marine Park, is Francois Peron National Park. The park is home to many endan-
gered species, white beaches composed entirely of shells, and “living fossils”—
rocklike structures on the shore (called stromatolites) that are Earth's first life. The
bay's only town is the one-time pearling town of Denham (pop. 500), 129km (80
miles) from the main coastal highway, which has a hotel or two, a bakery, a news
agency, and a few fishing-charter and tour operators. There is no settlement, only
the pleasant but basic Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort (p. 466).
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE Skywest ( & 1300/660 088 in Australia; www.skywest.
com.au) flies four times a week from Perth to Shark Bay Airport (also called Mon-
key Mia Airport), 18km (11 miles) from Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort. The fare
 
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