Monday, 28 October 2013

Kalbarri National Park

What a surprise to hear rain on the roof overnight, after so many days of cloudless sunny skies! I don’t understand why Australian roofs are so commonly made of corrugated metals, given the heavy rains that pound down in sudden flash showers. Of course, we had hung out some washing to dry over night - more wet in the morning than when it came out of the washer. I enjoyed an early morning walk down to the fascine (where the river water meets the ocean), with a very light shower and gentle breeze but quite pleasant temperature. 

We packed up and hit the road, back down south to the Kalbarri National Park. I’m getting more used to driving on the Western Australian highways, with the speed limit of 110 km/hour even on roads without a dividing line between the lanes. Chris and I both find overtaking is a little bit challenging because the mirages on the road make it hard to see in the distance. There are also lots of ‘road trains’, the super long loaded trucks. And today, the added excitement of the extra wide loads coming at us, trucks carrying houses on them that jut out over the highway dividing line and right into our driving lane.

It was nice to get off the main highway and head toward the coast to Kalbarri. The national park is huge, but the town has a nice quaint little holiday village feel, all stretched out along the water front. The town is located where the Murchison River meets the ocean, so the water tastes salty but is not very wavy – but you can see the big waves breaking just beyond the river bank. We’re staying at a nice little two-story apartment just off the main drag; I’m thrilled at the size of the fridge and kitchen after cooking in pretty cramped quarters for the last 10 days.

After a walk down the water front to make some plans for the next few days’ adventures, we couldn’t resist jumping into the water for a swim before supper. Seafood again – this time Rio got to try lots of different types of seafood piece by piece: squid rings, oyster and prawn, all breaded and deep fried – how could you miss? Chris enjoyed a delicious homemade veggie burger and Sol had chicken burger again. I got the grilled Spanish mackerel. We ate outside with a view of the river, ocean and hills as the sun set gradually behind some cool clouds on the horizon. I like the way so many places here are BYO; it sure helps to keep the cost down, but still makes it feel like a special meal as you sip your wine from a tumbler and unwrap the paper packet with your fish and chips.


Day 13 Kalbarri: Today was the toughest day of the holiday. I spent the morning in considerable discomfort with a stomach upset – though the boys seemed happy to catch up from their internet deprivation while waiting for me to feel better. Our planned hike in the national park was postponed to after lunch, which wasn’t a terrible thing since it meant we were hiking slightly past the heat of midday and finishing up in the early evening when the lower angle of the sun made for nicer photographs. To get to the start of the hike, we had to endure a 27 km drive up an unsealed road, mostly sand that had been graded by caterpillar in small ridges. Some of the drive was bone-juddering, so we appreciated that they are in the middle of roadworks to pave the way into the park.

The first views from the car park were promising, but slightly clouded by flies. We set off briskly, hoping to walk ourselves out of fly range, but no matter how fast we went, they followed us in swarms. The hike started up on the top of the gorges, then a rocky climb down into the river bed (still enough water to be called a ‘river’ but pretty minimalist). 


We wound around with the river, admiring the Tumblagoorda Sandstone patterning the gorge walls (layers of multi coloured sand deposited 480 million years ago and then gouged into gorge shapes by water and erosion) – as much as we could through the cloud of flies. The heat was pretty intense in the gorge, with very little wind to help against heat or flies. We were fairly well prepared with water and snacks but nobody wanted to stand still long enough to nibble. 


Chris managed to stay cheerful, take photos, and find his inner Zen to ignore the flies, whereas Rio found that giving voice to his complaints was the best approach. He was tempted when we offered to let him take shelter under a shady gorge overhang and stay there, but the flies didn’t diminish in the shade so he thought better of it. 


There were lots of birds, including a couple of black swans that seemed to be escorting a pelican off to a secure facility, one in front and one behind. A couple of roos showed their faces as well, to explain the copious roo poo on the trails. 



The route was fairly well marked but we managed to stray from it a few times when there was no sand to show us trekker footsteps. Chris’s GPS was helpful but not quite at the scale required to avoid all wrong moves.

The Loop hike was 9 km total, with some vigorous up and downs, so we were all pretty tired upon our return. Just enough energy and oomph to smile for the camera at Nature’s Window.





The first thing we did on the way back was to stop at BP to pick up some fly hats – Sol and Chris still being stoic and refusing a hat, but Rio and I pretty convinced they would come in handy. See tomorrow’s post for who was right...


Back at home for a well earned supper and the kids’ first game of Euchre. I think they are hooked. Yay, we don’t have to wait for our annual camping trip at Rathtrevor to play Euchre now.

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