Well what a busy rest area that was. There were some 15 caravans in for the night along with a couple of cars and to top it all off 2 trucks in the adjacent stopping bay. One was the refrigerated variety with the compressor engine that runs all night… Lack of sleep aside it was a tad cold in the early hours which is great as we sleep much better when not too hot. Shame the duvet was all packed up under the bed and really hard to get at - Doh! Come sunup most of the vans trekked off north whereas we kept on southward where we took the turnoff to the Kalbarri National Park.
The park is out on the coast and a bit of a deviation before we head into Nabawa and Geraldton. First stop on the road in was a view of the Murchison River deep down in the gorge about 47km from the actual settlement of Kalbarri but within the bounds of the park. Quite pretty with the very red rock, red river gums and flowing water. Then it was onto the town and into a caravan park which happened to lookout to the estuary where the river meets the sea providing for an excellent view.
Shortly after our arrival another van pulled into the spot next to us. The owners (Ann and Ray) live close to Geraldton and only 20km from Nabawa so they know the area well and we had an excellent discussion with them. They do contract work relating to the planting and harvesting of wheat and indicated there should be plenty of work around at the moment as this is the time when farmers are starting to put the seed grain in the ground for the next crop and there is often a shortage of workers. They also have a large shed on their property (and tools) and have said we can do the truck repairs there if Nabawa is not a go which is fantastic.
Tuesday morning we were up early for a good long walk around the town and out to the point where the estuary meets the ocean with views down to Red Bluff. A lovely walk with many other people and parrots out and about as well. Kalbarri seems to be an up and coming seaside tourist town with some new housing developments on the go and the town well developed and very tidy. After lunch we took ourselves for a drive down the coast to look at some of the Kalbarri coastal cliffs. The various view points gave excellent views of the cliffs with the scenery fantastic and in some ways even more impressive than the Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. This could however just be due to it being a lovely sunny day and the ocean a brilliant blue. With the large ocean swells that come in an excellent surf break is created at Jakes point where the waves come around the point and run all the way along the rocky shore to the beach.
Tripping around done for the day it was back to the park and a dip in the pool. With over night temperatures in the teens the pool manages to stay very cool and very refreshing. We had a very nice chat with our neighbours in the evening finding out about what is required to work as a contractor over here and options on how to get paid, ie wages, contractor invoice or just plain old cash. All good stuff. In morning we went to see the pelican feeding but as they are a transient lot none showed up. It is a bit different to the dolphins in that the pelicans just visit Kalbarri and are not resident and as such do not just hang around for a handout – which is a good thing.
