To say we needed that sleep was an understatement, but we did get it, and had a busy day ahead.
First, we started with a bit of breakfast: dippy eggs, or eggs and soldiers…
The kitchen here was reasonably well equipped – it even had a Nespresso machine and toasty maker – but no eggcups or shot glasses as far as we could see, so I had to make do with the remnants of the egg box itself.
With fuel in our bodies, it was time to head to Kalbarri National Park before the temperatures started to climb too high. Kalbarri reaches mid to high 30s this time of year and there’s no running water in the national park, so we could understand why some of the walking trails had been closed for the season. People have died attempting these trails, even with all the gear and right ideas!
Kalbarri National Park
The entrance to the national park itself was mere minutes from where we were staying, but there’s a lengthy drive (20 mins) once you’re admitted into the park ($17 day pass) before you get to the Kalbarri Skywalk or Nature’s Window – the two key attractions that don’t require a lengthy and unforgiving hike. In fact, the skywalk (below) has only just been completed in the last few years and the drive up to the skywalk has only recently been bitumised too. Lucky us!
Actually, as we drove in, a driver flashed us as he passed us, so we wondered what danger might lie ahead. It only turned out to be an emu walking up the road! Very cool to see!
All hazards avoided, once there, the car park was pretty fancy, although lacked any shady spots, which seems to be a theme in Australia despite their sun issues… and as we left the car we were greeted by flies. And unlike other, perhaps more polite and refined northern hemisphere flies, these ones have no trouble trying to fly into your eyes or mouth or nose and generally causing outright annoyance. So much so that Michael decided to invest in a fly net from the onsite shop, which I of course mocked him for mercilessly since these flies didn’t even bite and we were only going to be out and about for an hour or so.
50% of us armed against the aphid army, we walked out onto the skywalk deck to admire the incredible scenery around us. A vast shallow sandstone canyon-like arid environment that you’d survive in for about 45 minutes without a sip of water past 1pm, we reckoned.
The views from the skywalk were incredible and breathtaking, especially if you looked down…
Just around the corner from this is Nature’s Window, which is a natural hole in the sandstone formation that looks over another bend in the winding river.
The walk to it is definitely not a formal path…
to Nature’s Window
Stunning as it all is, unfortunately we’d timed our visit pretty badly and got stuck behind a group of tourists who were all desperate to get the perfect picture. One of them kindly offered to take some pictures of us, and it looked quite promising as she tried various angles and suggested we try different poses, but the pictures ended up being absolutely awful and we had to just bide our time until it quietened down again, which it did. While we bid our time, we admired the views without our devices, because as nice as it is to capture the moment, how often are you going to be in a place like this? Probably once in a lifetime… max!
of the Murchison River’s twists and turns
By the time we’d seen as far as we could in each direction, we took the short path back up to the car and munched a juicy apple each as we went. But we were already getting very hot and thirsty at this point and it was only half 11 in the morning, so god knows what the people arriving after us were going to go through! It’s hard to believe people live out there, but incredibly the Nanda people (traditional Aboriginal owners of the land) had been doing so for a very long time. Sadly, their last native speaker died in the last decade (around 2016, I believe).
Once back in the car, we moped out of the national park, sad that we probably wouldn’t be back. It is doable, just maybe part of a larger trip up this way and perhaps onwards to Ningaloo Reef and beyond.
We made our way back to Red Bluff Tourist Park where Michael dealt with the bald patches on his chest left by the ECG machine, but not before dropping me at the end of the lane at Red Bluff beach, which is a strange juxtaposition of red sandstone rock formations right next to a perfect white beach and turquoise waves.
What a challenge… having this at the end of the lane!
Anyhow! We needed to get some lunch as we had a sunset wilderness cruise booked, so we went to Finlay’s, which has such a cool Shoreditch-meets-Whitstable kind of vibe. They brew their own beer and sell others too. They also seem to have bbqs sometimes and have a really cool outdoor seating area. So, quick prawns and chips on board and it was time to head to the boat for our afternoon cruise!
