Denham August 2020 Day 3

Tammy Rodrigues
Aug 17, 2020
11 min read

Updated: Sep 18, 2020

Bouncing out of bed with renewed energy and enthusiasm, after a much needed rest the day before, we looked forward to exploring Dehnam and it's surrounds. Yes, we've done it before, but previous road trip adventures always tells us that no matter how many times you visit the same places you always see new things and witness changing landscapes depending on time, season, weather, and many other factors. In other words, it simply never gets boring.

We packed the car with an assortment of possible needs for a day trip in the bush: Bug repellant, sunscreen, clear zinc, hats, bathers, long sleeve sun shirts, jumpers, track pants, aqua shoes, rock hoppers, thongs, beach towels, folding chairs, first aid kit, esky of food and snacks, and lots and lots of water. These are generally our staples for any road trip day drive. Plan for any weather change, any type of adventure be it swim, rock climb, or bush treck, any conditions, and any incidents. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. This kit then stayed in the car throughout our holiday and served us well as indeed the weather did change.

Our fisrt stop was the Ocean Park Aquarium. This stop needs to be a must-do on any visitors list. We have already been here but wanted to come back a 2nd time as the first time (a couple of years ago) impressed us SO much. The beauty of this place is that it doesn't exploit animals like places such as Seaworld (as explained in Blackfish The Movie) it is a rehabilitation centre and local education facility that releases any animal showing signs of distress at being held in captivity. The set up is very humane, with it located right by the ocean, so big pipes and pumps refresh the containment areas with fresh seawater constantly which not only keep the water clean but also enables the locally caught species to be exposed to water conditions and organisms so that their release is a smooth transition and they have not depeleted any immunity to local bacteria.

When we entered this facility the sky was rather overcast so we were happy to have picked a day where we weren't missing the sunshine and were happy to be indoors. Last time I walked into this place there was a hilarious chalkboard sign with a cheeky looking shark that said "Naughty kids will be fed to the sharks", I was disappointed it was missing and when I asked staff they said that it came to an unfortunate demise when caught in a sudden downpour of rain and that many people asked where it went it being a quirky draw-card. Damn. I had a quick browse of the merch available - lots of books, cards, toys, educational items, and the usual array of souvenirs. My eyes drew to a very cool shark t-shirt that I grabbed for Hobbit. At the counter I also found a pack of bamboo coasters with cork bases and sharks etched into the tops. Nice, I'll have those thanks! We paid for our tour, at $27 a person it is well worth it as you get to learn about the local species, their preservation, some stories of attacks, rescues, survivors, those not so lucky, and the ability to ask questions to your guide which is usually a Marine Biology student who is enthusiastically sharing their knowledge and loving working in their chosen field. They choose their staff well here, we have always found everyone to be exceptionally friendly, genuine, knowledgeable, patient, and really into their work. After paying, you step outside and wait for the next circle tour. Tours go non stop all day but they change guides to keep the staff fresh and rested and over the period of time while the current tour is going the next group of people accumulate. Another couple joined us and we introduced ourselves, one must always be friendly on holidays lols.

Our allocated guide found our group and started the tour inside the big undercover area where all the aquariums and shallow pool are contained. Starting at the first pond we saw two lovely sea snakes where we learnt about their habitat and behaviours. Sitting there in the little pond they didn't look at all scary, they gently sat curled around a rock making little moves with their heads. We found out that this was an exceptionally cold time of year and they were rather dormant to conserve energy, the little head movements (like vibrations) were thought to be to stabilise body temperature.

These two were so cute cuddling each other.

Next we saw a squid tank where they hand fed the little squids with prawns. The squid are amazing cameleons and it is fascinating to watch their body change colours and their many little tentacles swirling about. I love their eyes, you can see them carefully watching the prawn as it is swirled in the water. They case it out for a while before snatching it out of your hand. The third pool has snazzy little lion fish in it and with swift instructions not to touch we learnt all about the difference between poisonous and venomous and how these little guys are actually quite pesky as an introduced species with few predators.

