Blogs from Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 6

Saturday morning (21st) came and Graham was up with the lark to take PIE to the garage. The chap had said 8:00am and both he and Graham were spot on time. Graham left the car and walked the one kilometer back to the caravan. We spent the morning idling, tidying and fretting and when we had a worrying call from the garage we fretted even more. Garage man was concerned about the state of the handbrake cables and couldn’t understand what could have made them as they were. Graham thought it best to talk with him directly so he cycled up to the garage (which he said was hard work against a severe wind) and discussed in detail how the weakness with the handbrake had progressed starting with the service at the Nissan garage in Perth. ... read more

Our first stop was Kalbarri, which was about three hours north of Geraldton. It's a small town right on the beach. The beach is gorgeous and very calm. Every morning they feed the pelicans, which is quite a sight! We stayed two nights here, at a camp site directly opposite the beach. We spent one day completely on the beach and then explored the area the next day. We drove around the National Park and found some secluded spots around there. You really need a 4x4 for some of the tracks so we didn't see as much as we wanted. We went to a parrot santuary, which was nice but the flies there were too much. In your eyes, mouth, ears, everywhere! In the end, we rushed through it so we could just get out. There ... read more

After what seems no time at all, we are now on the west coast of this vast country! Our travel plans have allowed for an easy trip so far. Having the time to do so has allowed us to stay longer in several places. So far we have done over 9000 klm. A lot of this has been through touring from the places we have set up camp. It’s nothing to clock up 2-300 klm to visit attractions in the area. Our big disappointment is that the crayfish season is over. This whole region is dedicated to the industry and there was plenty of evidence of the profitability in the form of massive homes on the seafront. We did manage to find a couple of frozen crays in Geraldton so all is well. GUILDERTON A week ... read more

Set off early this morn to start exploring Kalbarri National Park. Went to Red Bluff first where there were views of the coast and cliffs. Saw a biggish wildcat on our way to the next place Grandplace which looks over a big cliff drop. Still not seen a live Roo yet.... think our van might be offending them! Castle Cove was the best view yet and Natural Bridge was impressive. Unfortunately couldn't see Natures window as the road was too bumpy, told Samantha could not have hacked the pace. Went to Ross Graham next - a big gorge - walked quite a little way to get down to the river. Walk back up nearly killed me! Was worth it though , though being in a lonely place near water did make me and Rob a little ... read more

On Monday I started a five day tour that covered over 3000 kms up the coast from Perth and back again. If you were to continue on highway 1 northward you would reach Darwin some 5000 kms away. The distances are huge and it’s difficult for us Brits to imagine. Highway one you would think, might be a 2/3 lane motorway, they have the land to build modern roads but highway one turned out to be a one lane road with overtaking lanes every 50 kms so if you get stuck behind a road train ·( trucks with up to 5 trailers) , you’re done for! having said all of that this trip has turned out to be quite fantastic full of yet more amazing places. My fellow travellers this time numbered 7, four sisters who ... read more