KALBARRI

The kids at a lookout - overlooking the Murchison River in Kalbarri National Park

Sarah and David overlooking the Murchison River

David on top of the world

The family at Kalbarri National Park

David at Kalbarri National Park

Sarah near Nature's Window, Kalbarri National Park

Sarah and the kids at Nature's Window, Kalbarri National Park

David and Sarah at Nature's Window, Kalbarri National Park

The kids on the loop walk around Kalbarri National Park

The kids are professional hikers now!  This 6 km walk up over a ridge was nothing!

Bridget and David shaking hands through a mini Nature's Window

The kids at Kalbarri National Park

One more stunning view

At the Z Bend Lookout

The kids at the Z Bend lookout, Kalbarri National Park

One MORE stunning view!

DAY 81 – KALBARRI                                                       Wednesday, 21^st September

Went to see pelican feeding down on the beach at Kalbarri this morning but alas!  The pelicans were apparently on holidays at Lake Eyre!  So off to Kalbarri National Park which was absolutely spectacular!  It is always good when you are not expecting much – or don’t know what to expect – and it is so much better than you thought.

The wildflowers alongside the road were just beautiful and we stopped numerous times to take photos.  The variety is just stunning, when you feel like you are still in such an arid environment.

Our first stop was at Nature’s Window where erosion of the sandstone has produced a natural hole in the rocks so that you look through to the most magnificent view.  The only way to describe it is to put a photograph in the blog!  The 9km walking trail was estimated to take 3 – 5 hours (which we really didn’t have if we wanted to see anything else) so we just walked for 3 kms and then walked back.  There were a number of other smaller “nature’s windows” and we were all stunned to look back towards the carpark and see how far we had walked.  The walk took us around the ridge of the Murchison River gorge and there were beautiful flowers to see and amazing views of the gorge and river.

After making it back, we had lunch there and then went to what they call the Z Bend – a very uneventful name for an absolutely stunning lookout and walk around a particularly picturesque part of the Murchison River.  The views were nothing short of spectacular.  I am sure the photos will not do it justice. 

We went up Meanarra Lookout on the way home for a view over Kalbarri and were intending to take the kids to the Rainbow Jungle – a parrot sanctuary – but just as we got back into Kalbarri, it started to rain.  Yes!  We, too, were outraged!  We did not quite make it home in time to take all the clean (and presumably DRY) clothes off the line, so had to pop them in the dryer.  (This whole laundry-away-from-home is starting to get expensive!) 

So the afternoon was spent sipping hot chocolates and pouring over the forgotten journals.  I think everyone is at last up to Monkey Mia now!  No-one at home will believe me if I tell them we have not even had time to write in the journals.  And we are planning a few big days between now and when we leave Perth so there may not be time!  We have an enormous day planned tomorrow so did some packing up today so we could leave as early as possible in the morning!