Kalbarri - Whales, National Parks & Gorges

The last couple of days we have been kicking back in the coastal town of Kalbarri. We are about five hundred and nine kms north of Perth. As we venture south the weather has been changing a little and the first night we arrived we had rain for the first time on our trip. Wasn’t much but enough to wash some of the red dust off the van. This is just another very popular destination for the travelling nomads as all the parks are pretty full. Arriving in town requires the mandatory trip to the local supermarket to stock up on fresh fruit & veggies. We have been very fortunate with meals because Janine precooked & froze quite a lot and we are only now getting towards the end of those. Very handy when you can just heat a precooked meal after a long drive or free camping and it’s quick and easy. Well done Janine.

Yesterday it was blowing a strong westerly for most of the day so we ventured out in the car along the coastline to the many high vantage points to try and spot some migrating whales. The local shire here has gone to a lot of effort to lay down really good walking tracks to get to these lookouts. We managed to spot a few whales but hopefully will see a lot more as we head across the Great Australian Bight on the way home. The other main task for the day was to get our locks cut. After eight weeks we were both starting to look a little bushie. Both feel a little lighter on top and in the back pocket. Must have known somehow that we were tourist. Today the weather is a bit better. The wind has dropped but still a little overcast with a couple of sprinkles of rain. Not deterred, we packed our lunch and a cuppa and headed out to the Kalbarri National Park to view some of the spectacular scenery. Again the access was brilliant and easy to get to our destinations. The views were well worth the walks to the vantage points. About one kilometre round trip up and down some rocky but well established paths. A rest between each of our walks to take on some tucker and a cuppa and just sit back and admire the surrounds. Well worth going out there to see. 

Been a quite few days in this seaside town but enjoyable. Geraldton or may be a little further tomorrow before we head inland a little to see the wildflowers that are blooming all over the place. Won’t be a big day as it had been on our last couple of moves. Getting close to Perth and then it will be down to the bottom and the cooler weather. Hopefully all of those storms that have been hammering the southern regions will be well and truely gone.