Less than 1/4 of a tank of fuel and 150km to the nearest fuel station...in any direction...

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Before 8am and I'm on the road again. First stop Kalbarri National Park, where I've heard there are stunning views of the Murchison River. As I enter the park, the roads stop being made of tarmac, and become more like driving along the dunes at Brean...

Now my i30 is an amazing machine - however when faced with what looks like an offroader's dream, I'm not sure that it's going to come out of this the gleaming white, brand new low mileage thus no wear and tear car it started this journey as.

The drive through the park is nearly 30km, all of which is sand dune roads. The car is jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof. The temperature is pushing 40C. I'm beginning to thing this is a bad idea. I drive past one kangaroo which agreed with me, either that or had had an unfortunate coming together with a car. Either way, he'd given up the ghost at the side of the road. It's an eerie drive - all the trees and plants are no taller than 6ft, which makes you think you're driving through oompa-loompa land (following yesterday's purple lake/Willy Wonka hallucination, I've got the Chocolate Factory on my mind). Everything is sand coloured or green, with the exception of every now and then, a burst of bright pink flowers growing amongst it all. It's a stunning landscape, although much better in a 4x4 I reckon...

At the end of the first drag, I can go left or right to explore further. Both are dead ends which means it appears I'm going to have to drive those last 30km again (poor i30 :-( ). I go left and down to the Loop, which is where there is a landmark - Nature's Window - which gives stunning views over the river. It's a few hundred metres from the car park down but armed with my trainers and a big bottle of water, off I went. You have to navigate over what appears to be at times very fragile stones and rocks, teetering very close to the edge of the top of the gorge overlooking the river. Big gulp. Better not have a clumsy moment up here....

And then I make it to Nature's Window, a weather-beaten gap in the rock that gives you a picture-framed view of the river below. Absolutely stunning. I'm here all by myself (despite the warnings that you shouldn't walk the track alone - what was I meant to do about it?! Magic up a travel companion from nowhere?!) so I had to try to take pictures of myself sitting at Nature's Window. Not easy when balanced above a 100ft drop below (or something quite a long way down anyway). Entertaining viewing if there had been anyone around to watch me.

Back up to the car park and across the other side to the gorge lookouts. Here you can stand, more safely on iron madmade viewing platforms, to look over other aspects of the river at the Z bend and Ross Graham lookouts. At Ross Graham, I climbed down from the top of the gorge to almost at the river bed level. Seemed like a good idea on the way down - bloody nightmare of a climb back up the hill again afterwards....

The i30 navigated through almost 100km of sand beautifully, without arguing with me (very much) at all. Shame then, that I then go and let it down terribly by forgetting to put any petrol in it. As I left Kalbarri, I looked down at the gauge to find only a quarter of a tank remaining and at least 130km before the next petrol stop in any direction. Panic. Deep breath. Dad's always told me about fuel economy - now's the time to try it. I set the speedo at 80kph and off I go...hoping with every last breath that I can make it without running out. The roads are so empty, that if I were to break down here, I'd be stuffed. Not to mention I've run out of drinking water (it was hot in the national park), need the loo and there's no phone signal even if I wanted to call the emergency services for backup. Bad news allround.

Still, as ever, my little car didn't fail to let me down and ran on fumes to get me to the Billabong Roadhouse. Guzzled AUD70 of fuel quickly and we were on the road again (I paid top whack for the fuel - what choice did I have at that stage?!?!) before continuing towards Denham and Monkey Mia.

The road to Denham is beautiful and listed as a World Heritage site drive. It's stunning as you get coastal views to your left and right and straight ahead at times - the road is mainly straight and looks like Greendale with its hills and bumps as far as the eye can see. I stopped for a few photos on the way but then pulled into Denham, a beautfiul seaside little town that is the last stop before the Monkey Mia reserve. 28kms to go and then relax...

The road to Monkey Mia is also stunning in a similar vein to the road to Denham. There's a lagoon which is 3m at its deepest for you to wander out to (I had a little paddle and watched the kite surfing for a while), and another national park which I skipped but which I hear has lovely hot springs. Arrived at Monkey Mia and it's beautiful - stunning coastline, one enormous caravan and camping park and a tourist office. That's it. A proper retreat! I opt for the dorm again and this time have company - woohoo! Two lovely girls - Paulina and Emma - in a 7 bed dorm which is bright and clean. The showers are hot and lovely too. And the beer is cold and relatively cheap. I'm going to be happy here!

We stopped for a few drinks at the bar after chatting for a bit. Found myself being bought tequila slammers by a random guy - very generous, thanks very much - before retiring to bed a little bit broken and an incy bit tipsy. Tomorrow I've got to be up early to feed the dolphins - it could be painful.....

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