What an amazing coastline!
Today we drove from Kalbarri to Gregory which is only a 70km stretch but we left at 11 and didn't get home till 6. There is SO much to see and do in that small stretch of National Park.
It is a completely different kind of environment to what we normally enjoy above the 26th Parallel, it is more of a viewing type appreciation of the land rather than interactive. The oceans are so fierce and grand, and the waters edge is lined with really steep red cliffs and steep lethal drops. The waters are incredibly deep and rocky and you don't see much life (from the surface anyway, I totally imagine that under the water is a hive of activity). But for all its difference it is equally as majestic and awe-inspiring. We spent the day totally absorbed in all the beauty of our spectacular countryside.
We started out by stopping at the Blue Holes which the Visitor Centre advised us as the best snorkeling spot in the area. While the water is a magnificent deep blue turquoise and really inviting, it looks like more of a rocky diving area rather than a reef. So it wont be comparable to areas such as Coral Bay and Exmouth, but I am sure on a good clear day there will be a lot to see. Hobbit is going to give it a go tomorrow. I am not so adventurous when it comes to water so I will likely paddle on the shore and read a book while he goes out. There were a couple more viewing stops around Siphons Beach and Jakes Bay, all beautiful and picturesque, well worth a look.
The most gorgeous stop of the whole day, and the place we spent the most time was our next stop at Red Bluff. Here we did a big walk across all the bluff rocks as it was a reasonably low tide and it was safe to get around all the points and bends. Here is the most magnificent display of cliffs in all different shades of rusty red brown, tan, brown, red, orange, yellow, and beige that look like they have been carefully layered and marbled by the finest artists. When you see this up against a clear blue sky and a deep turquoise sea that is swirling with menacing white crashing waves it is an amazing pallet of colour that only nature could serve up on such a grand scale. We saw the most fascinating rock pools that out of nowhere were like someone had carved a little perfectly round hole in a large flat rock, really bizarre. Some of them were filled with beautiful clear water that had warmed up in the sun so were like warm baths, the ones where the water was near the waves kept filling as waves rolled in so looked like natures spas. We took a whole heap of lovely photos in this spot and could have easily spent a whole day here walking much further than where we stopped.
After a look stop at Mushroom Rock and Rainbow Valley for some lovely panoramic coastal views, we stopped at Pot Alley, a name we thought quite hilarious. I wonder how many combie vans of hippies stopped here with high hopes! hahaha. This place is really stunning, it is a really high cliff that looks down at the torrid waters edge. There is a walk trail that goes through (there are walk trails all along the way, these are really well set out, each with signage telling you the length, time, what you need, the dangers, and the level of difficulty. The council has done a brilliant job of setting them out) and there is also a little track that goes down the steep cliff to the beach. I saw a kangaroo jumping about right near the cliffs edge, it could have been a rock wallaby but it looked really big I thought they were smaller. That was really cool, I wish I caught it on photo but it was all so fast.
The next stop is Eagle Gorge. This is also the starting point for the 8km Bigirda Walk Trail. Eagle Gorge was one of the shorter stops, it is just a viewing point but definitely well worth seeing. This coastline is just non stop spectacular, any angle you can see it from is worth checking out. The same goes for Shellhouse Grandstand. Contrary to the name, no shells! When you have just come from Denham where when something says 'shells' you are going to see shells this feels like a bit of false advertising lols.
The last stop on the National Park route is the very famous Natures Bridge.
Oh my gosh! This is such a beautiful spectacle. I am sure you will have seen it on tourism promotions if not in person, but it is so much more to be there watching it yourself than to look at a postcard photo. The natural window is centuries of erosion from torrential waves constantly smashing up against the base of the massive cliffs edge, there at the waterline it has carved out a hole in the cliff where the water runs through. It is fantastic to stand there and watch how each wave creates a different splash, waiting for the bigger sets of waves to come so you get to see the biggest splashes. Some of them are timed beautifully with the last wave receding in time to give it more force and then BAM it collides with the rock with incredible force. I looked out to sea to try and spot some kind of life, but to my disappointment no signs of anything. The visitor centre brochure said that up till September you can see whales migrating and now and then you can see a couple of different types of dolphin pods passing by. Nothing today. But seriously, I was pretty spoilt at Denham with seeing marine life so I shouldn't complain.
