KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK

23^rd May, 2012

It’s an early start today as we have a lot to see and do.  Our first stop is on the foreshore for the pelican feeding.  The tradition started fifty years ago with a local fisherman who cleaned his catch and threw the scraps to the pelicans.  The pelicans became accustomed to having their breakfast served up to them on the foreshore and have been waddling up the beach ever since.  At least this is the story as told to us by the volunteer.  Unfortunately no-one had told the pelicans that they were supposed to show up for breakfast and the only wild birds that got a feed were some pushy seagulls.  Apparently the pelicans had got their breakfast elsewhere that morning and weren’t in the mood for seconds.  Oh well!  That’s the way it goes – you can’t put wild animals on a time clock.

So we set out to visit Kalbarri National Park.  At least rocks, gorges, rivers, cliffs and oceans don’t mind what time you turn up to see them.  Our first lookout was at Grandstand where the cliffs dropped dramatically into the Indian Ocean.

Grandstand

The next lookout was Natural Bridge.

Natural Bridge

No prizes as to why this viewpoint was named Natural Bridge.  It was while we were at this lookout scouring the water for any sign of marine movement, that we sighted some dolphins.

Dolphins near Natural Bridge

They cruised past, surfacing now and then to expel air from their blowholes, before disappearing from sight.  At each successive lookout we scanned the ocean for any more signs of life but the dolphins were the only marine life we saw.  We did however enjoy the coastal cliffs and loved the 3D effect we got at Eagle Gorge.

Eagle Gorge

These cliffs make excellent viewing platforms as you can easily see down into the water below and it would be a great spot from which to see the migrating humpback whales  We are a wee bit early in the season to see whales.  Having visited the coastal part of the National Park we turned our attention to the river gorges.  Over millions of years the Murchison River has carved its way through the sandstone to form towering cliffs before making its way to the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri.  A 26 km gravel road (with very rough corrugations we might mention) takes us to a viewpoint overlooking the river.  

Wok admires the view of the Murchison River

We can see the river winding its way through the red gorges on its way to the ocean.

Looking up river

We drive further on to a parking area where we leave Mitzi and trek a further 1 km to Nature’s Window.

Nature's Window

Again – no prizes as to why this is called Nature’s Window.

Nature's Window

This rock formation may seem familiar to some people as most tourist brochures on West Australia have it somewhere in their pages.  Of course it was too good an opportunity for us to pass up and we did the touristy thing with the help of some other like minded tourists.

Wok and Robyn at Nature's Window

They took our photo and we took theirs – and then continued on our merry ways.  The view looking down river from Nature’s Window was equally as stunning with the collapsed sandstone ledges a reminder for us to keep away from the cliff edges.

View of the Murchison River from Nature's Window

It was another rugged 10km drive to the parking area at Z Bend where we took a hike before returning to Kalbarri and a well deserved takeaway ‘fish and chips’ meal from the local  café.  And very nice it was too!   In the morning we hooked up the van and headed out to the highway.  Along the way we drove out to some more lookouts in the National Park.

View of the Murchison River from Hawk's Head

The view from Hawk’s Head was just as stunning as the lookouts we had visited yesterday.  We rejoined the highway and turned north once again.  A few kilometres further on we pulled up at a 24 hour rest stop beside the Murchison River and had lunch.  It was so pleasant beside the river that we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing and camp for the night.

Our campsite beside the Murchison River

By late in the afternoon there must have been about thirty other campers in the rest area.  A mixture of caravans, motor homes, camper-trailers, whiz-bangs, tents and station wagons.  Fortunately it was a very large rest area and there was plenty of room for everyone.

Kalbarri National Park is a definite ‘must see’ for anyone visiting this area.  We take with us memories of towering cliffs that plummet into the dark blue ocean and rust red sandstone river gorges.  And to back up those memories we took lots of photos to remind us of this magical place.  We bet those pelicans that went ‘missing in action’ will be kicking themselves now for not turning up for a free feed – they could have been immortalised in our blog !!!