1: Stromatolites and the Shell Quarry.
We stayed at Hamelin Pool Station and did some day trips. The first one took us to the stromatolites and the old shell quarry. The stromatolites just looked like black rocks but they have much more to their formation than just rock. This is how they were created:
Tiny particles link together to form microbial mats and these mats trap other small particles such as dust and dirt. This is the first layer of what will turn out to be a stromatolite. As more and more of these layers pile on top of each other you finally get a stromatolite! Stromatolites only grow a maximum of 0.3mm per year, so those that are up to a metre tall are hundreds if not thousands of years old.
On to the shell quarry… At the old remains of the quarry we saw the old, unused blocks of squished-together shells and even found some small, discarded pieces to take back. From the early to mid 1900s, these shell blocks were used by the European settlers as a building material.
P.S. All this information was collected on the day trip.
Wide open spaces 