Over on the wall is a large aquarium which holds all the pellagic fish. They are in a lovely landscape of coral and streaming bubbling water and are a mixture of species and bright and beautiful colours. These are the types of aquariums I could watch for hours because all the different species interact and behave so differently, creating non stop movement and curiosity. To the left of that is what they call the Nemo tank, filled with scurrying little clown fish it is a hive of activity and very pretty. I was more fixated on a colourful little crab that was in there busily cleaning the anemone, another living creature that she told us all about with its symbiotic connection to the clown fish.

The colours of the fish and anemones were spectacular.

Moving on to a couple more fishy ponds and then some really odd looking stone fish, what actually caught my attention in the blue manna crab tank was a wee lil hermit crab who was oogling me with his beady little eyes and fast moving little claws. I was in love! These are always my favourite sea creatures and spotting one on the shore of a northern bay will have me mesmerised for hours on end with little distraction. I used to have Hermit Crabs as a kid, and despite being shown how to set them up in a roomy and naturally set up habitat (beach sand, drift wood, in a large tub) by my very biologically smart grandfather, I now know that it is cruel to have these little guys live anywhere other than their natural homes by the sea. So to see this underwater variety happily doing its thing was amazing. While everyone else hovered around the fish tanks being educated on whatever was in there, i happily just had this guy all to myself. I later learnt he is called a Disco Crab, so apropriate with my being a BIG fan of Disco.

My new lil friend, Disco Crab, bless!

As the gathering moved to the large shallow pool which takes up half the shed and houses species such as shovel nose sharks, stingrays, flathead, and other shallow dwellers, there was a sudden crashing noise on the tin roof and we soon realised it was a downpour of rain as the water started coming in through gaps in the shed roof and tips of beams and joins. The water seemed to pour in from all angles and you couldn't hear a thing because of how loud it was. What a bummer, we were just getting to the funnest part of the tour, the sharks. The guide asked if we still wanted to go outside but I said no, there is no point getting wet, it will stop eventually. So Hobbit and I escaped to the warmth and sheltered cover of the cafe and shared a super delicious heated double choc muffin which the chef had drizzled with hot chocolate sauce and a dollop of a merangue cream, and a double espresso each. The cafe is on the deck with a magnificent surrounding scenery of the turquoise seas that surround Denham area. You sit there sipping your coffee, devouring the tasty food, enjoying the scenery and contently thinking to yourself "this is the life!"

How delicious does this look! I can tell you this much, it tasted even better than it looks!

It didn't take long for the rain to stop. The ground was now a hopscotch game of jump the puddles. I have been told that Denham normally gets around 10 days of rain a year so when it does rain it pools and runs off, the ground being too hard and dry to absorb a lot of it. We made our way back outside to the shark pool and by now our tour was at its end so we hung around and waited for the next one. Normally they don't allow you to amble around without a guide but for some reason we were allowed to stay. This was the most wonderful experience as Hobbit and I got to watch the sharks coasting along in the giant pool doing what they do, without the disturbance of fish feeding or crowds of people oogling over the rails. We were there for quite some time until the other group caught up and got some amazing photos and video of the sharks. This visit there were way less sharks but we had the added bonus of seeing the tiger shark they had caught and added to the collection. He was so beautiful, we spent a lot of time watching him with his majestic stripes gliding through the water. Not at all as menacing as I thought they would be in real life, mind you, if I was in the water menacing would be an understatement! These guys are machines, so efficient in build and design, so evolved, masters of their domain, I wouldn't like to be in their territory. The fish feeding got us some additional information about their habitiat and behaviour and as always, we came away with a wealth of new knowledge. One shark there had very little tail left and we were told that he would never be released as he would not survive an open sea due to lack of swimming ability. He will live his life in the park recovering and adjusting to the wounds that were inflicted in a lost fight to a bigger shark out at sea.

I wish I could edit some Jaws theme music over this.

