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Published: June 27th 2010
Dolphin Queen
Rhonda 'fishing'.Our one challenge now is to get to where it is warm all the time. Luckily, the weather has been kind to us and has mostly been suited to shorts and T-shirts. It is still getting cool overnight and has become quite windy. It seems that we may have to wait for Broome for the warmer climate. Yes, we know, we would have something to complain about if we were at home. We’re not complaining, just commenting.
We have now booked ahead for the next couple of weeks. When we tried to book Coral Bay there were no sites in town! School holidays begin on the 3rd of July. Oops! So then we rang Exmouth to find nothing available for July or August. Guess who started to panic?
Rhonda tried to book again the next day with much more luck. We now have four nights in Coral Bay and ten nights in Exmouth booked. Lucky! We expect a few hassles until we get around to Darwin but something will fall into place. Hopefully!
KALBARRI
What a gem of a spot. After a bad
Caravan Sunset
Sunset from the van in Kalbarri caravan park in Greenough, we were given a super site in Kalbarri. It was a drive-through site with its own cabana and vehicle parking as well. From the van we were looking out over the Murchison River and the Ocean where the sun sets.
The boat harbor is in the river and access to the ocean is treacherous. Even the locals have to carefully wend their way out through the river mouth. It’s not one to tackle without local knowledge.
The ocean was tumbling in on this part of the coast. Overnight the waves sounded as though they were crashing only fifty meters away when they were hundreds of meters from us.
Kalbarri National Park The Kalbarri National Park was only 30 klm out of town. The gorges are set along the course of the Murchison River and are unique to that area. We had a really good time walking the trails to each of the vantage points such as Nature’s Window and The Z Bend. Water doesn’t flow down the river very often, but when it does, the gorges would be really spectacular as they can have up to ten meters of water pass through.
Natural Bridge
Waves at work on Kalbarri Coastal Park. Kalbarri Coastal Cliffs We love the coast and there are a number of spectacular views from the many lookouts along the coastal cliffs near to Kalbarri. We took lots of photos and spent ages watching dolphins at play. We saw another two whales as well but they were a long way out.
Port Gregory 60 klm south of Kalbarri, you will find Port Gregory town. It is small with very few services but does have a caravan park and general store. We went there to see the Pink Lake that we had spotted on the way to Kalbarri. The lake does look pink in full sun. The reason for that is an algae found in some salt lakes. It was very interesting.
Rainbow Jungle The parrot habitat and breeding facilities in the Rainbow Jungle is very well set up and maintained. It is an enclosed huge jungle of plants and subtle cages holding hundreds of birds. We took over one hundred photos of parrots housed in nine different zones. This was another unexpected experience on this journey. We loved it.
River Cruise On our last night in Kalbarri, we decided to
Idyllic
These guys crossed the river to the peninsula near the river mouth. take a cruise of the river. The boat was a twin diesel driven jet boat with a draft of just 150 mm. It can carry up to fifty passengers and can be difficult to steer in strong winds or currents. As we went upstream, the water was very, very shallow.
The trip was most interesting with the skipper passing on some history of the area and spotting wild goats, birds and different kangaroos and wallabies. It was finished by taking sunset photos in the turbulent wash near the river mouth.
DENHAM
We came into Denham primarily to visit Monkey Mia. What we found was a nice little fishing village on the shores of Shark Bay. Shallow and calm waters give protection to the boats moored there. There are several jetties and a small but interesting shopping strip. No banks but ATM’s are easily located.
We had a waterfront site with nice views across the bay and box hedge protecting us from the wind. The surface of the site was a fine shell grit that was flat and smooth and comfortable to walk on.
Monkey Mia Feeding of the dolphins takes place from 7.30am
Pink Lake
Port Gregory's local attraction. and up to two more later in the morning. It meant an early start for us. With 30 klm to get there, we set off at 7.45am and arrived in time to miss the first session! Guess who was in trouble? We enjoyed the second one luckily and so all was sweet. It is a very controlled process. The old days of everyone mingling with the dolphins in the water has gone. Everyone is confined to the beach and a few visitors are selected to feed a fish to a dolphin. No, we weren’t selected.
Off we went for a coffee and a little retail therapy. When we came back past the feeding area we noted a small crowd gathered for another session so we wandered over. Rhonda got the nod and so all was happy in paradise.
Ocean Park As there wasn’t a lot to do around Denham, we set off back down the coast to see what was happening. On the way we came across and Ocean Park sign. We have seen lots of aquariums but what the heck! What a surprise though! We had an expert guide who took
Nature's Window
An interesting view through this rock formation in the Kalbarri National Park. us to 8-10 tanks of various sizes of marine animals. Almost all species were from Shark Bay . It was a feeding program and we watched him feed sharks , snapper, sea snakes, groper, conga eels, small ornamentals, turtles and fish of all shapes and sizes. It was one of the best examples of a marine park we have seen.
Our last night in Denham was spent devouring a huge platter of local seafood at a little restaurant constructed from bricks hewn out of compressed shell grit. The platter was unbelievable! No batter to be seen! We had snapper, whiting, prawns, calamari, oysters and a few other delicacies. Make sure you call in if you get over here.
Next port of call is Carnarvon. Getting a little warmer but still windy.
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Barb
non-member comment
looks great!
I am really enjoying the Blogs Peter,keep up the good work. Love all the photos of the beautiful rock formations,nature is an amazing thing hey? Enjoy the warmth over there...its so cold here,but all is dandy! Talk soon,xoxo