WE'RE IN KALBARRI

SUNDAY 20TH JULY  -   We left Coronation Beach at 9.30 and drove for 1 ½ hours north to Kalbarri.  It was a lovely sunny day.  We were sorry to be leaving Coronation Beach as we’d really enjoyed our stay there.  We went via Northampton, Horrocks and Port Gregory and arrived at The Top Tourist Murchison River Caravan Park.  As we were checking in, the park manager told us that the dirt road to two of the main tourist attractions in Kalbarri National Park ”Nature’s Window” and “Z-Bend”  were closing the following day for a period of 3 months, whilst they were tarring the road. We hurriedly set up and set out for Kalbarri National Park, which is 486 kilometres north of Perth and covers 183,000 hectares.  It took us about 45 minutes to get to the car park for the Nature’s Window Lookout and walking loop.   It was $11 per car for a day pass. It was fairly busy as it was a beautiful sunny day and also the last day for three months that you could visit there.  The scenery was absolutely magnificent with the rugged rock faces and deep gorges and different hues of browns as well as the contrasting variations of greens of the surrounding bushes.  There was a 9km loop walk across the top of the gorge, taking 3-4 hours.  We opted for the shorter 400 metre walk from the car park right down to the Nature’s Window rock which was a natural rock arch framing the river below.  The walk would be a bit treacherous on a wet day and temperatures can reach up to 50 degrees in summer.  I was glad we were there in winter when the temperatures weren’t as high.  People have actually died on that track.  The scenery was just stunning and absolutely breath-taking and we were so glad we’d arrived just in time to see it.  There were other parts of the park to visit, all equally beautiful I’m sure.  We will visit more of them later in the week.   We drove on to the next area called ”Z-Bend Lookout”  and walked down the steep track to the viewing platform, with a 150 metre drop to the river below where the river redgums are a lush contrast to the earthy tones of the Tumblagooda Sandstone.  Once again, there was a longer 2-3 hour river loop walk, but we were running out of time.  Some of the wildflowers were just starting to come out and looked really pretty, lots of tall bushes of bright pink bottle-brush effect blooms.  It was such a quiet and serene place, so vast and desolate, so beautiful and majestic.   The viewing platform looked down into the deep river gorges that were quite dried up, although we were told that the river runs beneath the sand bed.  What a magnificent start to our stopover in Kalbarri.























Kalbarri is a small coastal town, 592 kilometres north of Perth, at the mouth of The Murchison River in the Mid-West Region.  It attracts over 200,000 visitors every year, when it’s tiny population of 1,400 people swells to over 8,000.  It was named after an aboriginal man from The Murchison Tribe.  It is also the name of an edible seed

The town featured at the end of the movie “Wolf Creek”.

The first Europeans came on the Dutch East India Company ship called the Batavia.

The caravan park is right in the middle of the small town and everything is within walking reach.  The front of the park faces the water and every morning at 8.45 the pelicans are fed.  There are lots of lovely coastal walks and tourist boats pass up and down. You can hire canoes, paddle boats, or power boats, do a sunset cruise or take a joy flight through the gorges and rivers. It’s a really pretty place.

MONDAY 21 ST JULY  -   We visited The Rainbow Jungle Parrot Sanctuary with exotic species of parrots in a native, natural jungle setting. Entry was $14 each. Inside there were lots of big cages with every variety of parrot imaginable inside roomy, shady homes.  There were smaller cages with older birds that chatted to you as you went past.  Some of them had 6 or 7 phrases they could say  - “hello”, “hello cocky,”  “how ya going?” and wolf whistles among their repertoire.   We walked along paved paths past the tropical waterfalls, fountains and stained glass windows and into one of the largest free flight aviaries in Australia with lush tropical gardens.  We saw The Red Tailed Black Cockatoo, Purple Crowned Lorikeets, The South American Blue and Gold Macaws, Indian Ring Neck Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Alexandrine Parrots and my absolute favourite The Scarlet Macaws.  They were just beautiful and so vividly coloured.  Many of them looked as if their colours had been painted on their bodies.  We were absolutely fascinated and spent almost 2 hours looking around and taking photos.  Many of the birds were for sale and have been bred in Australia.  Some were purchased for $8,000 a pair and haven’t yet bred in captivity.



We went up into the Whale Watch Tower and had gorgeous panoramic ocean views of the coastline.

Then we went for a drive to Red Bluff and Red Bluff Beach, the start of the scenic coastal gorges, with stunning red cliffs surrounding the ocean and superb views.  The next lookout was Jakes Point, a popular surfing break.

That night, we sat on the beach and watched a stunning sunset.  It was a lovely calm evening and no cloud in sight and everyone was sitting around enjoying the view with cameras on tripods and glasses of wine. 

THURSDAY 25TH JULY   -   We visited Murchison House Station which was founded in 1858 to provide meat and wheat to lead miners, beef to a growing Perth market and remount horses for the British Army in India.  Today it is a 350,000 acre family owned working station producing beef cattle and rangeland goats.   We toured  through Von Bibras Cottage, built from tumblagooda sandstone and mud bricks by convict labourers.  It was the first permanent building on the property.  We toured through the shearers shed and quarters which were refurbished in 2003 and can be rented out.  In its heyday 35,000 sheep were sheared there. We saw the old wool press and classing table.  The whole property has old machinery, cars, trucks and war memorabilia scattered around the grounds. We saw the original blacksmith’s residence and workshop which is soon to be occupied by local and indigenous artists to showcase their works.  Next we visited the cemetery and saw the grave of A.J. Ogilvie,  an owner and manager of Murchison House Station and those of Fawcett and Broad a pilot and mechanic aboard one of three planes from Australia’s first commercial air service.  Their plane crashed on the property in 1921.

It was an interesting self-guided walking tour, costing $10 each which included a yummy home-baked morning tea in the gardens overlooking the river.  The owners’ two Rhodesian ridge backed dogs came out to greet us wagging their tails excitedly.

Camping is allowed on the property and the owners are very friendly and helpful. 

We drove to Hawks Head Lookout in Kalbarri National Park, named from the hawk shaped natural rock formation visible in the river below the lookout.  The views across the gorge were stunning and the red cliffs had a honeycomb effect.  There were many overhanging rocks and crags, all different shapes, sizes and colours.

Next we drove to Ross Graham Lookout, named in honour of the first headmaster of Kalbarri Primary School who was a keen conservationist and died aged only 31. It was a short 300 metre walk  from the car park to the lookout, with another short walk down to the mouth of the river.  The views once again were amazing and the colours of earthy reds, oranges and browns contrasting with the green foliage and shrubs.  We have thoroughly enjoyed spending time in this magnificent National Park.

NEXT WEEK:    We’re heading a further 374 kilometres north to Denham in The Shark Bay World Heritage Area and will be going to Monkey Mia to see and hopefully feed the dolphins.