Leaving the park, the sun was once again out and the rain clouds had passed. We thought we would drive up to some of the roads near Denham that take you to lookout points and beaches. Our favourite of all is Goulet Bluff. On a past adventure we climbed the hills of Goulet Bluff and witnessed the most amazing scene of thousands of little sharks about a meter in length gliding along the seashore, up and down, not going anywhere in articular just enjoying the waters edge. No wonder the founders called this place Shark Bay, the waters edge looked like a black swarm moving paralell to the shore. Me being the shark fanatic I am we spent hours there and even climbed down the steep cliff to get to the water and see them up close. As I said previously, things change so much between visits when you go north, and unfortunately this time the change was that the sharks were gone. I have no idea what luck we happened across last time, perhaps it was a breeding season, perhaps it was a nursery of baby sharks, perhaps it was just a weather thing, but this time we struck out. Never mind, we have the wonderful memory of having seen it before and the views from this grand hill are so magnificent that we just enjoyed our surroundings for a while and took some lovely wildflower and scenery photos for our cache. Wildflowers are not always around so it was lovely to capture them at this time.

So many wonderful photography opportunities in this lovely spot.

Now this trip was on a tighter budget than normal due to my being unemployed. Normally we would have booked a couple of tours with Wula Gura Nyinda Eco Adventures as the tour guide, Capes, is the most amazing and interesting person you could ever meet and his tours are the education of a lifetime. But this time we had to pass it up as they were added costs we just couldn't afford. My very kind parents had sent me an SMS last night telling us they had put some money into my account to spoil ourselves, so we had booked a meal at The Old Pearler, a quaint little restaraunt in Denham that we had never been to as we normally go for the pub-grub set. We went home, scrubbed up all fancy, and walked down the road for our antisipated dinner. This place is always booked out so we had booked it the day before and the owner was kind enough to get us in on a double booking later in the night after the first lot of guests had left.

The Old Pearler is a Denham icon, it being one of the original town buildings made entirely of shells from Shell Beach, and it being a teeny tiny little place reminding us how small the town is and was when it was founded. Don't let the size fool you tho, this place seats more than you would think, looking at it from the outside it looks the size of a public bathroom, but walking in the walls are lined with many heavy set wooden tables of waxed dark wood which stand out from the shell walls. It is adorable! We sat at our allocated table and I had no second guessing at ordering the one dish that stood out to me, that normally I wouldn't be able to afford, but that my lovely parents had gifted me - Lobster Mornay! YAY. Such a treat. Hobbit checked over the menu and amid the turmoil of so many tempting dishes to choose from decided on the Steak Diane with a spicy pepper garlic sauce with a side of Garlic Bread. Luckily when I made my booking I told them I will be ordering lobster so the chef had kept me one aside, they often run out early as they get them fresh and can't antisipate orders.

Don't you just love those wierd silences when you are a long term couple sitting at the table of a posh restaraunt waiting for the meal. I don't let anyone pick up a phone when I am out socialising (unless it is for the obligatory meal brag photos for facebook lols) so if we run out of things to say we usually end up playfully taunting each other and passing random judgements about other patrons or sizing up the meals they are being delivered.

Our food came out in good time and boy, was it a treat! Not just in presentation but also in smell and taste, a real party for the senses. I savoured each mouthful of my delicious Lobster Mornay and thought it the most perfect meal ever. I wont say too much, but here is my Tripadvisor review. We also ordered the special of the night in desserts which was a honeycomb cheesecake and that was the most delightful dish ever. So melt in your mouth, it was light like mousse and had a golden real honey flavour. It came with a dollop of icecream and cream and we polished it off between us. The chef came out and we passed on our grattitude for a fabulous dining experience. Got chatting and he is the owner of the premises and the lovliest guy. I told him about how I would post a very positive tripadvisor review and he was very grateful. There had been a few negative ones from previous customers who had been a bit difficult and although he had accepted responsibility for some of their experience they also had been really nasty pasties, so I decided to try and make sure my review would counteract their attempt to bring down this lovely persons livelihood. You know, when you meet these people and they are so passionate about their business and their skills, you know it cuts deep when people are mean.

Going home on a full belly with cheshire cat grins, we watched a movie on our teeny tiny tv in our lovely little room in beautiful Bay Lodge till we drifted off into a food coma sleep.

Love the decor in The Old Pearler restaurant.