Kalbarri, on our day of departure, couldn't decide what weather to offer. Wind. Showers. Sunshine. It was like being in Melbourne. Nah, it wasn't that sad a situation and the pies were better.
The neighbours commenced moving out around, I don't know, it was dark. We managed to crawl out of bed to the news of an Ashes victory. Well done team. Especially Alex Carey and Captain Pat for the Bairstow dismissal. This will keep the Colonial Masters whingeing for a generation. However, I digress. Bags packed and stowed, we checked out and went straight to the Red Bluff Bakery for a breakfast pie. Today ... success. Good pies. I shall return. A pity they can't manage to serve coffee in a proper cup. Not letting it go.
The drive today is around 4 hours straight through but we have things still to investigate in the National Park before we hit the big road. First stop is Hawke's Head Lookout.
Hawke's Head Lookout
Another amazing spot above the Murchison River. It's making me itch to be out bushwalking. On the drive in, we spotted numerous emus and wallabies. Happily they remained where they were.
This 'walk' was classed as 1. Sealed all weather surface all the way. Luxury. The walk was only a few hundred metres from the car park. Did we take rain protection? No. Did it rain? Yes. Enough to send us back to the shelter. The wind was moving the clouds so quickly it wasn't going to last, and didn't, but it was enough to make us moist. OK, damp.
Rain cleared, it was back down the path. The colours of this country are so unfamiliar to me. The depth and variety of the red soil is incredible. And the river as a contrast, blue and green, depending on depth of the water and the reflective sky. It is stunning and awe inspiring. And while I'd love to walk it, I think of it from ground level and wonder how the First Australians navigated the landscape. Respect.
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| The head of the hawke is visible to the left. |
We were pretty much the only people here although numbers increased as we were leaving. The experience is so much better without the hordes of school holidays and the sullen teenagers and whining children.
Ross Graham Lookout
A kilometre or so down the road was the Ross Graham Lookout. Apparently a Class 3 walk. What a joke. Reasonably level, sound under foot, well signposted. I wonder how they would rate some of the tracks I've walked.
Again, a gentle wander from the car park to an area overlooking the magnificent Murchison. It provided easy access to the river for day trips and picnics, although I'm sure I cold manufacture an overnighter out of sight of the day trippers. The landscape here is so different from other parts of the river. The red of the soil was not nearly evident and it was in between gorges.
Ross Graham was the first teacher in Kalbarri and died at the tender age of 30 in 1967. He was known and respected for his love of the environment and was a great champion of the area in general.
Coincidentally, Ross Graham is also the name of a family friend. Photos and text were sent to him to let him know we were thinking of him and Lesley (his wife).
Back on the road for the longer section of the drive. There was not much in the way of wildlife except goats, goats and more goats. Alive, in reasonable numbers and not as much as roadkill, sadly. The next break would be to see the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool.
Hamelin Pool Stromatolites
Finally we reached the turn at Overland Roadhouse. Excitement plus. The trip was easy, the road was straight, and consequently there were plenty of opportunities to pass the ubiquitous caravans/trailers. Even when some idiots were driving in convoy with insufficient space between vehicles.
We turned left towards our final destination but with a couple of stops in between. The first was at Hamelin Pool, the stromatolites. Life is too short for to explain what they are, so google it. Anyway, every sign showing a turn off to said 'attraction' had a very large, handwritten NO adhered to it. Every sign. Curious. Have the living fossils been removed? Surely such an act of vandalism would have the news on the east coast. I mean, they have an hour for news and only devote about 12 minutes to reporting it.
Maybe the road was closed. WA Roads would have had that signposted. So we continued and with every signposted 'NO', our curiosity grew. We turned off toward Telegraph and the stromatolites, and the road was fine. There was traffic coming back from the other direction. On we went.
We reached the car park. There were other cars there, a shelter with the usual explanations for the area and the attraction you are about to see. So we walked down to the beach. And there it was.
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| Despite brochures and information everywhere. NO! |
Apparently cyclone Seroja wiped out the viewing platform in 2021 and it was scheduled for reconstruction and reopening in 2022. In front of our eyes were a fence and a sign saying NO access - subject to fines. The viewing platform looks as demolished as it did immediately after Seroja struck 2 years ago. Our tourist brochure said it was open. The RAC magazine, June/July 23 edition, lists it as place to visit because the viewing platform makes for easy access. Poor form WA. Lift your game.
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| I mean, to be honest, they're not that interesting anyway. |
Back in the car an onward. Disappointment behind us.
Shell Beach
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| Shells as far as the eye can see. |
A little further down the road. Ok, a 30 minute drive or so. The name says it all. Shell beach is a beach made of cockle shells that stretches for 60 kms at a depth of up to 10 metres. White shells that can be absolutely blinding in full sun. The shells have been used to build local buildings in Denham. Signs warn against visitors helping themselves to the shells so 21st century constructions cannot make use of this product. Instead the crunchy shells are left to build up and provide a dazzling white contrast to the pristine soft blue waters of the L'haridon Bight sanctuary.
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| A hand model happened past and offered to pose. |
At the eastern end of the beach, at one of the narrowest points of the peninsula, a fence has been constructed that spans the width of the land and extends into the ocean on either side. This has been built to keep out introduced predators like cats and goats and consequently, without the threat of these feral species, the native wildlife has started to regenerate. Mind you, the fence is open at the roadway but a cattle grid supposedly acts as a barrier at this point.
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| They were serious - I thought. |
Obviously the shell beach inspired today's title, Pearly Shells by Burl Ives, in case it has slipped past you. Too young? Google it.
Eagle Bluff
Last stop before Denham was Eagle Bluff. The road in is sealed all the way, despite the travel brochures saying otherwise. Sealed, except for the car park where we wrangled with a mach 4WD unsurprisingly attempting the roundabout in the wrong direction. After a brief stand-off, I parked in one of the last spots.
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| Not a creature was stirring.... |
The Bluff is a high cliff that overlooks shallows that extend out to a small island and sea grass beds that feed an estimated 10,000 dugongs (10% of the world's population). A boardwalk and viewing platforms have been built along the cliff top and viewers can glimpse turtles, sharks, rays and dugongs in the shallows. We, however, did not see a single creature stirring while we were there because we were too intent on not being blown into the bay.
Denham and Monkey Mia
Denham is not the nicest place to be when the wind is howling. Today it would blow a brown dog off a chain. We drove in to buy some supplies, cheese and biscuits and so forth because we didn't really know what to expect at Monkey Mia.
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| One of the locals. |
The wind continued and brought the occasional shower of rain. Just unpleasant, so we checked out the shopping precinct and returned to the safety and warmth of the car.
Monkey Mia is about 30 minutes drive from Denham. Aside from the dolphins, what is at Monkey Mia you ask, dear reader? Nothing. The RCA "Resort" is it. A monopoly on food, drink, entertainment, accommodation. They own the lot and charge an extra fee to be there, on top of the National Park Pass and your accommodation and all the other incidentals. Nice.
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| Approaching sunset |
First impressions were not good. Unfettered, unbridled screaming children everywhere. It is, a glorified tourist park with some expensive accommodation. There are a couple of food options and at both venues are also bars. The view from our room is beautiful but at the moment, I'm feeling tired and thinking this was not a good choice. Maybe some food and a couple of glasses of wine will soften my stance.
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| Stock standard sunset photo. |
For this first night, we opted for take-away pizzas to accompany our own wine on the balcony of our unit to watch the sun go down.
All the photos at Monkey Mia have been taken from our balcony.
Until tomorrow.
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