entrance to Kalbarri

Bundu bashing – Good fun and dirty car

Hugo couldn’t get enough of this

Fishing boats and charters

Ralph and Gavin

Kalbarri

Hugo and Angel

History

The local Aboriginal people inhabited the area for thousands of years and have a dreaming story about the Rainbow Serpent forming the Murchison River as she came from inland to the coast. The first European people to visit the area were the crew of the trading ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, who put two mutinous crew members ashore near Bluff Point just south of the town. The cliffs near the river mouth were named after another trading ship, the Zuytdorp, that was wrecked there in 1712.The area became a popular fishing and tourist spot in the 1940s and by 1948 the state government declared a townsite. Lots were soon surveyed and the town was gazetted in 1951. Kalbarri was named after an Aboriginal man from the Murchison tribe and is also the name of an edible seed.

Tourism

The town is geared towards tourism and fishing, with attractions including the daily pelican feeding, the Kalbarri National Park, Murchison River Gorge and the Murchison River. There are two charter boats to go on to view the Murchison River. The town attracts 200,000 tourists every year, with the population of the town swelling to 8,000 during holiday seasons.

The Kalbarri National Park is home to a phenomenon of geography and geology known as the Z Bend, a walking track, and “Nature’s Window”, a rock formation overlooking hundreds of kilometres of Murchison River. The Rainbow Jungle (The Australian Parrot Breeding Centre), located a few kilometres south of the town centre, features hundreds of exotic species of birds in their native habitat plus a walk-in cage allowing humans to interact with the birds. Red Bluff and other coastal cliffs and formations are located south of the town.

6th May, Tuesday,

It rained heavily again and our lake is growing and I have run out of places to walk because of the mud. Shame really as this is a nice spot. We have decided not to stay and push on to Kalbarri because there is a big wet coming in and we thought that we might as well sit it out in comfort at a caravan park. We are not sure when we can go further North as there are still alot of road closures due to the heavy rains. We have decided that we will park here for 7 days and then see. Hopefully our next stop will be Carnarvon. The drive to Kalbarri was very pretty, everything has greened up since the rains. The last time we came this way it was very dry. The turn off for Kalbarri is through National Park which has had a big fire go through. The North of the Park is all gone. Part of the road had been washed away. We were travelling behind Gavin and Rose and an emu decided to sprint across the road. It was a near miss for them. We booked into the Tudor caravan park. It’s a lovely park but we can’t believe how quite it is. Not many people here at all. They have a pool and all the facilities and not far from the beach which surprises me. I think that a lot less people are travelling because of the down turn in the economy. Mary, who we met at Dongara was here as well and was so excited to see us because we have 2 dogs between us. She is a lovely lady and walks around the park to pat all the dogs. She lost her dogs so she gets her doggie fix that way. There is a big wet coming through tomorrow which I think is going to close some more roads up North.

7th May, Wednesday

We had to find a computer shop in town as our poor little computer is that old that it has finally given up the ghost. Not much done today as the weather is coming in so it’s a case of packing things away to keep out of the rain. Gavin woke us up at about 11 to say that we are under water. There is water under about ankle deep and we are watching the situation. It’s a bit of a worry. I am packing things away because we might have to move. We are going to bed and will try to sleep.

8th May, Thursday

Not a good night as we didn’t sleep well at all. We got up expecting to find our van floating at to sea. A modern day Noahs ark. The water has all drained away and we went search of shoes etc. which has floated away. We found Hugos ball quite a way from the van. It looks like the culvert outside the park was blocked with the leaves from the trees and couldn’t handle the volume of water. The Galahs were up all night as well, not sure why but they certainly were noisy. We just heard that the roads up North are still cut so we are not sure how long we will be here.  Had to go to the Physio because my neck is so bad still and shooting pains down my arm.  There is only one Physio in town and he is 100 times better than the person I was seeing in Mundaring.  The boys are going fishing this afternoon.  I haven’t taken any meat out but have heaps of Tuna in the cupboard. :-).  There is very high swell at the mo and someone was catching Taylor, so let’s hope.  Well! no fishies, so they option is what I have taken out of the freezer. 🙂

9th May, Friday

All I can say is “What a stunning day”. The sun is shining, the birds are going crazy and all smooching, the wind is not blowing and all is beautiful in Kalbarri. Ralphie has gone fishing, I have gone back to the Physio and had some acupuncture this morning…… Eish, I wish this neck pain would go away. Hugo and I went for a huge walk and as usual he has to crap on the pathway when other people are coming. :-(. Just vegged today so not much to tell you all. Ralphie will watch the footie tonight and I am catching up on my blog.

10th & 11th May, Saturday and Sunday

The weather is still glorious.  Not much to tell you all as we are vegging, enjoying the weather, walking on the beach and fishing for non existent fish :-).  Ralph went fishing this morning, caught a couple of blowies and broke his rod.  We then went to the beach to take Hugo swimming and I lost my glasses so we came back and decided to stay put for the rest of the day.

12th May, Monday

It’s time to say goodbye to Kalbarri and head north tomorrow for Carnarvon.  One 24 stopover at Gladstone lookout for Tuesday and then will be in Carnarvon on Wednesday. We have booked into the big 4 caravan park for 5 days. We took Hugo for a swim this morning and did a bit of 4×4 in the mud.  It’s always good fun.  We thought at an off chance we would stop in at the visitors centre to see if anyone had found my glasses on the beach…and…. Viola, there they were.  Thankyou to the kind person that dropped them in. I was so chuffed as I am blind without them and they are the only pair of transition ones I have.  So, dear peeps, will say cheerio and start a new post from Carnarvon.  xxxx