November 10

Kalbarri, Green Head, and the Pinnacles

Posted by efloow on November 10, 2015 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

November 6-10.

The next leg of the trip is our journey down to Perth where we stopped in Kalbarri and Green Head. I suspect that we have not done justice to this coast. We have only selected a few highlights as we are keen to get south of Perth before that inevitable chaos of schoolies week at the end of November.

The most notable things on the drive to Kalbarri from Tamala was that we are well and truly back from remote Australia. The landscape changed from the desolate semi arid costal plains that we had become so familiar with, to cleared fields full of wheat that was being harvested. There are more cars on the roads, and not all of them are 4×4's overloaded with accessories. The vegetation also changed, and brighter and more vivid colour wildflowers became a huge feature. The drive through Kalbarri national park on the way to the town was amazing, despite the fact that wildflower season ended a few weeks earlier.

In Kalbarri we cheated. The rain continued all day and with a sodden camper from packing up in the rain and with damp bed clothes that were never going to dry out in time we rented a house! It was perfect in that it had an excellent covered driveway that allowed us to open the camper fully and let it dry out and from the kids perspective, mindless TV. I suppose they are allowed their treats too!

We went to the pelican feeding in Kalbarri

Arriving for a free meal

Gorges in Kalbarrri NP

From Kalbarri we explored the national park. The first day was spent in the inland gorges of the Murchison River and wildflower walks, the second day along the costal walks and cliffs of the park. It is a stunning park and is made very accessible through clever access roads and paths, I imagine that in peak wildflower season and with its proximity to Perth that it must get rather busy.

Natures Window, Kalbarri NP

We reluctantly gave up our house, albeit into an immaculately clean and dry van, to travel the Indian Ocean Drive, bypassing Geraldton to get to Green Head. Whist there we did some more wildflowers at Lesueur NP and walked through a very long and dark limestone cave by torchlight at Stockman's NP.

Roadside wildflowers, the colours where amazing

Stockman's cave, eerie!

The Pink Lake just south of Kalbarri, algae give the pink colour

Waiting for shoes to dissolve.... nothing happened!

A highlight of Green Head was the Sea Lion Charter, were we got taken to Fisherman's Island Sea Lion Sanctuary to see a sea lion colony up really close. In the swallow crystal clear waters around the island the sea lions came to play around the boat… amazing. The best part was that whilst snorkelling adjacent to the sanctuary, one of the sea lions came over to play with us. She was like a little puppy dog, playfully swimming in and around us, goading us to chase her, and playing in the bubbles from our snorkels and fins. Very special!

Busy day for these sea lions!

Like a little puppy, such fun to share her water!

On the war through to Perth we stopped in the Namburg NP and spent a few hours exploring the Pinnacles. They are fascinating limestone fingers that stick up through the sand dunes. Nobody is quite sure how they where formed, but calcium rich water coating ancient trees roots that have now become exposed works best for my brain! It all looks very spectacular, and again another icon that is incredibly well presented by the DEC of Western Australia.