Saturday, 21 August
It was a bit cold this morning and we have to retrieve the heater from under the bed. It was a lovely sunny day, about 22, although there was a strong southerly wind blowing.
This morning we headed for Kalbarri National Park, with an unscheduled stop to watch the daily pelican feeding on the foreshore, along with many other tourists. This was supposed to happen at 8.45 am according to the signs and the brochures – the pelicans were waiting, the tourists were waiting, the pelicans waited, the tourists waited … After 30 minutes of waiting, we decided we didn’t really need to see a pelican eat a fish.
The drive into the national park was a bit corrugated in places and sandy in others – overall, it wasn’t too bad. We travelled through coastal scrub with a large number of wattles and banksias, smoke bushes and blackboys, as well as numerous smaller shrubs. Without the caravan following, we were able to stop and start at will; many photographs were taken.
The highlight of the national park is the Murchison River gorge and its sandstone cliffs. The first lookout we came to gave us a panoramic view of the region before we reached the most well known – Window on the World. This was a sandstone formation on top of a cliff and literally had a window in it. Of course, this is the spot that all the tourists (and tour buses) head for! We spent some time waiting for the English backpackers to depart and for an opportunity between the snap happy Japanese (Kodak must really regret the invention of digital cameras). It was here that many ground cover flowers were spotted, very tiny and very pretty, as well as some orchids and sun dews.
This afternoon we decided to have a look at the cliffs along the sea to the south of Kalbarri. These were quite awesome, although the strong wind made walking a little unpleasant. We were lucky enough to spot a few whales out to sea, as well.
It was a bit cold this morning and we have to retrieve the heater from under the bed. It was a lovely sunny day, about 22, although there was a strong southerly wind blowing.
This morning we headed for Kalbarri National Park, with an unscheduled stop to watch the daily pelican feeding on the foreshore, along with many other tourists. This was supposed to happen at 8.45 am according to the signs and the brochures – the pelicans were waiting, the tourists were waiting, the pelicans waited, the tourists waited … After 30 minutes of waiting, we decided we didn’t really need to see a pelican eat a fish.
The drive into the national park was a bit corrugated in places and sandy in others – overall, it wasn’t too bad. We travelled through coastal scrub with a large number of wattles and banksias, smoke bushes and blackboys, as well as numerous smaller shrubs. Without the caravan following, we were able to stop and start at will; many photographs were taken.
The highlight of the national park is the Murchison River gorge and its sandstone cliffs. The first lookout we came to gave us a panoramic view of the region before we reached the most well known – Window on the World. This was a sandstone formation on top of a cliff and literally had a window in it. Of course, this is the spot that all the tourists (and tour buses) head for! We spent some time waiting for the English backpackers to depart and for an opportunity between the snap happy Japanese (Kodak must really regret the invention of digital cameras). It was here that many ground cover flowers were spotted, very tiny and very pretty, as well as some orchids and sun dews.
This afternoon we decided to have a look at the cliffs along the sea to the south of Kalbarri. These were quite awesome, although the strong wind made walking a little unpleasant. We were lucky enough to spot a few whales out to sea, as well.
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