Rodney Campbell's Blog

The Amoeba

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Even though Goulet Bluff was one of my two preferred locations to stay it wasn’t unfortunately going to be suitable for us

The “road” down to the beach where some other vans were staying was a bit too sketchy for us. It looked deep with sand and we doubted we’d get back out (with our 2WD vehicle)

So we drove on… but first… once we’d driven back out near the main road (Shark Bay Road)… I stopped to fly across the peninsula towards Shell Beach and some other interesting features in the landscape I’d spied on maps

Cradle of Life

This very interesting natural water feature I’ve called the Amoeba…

X-Ray Vision

Goulet Bluff is a point on the western side of the Peron Peninsula that acts as an important marker between the Denham Sound or northern portion of the Western Gulf Zone from the southern fishing zone of Freycinet Estuary. A 1,400 metre beach is located to the north side of the bluff. Waves usually maintain a migrating spit at the southern end of the each forming a narrow lagoon Down at Goulet

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images. I’d researched four possible overnight camping spots which were close to the area I wanted to photograph They were all roughly 20 to 35 kilometers south of Denham along the coast on the western side of the Cape Peron Peninsula in the Shark Bay World Heritage area Ying and Yang The first of these we visited was Goulet Bluff. It is the southernmost location and was right on the bend just past Shell Beach Conservation Park The photos from the air even during the early afternoon here were as I’d hoped. Some amazing views looking straight down at the waters edge Goulet Bluff

We were leaving Carnarvon on an extremely foggy morning

Foggy Mornings

In fact this was the first day during our ten week trip that we’d had any sort of weather that didn’t involve sunny blue skies with no chance at all of moisture or precipitation

So waking to this thick foggy mist was a bit of a surprise for us 🙂

Today we were heading further south to Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Welcome to Shark Bay

We stayed at this absolutely fantastic spot right on the coast last time we were here and I was hoping for a repeat in another location here 

I was also planning to do quite a bit of drone photography in the area. Having scoured Google Maps for potential locations before coming on the trip

Shell Beach

 

 

Once I’d drained a battery at Miaboolya Beach I landed and we packed up

Windswept Shores

I decided to drive back out a couple kilometers up the entry road so that I could fly and photograph the delta from inland

Below is a 21 frame 180˚ stitched panorama looking straight out to sea. We’re just over a kilometer from the shoreline here

All Out to Sea

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Rivers of Sand

 

More than 130 marine species inhabit the Miaboolya Beach Fish Habitat
Protection Area. One reason for such diversity is that Miaboolya’s main creek is the only creek in the Gascoyne that is cut off from the ocean by a sand bar for months at a time, creating a coastal lagoon.

Flames

In addition, the Gascoyne River drains a vast catchment covering tens of thousands of square kilometres. When it floods, large amounts of fresh water, sediment and nutrients flow through the delta and
Miaboolya Creek. This increases plant growth in the mangroves, algal mats and salt marshes, enriching habitats and food sources for aquatic life.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Miaboolya Bay

Sediments in the river water also cloud seawater in nearshore areas, enabling young fish to hide from predators. This has further helped Miaboolya to become an important fish nursery and habitat

Miaboolya Beach Fish Habitat