Monkey Mia to Kalbarri

                                   Week 23

                     Monkey Mia to Kalbarri

Kalbarri cowslip orchids

We are blessed with picture post card days here in Denham.

Sunday afternoon found us exploring Ocean Park, doing a guided tour including shark feeding. They weren’t very interested and Brian was not impressed.

Monday found us, despite having seen the course, treating ourselves to a $5 game of golf. Well, they do say you get what you pay for – sand play in this case.

There were some resident green-keepers there to check we obeyed the rules.

The afternoon found us exploring Little Lagoon. Originally a dried up salt lake between dunes, it is now connected to Shark Bay by a small estuary. Again we are blessed with the sight of a very busy Dad. Last count was seven chicks.

Tuesday and Wednesday were “moving days”. The weather turned on its worst for us. Rain and wind blew us east and south. We spent a chilly night at a free camp, Neven Neven, near the Murchison River.

We are being blessed with more wildflowers. Coloured pockets can be seen everywhere. At one time we had blue sky before and aft, with a bridge of clouds overhead, raining on our private parade. There is a more of a tableland feel to the country. It is becoming greener as it is getting colder.

The nights are around 5 degrees, OK if you stay rugged up inside, but not conducive to Happy Hour sessions outside. Better for the waistline I guess.

Kalbarri ,the town, is nestled in a pretty coastal area surrounded by the national park. To the north are river gorges and to the south, coastal cliffs. The end result is a diversity of experience in a small area.

Sun shing brightly, we head for Kalbarri river gorges. Here we tackle an 8km walk. Chris and Margaret join us. The walk is not too hard, but long. Perhaps we are not as conditioned as we were before. We see plenty of wildflowers,a lone roo and several birds. There were few people who went beyond Natures Window, so it was easy to image we were wilderness pioneers.

Just to dash our feelings of achievement, a group of students, backpacks laden for a bivouac set down into the gorge for their overnight stay. A bit cool for us for an overnight stay.

marno

After this long walk at Natures window, we ventured to Z bend. We finished the day with an easier, but pleasant walk overlooking this unusually shaped gorge. We all slept well that night.

Friday found us exploring the coastal cliffs. As well as magnificent views, there are walks too along the coastal cliffs. We see whales traversing the coastline, not frolicking as we had seen further north at the Quabba Blowholes, but still, the excitement of seeing these magnificent creatures in the wild is exhilarating.

Rejecting a 16km walk along the cliffs, we journed down to Port Gregory. This is another little seaside village, less developed than Kalbarri, but still delightful for a restful sojourn. The ‘piece de resistance’ here is the pink lake. It is amazing. Carrots in the water, the beta caratodine is mined, as it is near Quabba.

We also explore a colonial home being restored and some convict ruins where the convicts were processed for working for landholders. The time frame is short for the settlements, but it is very reminiscent of Tasmania (especially the winds). Some trees are bent at the base and there is no doubt as to the direction of the prevailing winds.

Saturday finds us cheering that the election day is finally here and we don’t have to put up with any more electioneering. The voting is easy and uncrowded, so thumbs up for the candidates we voted for. Hope you are all happy with the end result.

We tried to go to the wildflower park, but it was closed. Instead we went to a bird park as a second choice. They had a delightful area where the birds fly free around you, or sit in the cloistered safety of bushes and thickets. There are others , natives and exotics in cages. Overall, it was an interesting time.

We followed up this touristy activity with another walk in the park, this time in the coastal gorges. We choose far shorter walks than before, so we find we are energized, but we are not going to be asleep on our feet before dinner.

So we find Sunday looming. This will be another moving day for us as we head to Greenough, south of Geraldton. Finally we are getting closer to the wildflower areas we have dreamt about, but we will be reaching for our warm gear. Brian is threatening to get me some ug boots, but I think I would still prefer that Argyle diamond. What would you pick? We are glad our caravan has a shower, because it is so nice to have a hot shower and then jump into bed, warm and cosy. Walking two blocks from the shower block to a warm bed as we would have had with the Millard Mini would not be pleasant. Aren’t we so lucky?

Have a good week. Don’t work too hard. Take a moment to send us an email, or join the followers, its easy. Thanks to princess for leading the crowd. We always love to hear from you.

Cheers for another week.

firewood banksia

The shivering nomads.

Newsflash – The new addition has arrived. A boy, Kian Ross Hooker. More details next blog. He is 6 weeks early, so all the best laid plans have gone astray. So he will be six weeks old by the time he meets this set of grandparents. The jury is still out on what we want to be called.