What a wonderful place Kalbarri WA is. It is a shame we do not have time to spend more time in one of the State’s most popular holiday destinations. On the way in from the Pinnacles we will call into the Coastal Cliffs viewing the Natural Bridge and Island Rock. Spectacular views can be viewed from the lookout some 150 metres above the sea. Depending on the season you may be lucky to see some dolphins or whales just metres out from the cliffs. When I was here in October 2005 I saw these 7 humpback whales just 50 metres from the beach. Naturally, I spent a lot of time just looking and anticipating when they would surface and blow. How wonderful Nature is!
Whales from the lookout at Kalbarri
We spend our first night at Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park with access to all their facilities including toilet, shower and their swimming pool. The park is located right on the lovely Murchison River.
After breakfast we will get an early start and head out to Kalbarri WA National Park. Our first stop will be at The Loop looking at the winding gorge below. (There is an 8km Loop walk that unfortunately we will not have time to do), but we will walk down to view Nature’s Window. Don’t use all your film here because there will be plenty more places that you will want to photograph. (Oh you now have digital cameras and not film).
Nature's Window
From Nature’s Window we will next visit Z-Bend. A 500-metre walk takes us to the lookout viewing the gorges and river 150 metres below. There is a difficult walk down to the river that we will undertake (for those that want to). Well actually the walk down is not really all that difficult but "what goes down must come up" and the walk up is fairly strenuous even though it is only 150 metres.
Z-Bend at Kalbarri NP
Next we travel to Hawk’s Head and Ross Graham Lookout. From Ross Graham Lookout there is an easy walk to the tranquillity of the shaded river’s edge, where quite probably you will see a family of wild goats - you should at least hear them in the distance.
Wild Goats at Kalbarri NP
After we leave Kalbarri National Park we continue our tour to the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool for lunch. The Stromatolites are the earth’s oldest living fossils and they flourish in the warm shallow waters. A high evaporation rate causes extreme salinity in which the algae grows and is protected from predators. There is a Stromatolite Interpretive Centre at the Telegraph Station at Hamelin Pool that you can visit. From here we will travel to Monkey Mia for the night.