Day 25

The race was on to leave early from Kalbarri to get to our next destination…the Wells and Hunters had done some packing late then night before but we were still ahead in the morning until we discovered Gordie had basilled us buy driving the Ram onto our flooring…(he blamed Branch of  course!)

In Dave’s haste to get out first he omitted to put down his TV aerial…where was that on the checklist Rose?

We got underway and along the way had this sense of de ja vue..a huge piece of mining equipment blocking the whole road – fortunately going in the opposite way to us!

We stopped at Billabong Roadhouse for coffee then on to Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites. The landscape was arid with red dirt and sparse vegetation.

We arrived at Hamelin Pool and were amazed by the amount of stromatolites growing there. Stromatolites are formed by cyanobacteria growing and forming sedimentary rock like a living fossil. The stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are one of the best examples in the world of their kind.

The flies were fierce so we continued on to Shell Beach which is a pristine beach of small white shells with turquoise blue water. The stark contrast of desert, white shells and turquoise blue water was spectacular. A small ray shark swam lazily by on the edge of the bay.

We arrived at Denham , set up and had lunch, then raced down for a swim.

The sunset was amazing as we dined at Wells  Alfresco Restaurant…..and we discovered that yes there is a real Wells checklist….and Rosie was really occupied with her paper towel fetish 😄

 

Day 24

We awoke to a hot day in Kalbarri.  Unfortunately Trev had felt nauseous all night…?? cause ? Was it the same bug Rosie had a couple of days ago or the kilo of grapes he consumed yesterday on our way to Kalbarri now fermenting in his stomach?

The heat was dry with a fairly strong wind and we were all keen for a swim so we headed along the Murchison river to the coast and stopped at Blue Holes which was a sandy beach with reef and swimming holes with sandy bottom between the rocky reef. The water was turquoise in colour and a refreshing temperature. I could tell Trev was not feeling great as he was first out of the water to rest on the beach.

From Blue Holes we went to Jakes Point to check out the surf….there was the occasional good wave but about a 15 min wait between sets close to a reef so Gordie was not impressed…

The surfers of Kalbarri were very concerned for the environment as indicated by their signage…Trev could not help himself!!

Along the coast at Kalbarri are some spectacular cliffs and rock formations…

Red Bluff- a sandstone bluff with rock platforms beneath – red due to iron ore…

From the top of Red Bluff you could see for miles…rugged cliffs, turquoise blue water and white sandy beaches….

Pot Alley which had a small but beautiful secluded sandy beach…

Gordon was so confident the Ram was better than the Toyota Hilux that he was ready to drive it off the cliff!

The Natural Bridge……

The Castle…..

Trev by this time was exhausted….so unusual for him and the nausea was no better so we headed back to camp…Trev promptly lay down and fell asleep…Branch in attendance to provode some positive vibes 😆

Kerry was keen to see the Natural Window in the Murchison Gorge in Kalbarri National Park so after lunch we left Trev asleep and Gordie doing some repairs to his car aerial and drove out to the gorge.

Murchison Gorge was carved out by the Murchison river which wound its way along the floor of the gorge surrounded by impressive red sandstone cliffs. The river bed itself had sandy beaches in partss and river gums dotted along it – very picturesque!

The views were breathtaking and Nature’s Window was an amazing rock formation at the end of a narrow cliff face.

Branch suddenly appeared out of nowhere for a photo shoot at the window obviously deciding to ditch Trev but the wind was giving him a bad hair day and he nearly blew off the cliff until Dave jammed him into a crevice (can you see him?)

The flies were in plague proportions and we were so glad we had brought our face nets..we were the only ones there with them and everyone else was clearly envious we had them….including one poor Japanese tourist who swallowed/choked on one! Dave was particularly attractive to the flies with his black t- shirt!

We arrived back to the campground to find Gordie still under his car and Trev up but still nauseous and feeling washed out 🤒

Gordie had met a couple with a 28ft boat while we were gone. Their story was pretty hair-raising as they had travelled down from Exmouth in high winds with 3m waves and sheer cliffs with no form of communication…they were fortunate to arrive safely at Kalbarri that afternoon!

(Pic to come )

That night we were joined after dinner by a German  couple Daniel and Connie who were doing a 4 week whirlwind Aussie tour ..Margaret River,  Perth, Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Exmouth then over to Melbourne and Sydney… we had a great time talking to them… they were enjoying their time in Australia but strangely they had been sold a small pot of  “natural” fly repelling ointment in Kalbarri for $14 which they asked us about…. it was clearly a scam as the ointment closely resembled Vicks vapour rub and worked for about 5 seconds…Branch felt so sorry that they had been ripped off he had to  come out and meet them….and reassure them that all is not disaster doom and gloom 😆