Wilderness Cruise
We boarded the cruise at 4pm, greeted merrily by the married couple who ran the trip. They offered free coffee and tea and biscuits once we’d set off on the water and they began with their spiel about the Kalbarri water environment and the fishing industry so dear to its heart and history.
Fishing sustainability regulation has decimated the fishing industry in Kalbarri. There used to be 26 fishing boats going in and out of the bay every day and now there are just 2.5 (one of them spends half the year in Geraldton, further down the coast). Their fishing limits were massively reduced and their licences were limited to only a maximum of 60 days a year – the limits were assigned based on how long the fishermen had had licences in Kalbarri. A massive win for sustainability and biodiversity. Not so much for the local fishing community…
In any case, as hard as it may have been for the fishing folk, the information and telling of it still made for a relaxing boat ride.
We also heard, saw and learnt about the devastation caused by a recent cyclone that ripped through in 30 minutes but did years and years of damage.
We couldn’t go very far distance-wise on this cruise because of water levels and limits, so since we had plenty of time, despite the guide making a stop to pick us some wild samphire to try (yum!) we made a stop where we were offered the chance to get out and climb up the sandy hill if we liked.
At this point, myself (little did I know I was in the early stages of a horrible bout of possible walking pneumonia) and Michael (who’d not long come out of hospital after his check-over- remember?!) were both shattered, but we were easily the youngest people on the boat, so we felt we had to climb at least part of the hill since everyone but the passenger in a wheelchair seemed to be giving it a go. Michael and I, young as we are, managed to get halfway up before almost passing out. Doh!
We descended back down to the boat only to be told that the oldest person to climb all the way to the top and not even be out of breath was an 80-year-old man called Bob. Now, whether we believe the tour guide, who used to be a fisherman or not, is another matter. Perhaps Bob was actually a 45-year-old fireman when he did it and the story has just kind of been blown out of proportion since then. Who knows?!
Speaking of unlikely tales… but this actually happened…
Once back in the boat after our tiring climb, the sun was making its way behind the hill and so dusk was soon upon us. Now, dawn and dusk are the times of day when creatures like kangaroos are most active in the day. So, having seen nothing but a few distant goats on this boat ride (yes, Australia has wild goats and they’re a problem) I turned to Michael and said, “I don’t want to ooze desperation, but I’d really like to see a kangaroo right about now.”
And Michael said, “Maybe don’t be desperate, just manifest it.”
So I said, “OK, I’m manifesting a kangaroo.” And then almost as I finished saying that, the lady next to me exclaimed, “There’s a kangaroo!”
I thought she was taking the piss because I’m British, but no! See for yourselves! There were actually kangaroos on the banks just in front of us!!!
All in all, the tour guide was really fun. Very dry sense of humour. For example:
Him: You see that black rock over there?
We call that Black Rock.
And his petite little wife was delightful too. I think her name was Tracey, but I could be wrong.
As we left the kangaroos behind to our right, the bay opened up again before us to reveal the sunset ahead…
Annoyingly, as soon as we got around the wall to see the sunset, a cloud had gobbled it all up.
But that’s what silver linings are for…
And the colours reflected back towards us were still beautiful.
Having managed to perk ourselves up a bit with some drinks from the onboard bar, we headed back to Finlay’s to finish what we’d started at lunch. However, already my appetite was dwindling (presumably from fatigue) and I only managed two of the three fish tacos I’d ordered, while Michael stormed through his seafood pasta.
After dinner, we couldn’t wait to hit the hay and get some sleep before driving back to Perth the next day, but thank God we weren’t going fast as we met a family on the road on the way back to our holiday villa.
We tried to gently shoo them off the road, but they kept just hopping further up it, so we decided to leave them alone and let them figure it out for themselves.
And then just hope beyond hope that we didn’t see any evidence of a bad decision on the tarmac the next morning 🙏
Blonde on a Road Trip 
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