Kalbarri 18.08.2016 – 22.08.2016

As we left Denham we reminisced on our experience at Monkey Mia and the beautiful coast line we had seen in Denham also known as Shark Bay, we were looking forward to our next stop being Kalbarri which was highly recommended to us.

Whilst driving away from Denham and heading for the North West Coastal highway we passed a few tractors towing A frame caravans and thought how funny this was to see something like this.  However, as we stopped at the Overlander Roadhouse to fill up with diesel we saw a whole lot more of these tractors and naturally my curiosity got the better of me, so I went and asked the reason for this escapade.  They all belonged to the 9G Tractor Club of WA and once a year they would drive to different places in WA raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service and Children’s Hospital.  See photos of these beautiful tractors with their caravans in tow.

So, after this bit of excitement it was back on the road heading for Kalbarri, and once again we were impressed with the scenery and all the wild flowers on display.

After a few hours we reached Kalbarri and the beautiful and yet rugged coastline.

Cute homes as we drove into Kalbarri

Here are a few photos of the beach front, the water is a turquoise colour and the sand is like talcum powder.

To the left of Kalbarri, there is a nature reserve called Red Bluff which is a rugged coastline of eroded cliffs and rock formation. As it was the season for the wild flowers, it made the trip all the more worthwhile.

The photo above shows the beach which we went to at first and the scenic view from the lookout.

We travelled further down the coastline which is to the left of where I am standing and we came across an area called mushroom rock. The area is absolutely beautiful and the wild flowers of the region made it all the more worthwhile.

Above you can see what remains of the Mushroom rock, which is a rock perched on another and doing a fine balancing act.

Below you can see how the sea has eroded the coastline.

Shirley thought that this was the ideal opportunity to take a “selfie”.

We could not get enough of this lovely coastline, so we spent all morning walking through the park and taking photos.

At around midday, we got back to the caravan park had a rest and later on in the afternoon we decided to explore the right hand side of town to do some fishing in the estuary.  Little did we know that it was a reserve and that we were not meant to fish in that area.

The fish were not biting so I decide to try my luck at the ocean beach instead and I ended up feeding the fish and not catching a single one.  However, we had a most enjoyable day.

After a while it was evident that I was not going to catch any fish and when the bait ran out , we decided to take a drive to a little hill overlooking the town to take a few pictures of the town.

Above, you can see a view of the harbour entrance and the lead off to the estuary, and below Kalbarri in the background.

We visited the small war memorial and waited for the sun to set.

We got back to the caravan and realised that this would have been a big day’s outing for the dogs and it was not long Whiskey and Brandy were fast asleep.

The following day, we decided to leave the dogs with a lovely French lady who we had met in the caravan park, who had a little dog called Maurice. As the dogs got along so well, we took the opportunity to leave the dogs with her and go out to explore the Kalbarri national park.

The first part of the walk was to the spectacular Z Bend, which was a walk through a gorge to a river.  The walk was pretty strenuous, but I would highly recommend it.  You are advised to rehydrate as the temperature can soar rather rapidly in the gorge.

The walk to the gorge was spectacular, however the flies were an absolute nuisance.  The wild flowers more than made up for it though.

Once again, we came across a sign to warn you of the danger of the poison 1080 if you were stupid enough to take the risk of bringing a dog to the park.

The walk through the gorge was absolutely beautiful and we would rank this place as one of the best gorges that we have visited so far.

We eventually got down to the river bed and the view was just gorgeous, once we caught our breath again, we contemplated the walk back up the gorge.

The photos below are looking back up the hill from the river bed, giving you an idea of the hike we had just completed, and had to climb up again.

After an exhausting 2,5 hour hike we went to the next excursion known as the straight and

narrow, see the caption below

This is the escarpment that we climbed to get to the river below.

Once again, we saw some wild flowers and Shirley could not stop taking photos, she was as bad as a Japanese tourist on the Gold coast.

The view along this walk was spectacular, with sheer cliffs and views that stretched for miles.

Once again, the Japanese tourist decided to take a selfie with a tired and unshaven bloke.

Did I ever mention that Shirley likes wild flowers?

Finally we came to the best part of the trip, also known as God’s window.

The view from God’s window

Once again, my lovely wife could not resist a selfie.

This is a view of the window from the opposite end.

The view from God’s window was magnificent and we felt that the time was well spent here, we got back to the camp quite exhausted but happy to see the dogs again and relax with an ice-cold beer for me and a glass of wine for Shirley.

Kalbarri has to be one of our favourite destinations, and we would highly recommend this destination to anyone wanting to visit the WA west coast.

Our next stop is Geraldton and Jurien bay.

Map of our trip.