YoungNomads: Kalbarri to Shark Bay

This is a huge blog because I'v been a bit slack in blogging, so make yourself a cuppa, get comfy and start reading....

I was looking forward to visiting Kalbarri, I'd heard that it was a great place, this I later realised was an understatement, because its just wonderful! Its a nice little town where the Murchison River meets the ocean, with the amazing National Park in the background.

We commenced our discovery of Kalbarri on our bikes, there is an 8km shared path all the way to Red Bluff beach, this ride was fabulous with many stop offs to take it all in and contribute to our ever growing photo album.

Next morning we decided to travel into the Kalbarri National Park, the weather was due to turn windy and rainy but we thought it would be perfect weather for hiking (not too hot). They have bituminised some of the road but about half way out it turns to a dirt road with nasty corrugations but without the van on the back the Jeep handled it well. First stop was "Natures Window" a famous lookout and photo opportunity, wow so amazing.... But we didnt count on having to stand there and wait for around 10 or so minutes while a French family took over the whole place for their 500 photos!! (dam rude). Anyway we got our turn in the end!

We continued on the 8km loop walk which was graded as 4 (expect some challenges), it said to allow 3 to 4 hours. The trail took us on a wonderful journey down through the gorges to the Murchison River with countless photo opportunities! We encountered a few tricky bits with me having to cling with my fingernails to the edge of a rocky ledge while navigating my way around the rocks overhanging the river. We came to the halfway point and came across a sign telling us to seriously considered whether we wanted to continue because it was going to get difficult, I was thinking "OMG" the black clouds were chasing us too, which worried me the most because I had my SLR camera with me which I didn’t want to get wet! We made it to the end quite easily and fabulous to be out there on our own in this beautiful gorge! It tested my courage at times but having climbed Frenchman’s Peak weeks before (thanks Bree Day you are always in my head now), that made me think I could do anything I put my mind to! Oh and we took 2 hours and 40 mins to complete the walk with plenty of stops.

But wait there is more..... The weather had caught us and dropping a bit of rain on us but not too bad, I was ready to head back but Geoff was dead keen to do the "Z bend" hike as well, and as usual he talked me into it (lucky for me)! The lookout was breathtaking! We had a magnificent view of two angles of the gorge. Off we went on our hike which included rock climbs, steep descents and 3 ladder climbs, it was absolutely wonderful..... Kalbarri NP is proving to be just wonderful for our souls, love it!

Following a rest day we took off in the car to discover Kalbarri's Coastal Cliffs.... Again we discovered some amazing coastline locations which enabled us to walk and get close to nature, including checking out funny little crabs scampering over rocks and heaps of dolphins, there is some amazing surf here and I was forever trying to capture the perfect wave.... I’m still trying! We copped some full on winds and had to get out of bed at 12.30am one night and roll our awning back in, we thought it was going to get ripped off the caravan!!

And still more... We booked in for a self guided canoe tour of the Murchison River, there was only one other couple so that was great. They transported us to the starting point via a 4WD vehicle which was very bumpy, sandy and exciting! This was a morning canoe which was rather chilly especially for my feet which were caked in freezing mud!! About half way through the canoe trip we pulled into shore and indulged in an amazing cooked breaky, yum! The birds were well and truly on parade today, all lining up across the river and taking off on what looked like practiced formations, fantastic!

Well after 6 nights in Kalbarri (our longest stay anywhere), it was time to move on, but what a great spot!!

We drove north for about 285kms toward Shark Bay, I noticed on Wiki Camps that there was a place to stay overnight at Hamelin Pool Station, so we decided to pull in there which is also the start of the World Heritage drive through the Bay. What a great little spot, no power but amazing amenities and camp kitchen etc. The hosts were really friendly and encourage everyone to join them for happy hour which provided a great opportunity to swap stories and hints and tips for our travel, we even got freshly cooked pikelets with jam and cream! While we were there we went down to visit Hamelin Pool Stromatolites, we couldn’t get over how crystal clear the water was.

Next morning we headed to Monkey Mia, I must admit I was a little sceptical about this place and I wasn't too wrong actually.... we stayed there for one night, tried our hand at fishing and again with no luck!! but we did get to see dolphins cruising past us. We checked out the dolphin feed the next morning, Geoff was lucky enough to get singled out to give a dolphin a fish but really its a fairly lame experience, but good for the overseas tourists I guess.

The weather was about to turn rainy so thought we'd head back to Denham for a night. We check out the sights which weren't many and then tried fishing AGAIN..... no good so we went to the fish factory and bought some lovely freshly caught (by someone else) whiting at a dam good price!

Our next stop was Whalebone Bay, a Council camp (we are only allowed to stay for one night).... as many of you have seen on Facebook, it was an amazing spot which we had to ourselves, just can't believe that no one else turned up, it was stunning and probably our best camp spot so far! We walked around to the next bay in both directions, is was great, we saw dolphins again and tried fishing again, this time caught an under size flathead and a couple of puffer fish!!! dam it... We sort of knew this would happen so we cooked up out whiting (that we bought!!)... but it was fresh and it was yum and the location was just fabulous!

Time to leave Shark Bay.... on the way out we visited Eagle Bluff, Goulet Bay and Shell Beach. We thought we'd go back to Hamelin Pool Station for an overnight on our way out.... tonight we got scones, jam and cream!! :-)