Day 119 - Steep Point, Dirk Hartog Island, Francois Peron National Park

Windy again today but from a different direction from yesterday and not as strong.  It was sunny too. This was a perfect day to hail a passing aeroplane and do an 80 minute flight to see what Shark Bay is all about.  

030814 Our flying chariot  for the day- it was an oldie but a goodie

There is no doubt you get a different perspective from the air and it beats shaking yourself into oblivion when you drive these gravel/sandy, corrugated roads.  Mind you, the wind provided us with a bumpy ride in the plane but we arrived home with everything intact.

030814 Our flight path around Shark Bay

The black line in the map above is a best representation of our flight path. We took off to the south, and passed south of Denham and saw Little Lagoon off the starboard wing.

030814 Denham from the air

030814 Little Lagoon from the air, with wind turbines
and Denham's water plant included

We headed across the Bay, passing Capes Heirisson and Bellefin on our port side. We passed over pristine waters, full of sea grass and sighted occasional dolphins.  To our south we could see Useless Bay, so named because some French sailors rowed its entire shoreline looking for fresh water and found none. Further south was the Useless Loop where some of the purest salt in the world is being harvested.

We then swept down south of Steep Point to the Zuytdorp Cliffs, before turning north to pass seaward of Steep Point.  Steep Point is the most westerly point of the Australian mainland.

 030814 The Zuytdorp Cliffs just south of Steep Point

030814 More of the Zuytdorp Cliffs

030814 Steep Point

030814 The most westerly Australian landmass with Steep Point on the RHS

On crossing South Passage we were then on the west coast of Dirk Hartog Island.  We flew up the 80km of the island’s coast, passing over the Dirk Hartog Homestead, to reach Cape Inscription at its northern end.  This is the point at which Dirk Hartog landed and placed his pewter dish, to prove he had landed there.  Incidentally the dish was recovered by another Dutch sailor and returned to Holland where it remains today. There were cliffs and sand dunes all the way up the coast,but not as high as the Zuytdorp Cliffs.  At all times the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean were providing a foamy welcome to the cliffs.

030814 Cliffs on Dirk Hartog Island

030814 Dirk Hartog Homestead, now a tourist destination

030814 Cliffs on Dirk Hartog Island

030814 Cape Inscription at the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island

030814 A close up of the Cape Inscription Lighthouse

Turning east from Cape Inscription we passed by Turtle Bay, a loggerhead turtle breeding site, as we flew the 45km or so to Cape Peron.  It is the northern end of the Francois Peron National Park.  Southward next took us over many birridas, most dry, until we came across the Big Lagoon.  This comprised many interconnected birridas which had access to the sea.  The varying colours caused by the varying depths of water within the lagoon were beautiful.  The blues and greens contrasted with the surrounding green foliage and the red and white sands. 

030814 Cape Peron - note the lighthouse near the tip

030814 One of many birridas in the Francois Peron National Park

030814 Portion of Big Lagoon

030814 One of the interconnected lagoons of Big Lagoon

030814 Big Lagoon maintaining an access to the Indian Ocean

We tipped our wings as we flew over the Peron Homestead, an old sheep station.  It has two claims to fame, a hot tub with artesian water at 40 degrees and is the point at which you deflate your tyres if you are driving north through the sandy tracks of the National Park and inflate them on your return.

030814 The Peron Homestead

Minutes later we landed safely at the airport, most satisfied with our flight, but in our quieter moments, glad to be back on terra firma.

030814 The Denham Airport runway from the north