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Published: July 18th 2013
Kalbarri surf
Thanks Marg. Timing is everything in photography.Thursday arrived with clear skies and a cool breeze. No longer the gusty winds of the past several days, so on the road by 8:30 heading north.
The first planned stop was Northampton, a heritage listed town first gazetted in 1864, making this the second oldest town in WA. The area prospered with a solid history of cropping and grazing as well as a variety of mining ventures. The town was also the terminus for WA's first public railway linking this area with the port of Geraldton. Modern transport has seen the demise of the railway dominance of yesteryear. Taking pride of place in the main street is the Catholic Church. The Architect for this church project also built the Catholic Cathedral in Geraldton as well as several others in the region. While there are some similarities in styling, I think this is the best with a great rustic stone exterior. Very attractive.
Northampton also has one of the few remaining general stores still operating as it would have 100 years ago. The window display brought a laugh or two with an interesting display of signs to hang in the home. 'Parents for sale, buy one, get one free!'
We headed west from Northampton towards Kalbarri expecting to take some photos of Pink Lake and Port Gregory. Seemed a simple task, but it seems our eyes and the camera's eye saw the same scene somewhat differently. The lake was brilliant pink, photos grey, blue, but only a few really reflected the scene as we all witnessed it. So I have tweaked a photo to show what we saw as against what the camera recorded.
Port Gregory is a little port inside a long coral lagoon. There is a small entry from the ocean, and coastal tramps came here to pick up lead from a local lead mine. Now just a fishing port, lobster being the main product.
From Port Gregory we rounded the bottom of Pink Lake and headed for Kalbarri. On the eastern side of the lake we came across a chemical manufacturing plant. The pink colour of the lake is Beta-carotene. Here this valuable compound is extracted from the lake and sold around the world.
After setting up camp at Kalbarri we had lunch and then walked to the visitor's information centre to get the low down on access to Nature's window (access
Family store
Northampton. The signs in the window display gave us a laugh or two. has been closed while the old rough road is sealed) and found that we will be able to view that feature tomorrow.
We also walked around the foreshore to the harbour entrance. The combination of tides, river flow and a heavy swell made for some spectacular sea scapes.
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Mum & Dad
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Great shots
Another good blog amazing the difference from the camera and the eye at the pink lake.