From here you are out of the National Park but we kept driving and turned off to see what was at a place called Lucky Bay. It is a lovely little hidden away place where you can camp right near the beach. It is a bit of a nicer swimming spot with a nice white sand beach and no steep cliffs. There are still some rocky reefs and the tides looked rather strong while we were there but I can imagine it would be calmer at other times and be a really beautiful swimming spot. We were most impressed with the amount of tracks we could see in the sand dunes. So much life and activity in there. We spotted snake trails, lizard, bird, something that could be fox or dingo, and what I think could be little beach hermit crab trails. Very cool.
We reached our end destination of Gregory and loved the view of the Pink Lakes. Having been rather disappointed at Pink Lake near Esperance having lost its pink colour, this was a really impressive place where a specific algae thrives. This algae is used to make a food colouring and source of Vitamin A called Beta Carotene. It is also home to an abundance of Brine Shrimp and a source of salt and gypsum. I loved the contrast of the bright candy floss pink shade of the lake against the blue sky, so stunning, as if my eyes hadn't already been lavished with spectacle enough today. Hobbit was mostly impressed with the signage at the tourist stop that had a picture of a person sitting on a loo with a tick and a picture of a person peeing and pooing in the bush with a cross. He laughed so hard at that, and while I took photos of the lake he took photos of the sign. Boys will be boys! hahahaha.
Even tho it was getting late and the forecasted cloud cover had finally crept across the sky making it look later than it was, we decided to go just a little bit further to see the Lynton Station Convict Ruins.
Thinking it would just be a pile of rubble, like many old Aussie outback historical sites, we were pleasantly surprised that this area had been restored and tho some spots were rubble, some were well preserved and even some had been rebuilt. We walked around the main museum and read all the interesting letters, facts, newspaper articles, looked at photos and saw artifacts from the original dwellers. I was most interested to see that there was a history here connected to a Rogers and Hammerstein musical that I love, The King and I. A very beautiful poster on the wall of the King and I movie was alongside the story of how Anna Leonowens lived at this station with her husband from 1855 until the closure of the station. They then moved to Perth for some time, and then moved to Penang where he passed away in 1859. She then packed up and took up a teaching post in Singapore until in 1862 when she was (now famously) offered the role of teaching the wives and many children of the King of Siam lessons in English and Western Culture. This teaching adventure became the story that we all know and love as The King and I. I had absolutely no idea at all that she had a connection to Western Australia, let alone Perth. I can tell you this much, having seen the house they lived in and the extensive grounds, she was certainly no pauper, that was some seriously prosperous background. Reading the Wikipedia write up, I was also very intrigued to see she had an anglo-Indian background, something she hid like so many others of that heritage (Merle Oberon, Vivien Leigh).
We walked up the steep hill to see the homestead and it was truly remarkable. It is two story with the servants quarters on ground floor and the family living upstairs. The stone walls are so solid and completely block out the sweeping winds and I imagine they would be fantastic and keeping in the warmth from a fireplace and sheltering out the extreme heat from the midday sun. The most impressive part is the veranda which wraps all the way around the front of the house offering the grandest views of the area all the way across to the ocean and also the pink lakes. It would have been quite the treat to be invited up there to join Anna for a cup of tea and slice of cake served up by bustling servants while you sat there in your Victorian attire, quite the lady, talking about the news of the time. I know my luck tho, I would likely have been more likely to be one of the 80 convicts housed around the corner in the stone shed with 80 string hammocks all jammed in, forced to work all day in the rugged stinking hot outback, that would have been the shittiest lifestyle anyone could be forced into.
After a lovely long day of one adventure after another, we turned around and made our way back to Kalbarri, amazed that it took us 7 hours to get to Gregory and just over half an hour to get back. That is how long it takes to investigate all the turn offs in the National Park!
Very worn out and hungry, we made our way into some hot showers and then ordered a big feed of Indian from a place which has raving tripadvisor reviews, The Grace of India in Kalbarri. We got enough food for dinner for all the rest of the week, there was that much! Whilst the food was really tasty, very authentic and of top notch quality, it still wasnt my favourite curry ever. But perhaps that was because we did order some really unusual curries, not the usual. Still, it was a pretty great meal and now I am on the lounge with a severe food coma belly ache, but that is self inflicted because I made a piggy of myself and ate way too much.
Time to relax and enjoy some telly, these foxtel channels are a big treat for us.
Again, took a billion photos today, so hard to choose just a few, but hopefully these will show you some of the things we saw and give you the incentive to get over here to see them for yourself.
#Kalbarri #KalbarriNationalPark #WATourism #WARoadTrip #RoadTrip #NaturalBridge #WesternAustralia #BigurdaTrail #RedBluff #LyntonStation #TheKingAndI #HuttLagoon #PinkLakes
