ON THE ROAD TO KALBARRI WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Our trip to Kalbarri Western Australia started at 7am on Thursday 9th April (well it probably started the night before as that is when we loaded the car up with everything short of the kitchen sink).
Driving from Perth to Kalbarri is 592 Kilometres, a trip that you need to allow about 7 hours for (longer if you plan to make lots of stops along the way)
We travelled North out of Perth on the Great Northern Highway, onto the Brand Highway, making out first stop 260km later, where we grabbed some breakfast at the roadhouse in Eneabba.
Eneabba is a mineral sands mining town that flurishes in the wild flower season. Unfortunately for us our trip was in April so we were 4 months or so early for wild flowers. Eneabba itself is a small townsite so we fueled up the cars and our stomach and got back on the road.
Back on the road our next stop was for a photo opportunity of the falling down tree before stopping for some lunch in Geraldton.
Geraldton was the largest town outside of Perth we would be seeing during the whole of our time away. Geraldton is a town you could stop and explore, stay over a few nights. We chose not to as it would mean stealing time we had planned for other places. Of course McDonalds can be found in almost any town in any country and so McDonalds (well McCafe) was the port of call for lunch.
After lunch it was back on the road as we made our way to Kalbarri. We made one last stop on the way and that was in Northampton for Ursh to light a candle at the church (or she would have if could have but unfortunately no candles in sight) before taking the coastal route to Kalbarri.
We did find the need for another photo opportunity on the way to Kalbarri at the Pink Lake. As you can see it was looking very pink.
We finally arrived in Kalbarri at 2.30pm and found the accommodation we had booked. It was great a house overlooking the river and the sea just in the distance.
We unloaded the cars and chilled out on the balcony for a little while before heading down for a late afternoon swim in the Murchison River (the Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia, it flows from the Robinson Ranges 780km down into the Indian Ocean in Kalbarri).
Finlay’s (fresh fish) BBQ was the place for dinner tonight, it is a real dining experience. Finlay’s is basically an open kitchen stuck in the back of a tin shed and tucked away in a back road (Magee Crescent, despite the signs it too us a while to find the place the first time we visited). We will always find the time for at least one BBQ there. It is a great place so spend an evening.
To help you get the picture, there is no table service, tablecloths and drinks are BYO (bring your own). You simply order and pay for your food before grabbing a seat (you are even invited to sing for your super if you want a free meal). Once your number is called you go collect your food. One thing you can be sure of is being served some of the freshest fish on the coast.
A great place if you don’t want to dress for dinner (not that dressing for dinner is a requirement in Western Australia) OK so you will generally find no singlets (T Shirts without arms) or thongs (that’s flip flops) for the guys but other than that…..
DAY TWO KALBARRI
We were up early for our second day in Kalbarri so that we could go and see the Pelicans being fed so we all got down in the beach in plenty of time and waited. No such look today though and why do you think that was??? Well in the typical Aussie way the Pelicans have been expected to change their routine to fit in with the clocks changing back from daylight saving. I ask you, surely you would change the time you feed them not expect them to suddenly start coming to be fed an hour early each day.
We have had the pleasure of seeing the Pelicans being fed on previous trips to Kalbarri though so I can share a few photos with you.
Gareth and I wanted to go for a hike into the gorges today, a regular event when we visit Kalbarri. After some breakfast we loaded are bags with a packed lunch and plenty of water and made our way to the Kalbarri National Park and the ZBend.
Once there we hiked to the bottom of the gorge (via the absailing wall) and to the Murichen River. We had a lovely time, we had the whole place to ourselves and went skinny dipping before having a picnic lunch on the bank of the river. More skinny dipping and enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the river before heading back up to the top.
Ursh (who had spent the day on the beach) cooked dinner that night, which we had to eat inside due to being swarmed by mosquitoes. Kalbarri now has the nickname Flybarri. It was a real shame about the mosquitos we all got bit to pieces which was no joke).
We only spent a couple of nights in KalbarriWestern Australia, which is just not long enough. If you love the outdoor lifestyle Kalbarri offers such a lot to do. Rainbow Jungle, Open Air Cinema, Seahorse Sanctruy, Quod Biking, Canoeing, Coastal Lookouts, Absailing…..