The European history of the area goes back to when Dirk Hartog, the Dutch explorer landed at Shark Bay in 1616, over 150 years before Captain Cook made his first landing at Kurnell in 1770 leading to the establishment of the British colony at Sydney 18 years later. The Dutch didn't care for the area, as it contained none of the spices or other valuables they were looking to trade or acquire. Their further visits were largely the result of being blown off course on route to the Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia).
Shark Bay was given World Heritage status in 1991. The Shark Bay World Heritage Discover Centre [http://www.sharkbayinterpretivecentre.com.au/] is in Denham.
'''Shark Bay Airport (MJK)''' is around 8km from Denham, and around 16km from Monkey Mia on the Monkey Mia Road. The airport has a sealed landing strip, but no terminal facilities of any substance.
Skywest [http://www.skywest.com.au] services the airport from Perth four times a week, and from Exmouth weekly.
Carnarvon is 350km from Denham, and has daily flights from Perth.
Shark Bay is around 1000km drive north from Perth. It is around 5000km drive from Sydney, and about as far away from Sydney as you can get on the Australian mainland.
'''Shark Bay Car Hire''' [http://www.carhire.net.au/] is a local operator. None of the majors operate in the area.
Carnarvon and onto Exmouth heading north.