Day 52 (11 Jun) – Kalbarri

This morning we went to the river foreshore to watch a lady feed the pelicans.  This happens every day at 8.45am and has been ongoing for over 40 years.  The pelicans were on the other side of the river and were a bit hesitant to start with to come over.  The seagulls, on the other hand, were not at all hesitant and came over immediately.  Finally, the pelicans gracefully flew across the river skimming the water.

Once they all come over there was feeding frenzy between the seagulls and pelicans.  Mostly the seagulls won as the lady said the pelicans are young ones and not yet used to the feeding.  There was one big adult however, and he was up front trying to catch the fish.

After we had coffee at the café across the road, we went out to Kalbarri National Park.  The first stop was the Skywalk.  This is just a spectacular area and exceptionally well done.  It was built in 2019 and has been open for about a year.  The Skywalk is 100 metres (about 300 feet) above the river and the walkway is see through.

“Terrified Tessie” actually did a spectacular job of walking out to the ends of both Skywalks but wasn’t game enough to look down.

“Nigel No Friends: was there too.  Still looking for friends.

The views were just out of this world.  Stunning.  The river was just muddy.  They have had a lot of rain here and instead of a nice river below it was a stream of mud.  Nevertheless, it was beautiful to look at.

The Natural Arch was just across the gorge, and I zoomed in for this photo from the Skywalk as we were going there next.

The walk to Natural Arch was relatively easy, but the last 70 metres were rock hopping.  And it was a 100 metre drop over the cliff edge below.  We each had our “funeral photos” taken sitting in the arch.

Similarly, the views were just unbelievable.

We did a couple of other walks but nothing compared to the Skywalk and natural Arch so we skipped a couple of gorge views.  Then it was back to town for lunch.  After lunch we saw a truck at the Fisherman’s Wharf with Geraldton Fish Cooperative written on the side.  So we ambled over to talk to the driver as we have not been able to find a Cooperative on this West Coast where we could buy seafood directly from the fishermen as you can on the East Coast.  He explained to us that the industry here is exceptionally heavily regulated as it all goes overseas to China.  West Coast Lobster is a favourite of the Chinese and it can only be obtained from Western Australia.  And despite the Chinese Government bans on Australian lobster that we are hearing about on the news, it is still being exported to China, but now going through Taiwan.  So it is labelled as Taiwanese West Coast Lobster instead of Australian West Coast Lobster.  We’ll see if we can get some when we go to Geraldton tomorrow.

We then started to drive down south along the coast to see some of the coastal scenery.  But first we stopped at the lookout on the point at the mouth of the Murchison River.  A windsurfer was lost here two days ago and the search and rescue people are still out looking for him.  I wouldn’t think they’ll find him alive after the rough seas we saw when we arrived.

As we headed out down the south of town we stopped at some of the devastation caused by the cyclone two months ago.  The pelican lady explained to us earlier that immediately after the cyclone had passed, locals with tip trucks and Bobcats all turned up at the foreshore and began a clean up.  No waiting for Government assistance.  They all just got in and did it.  Great community spirit in this lovely town.  The houses fronting the ocean copped the full force of the cyclone and sustained the most damage.

The coastal scenery south of town is just like the Victorian Great Ocean Road scenery.  The locals have done an exceptional job of signing these attractions and building boardwalks, lookouts and sealed roads to get to them.

Dolphins swimming below the cliffs

Tonight we have booked into a seafood restaurant and micro-brewery for dinner.  Looking forward to a nice feed of seafood and beer.  Yum yum.

Addendum:  We went to Findlays Restaurant for dinner tonight.  We were expecting something good but were sadly disappointed.  There were only two items on the Entrée and two on the Main course list.  It wasn’t what I was expecting.  The place was quaint and very rustic.  Pity the food didn’t match the décor.

Helen’s Highlights / Minnie’s Musings

I was really interested to hear the comments from the presenter at the pelican feeding this morning. I am so impressed with how the townspeople rallied after the cyclone which was 2 months ago. They have done an incredible job of cleaning up the foreshore within the first 24 hours. What a credit to them. The foreshore’s vegetation is quite sparse. There are some cafes etc. along the foreshore that have sustained enough damage to mean they are unable to repair and reopen so their business is gone. As Kalbarri had never had a cyclone go through here before they were ill-prepared for one. The types of building were not built to be cyclone proof as they did not feel it was necessary. What a tight knit community. The guy we chatted to from the fish truck was saying his sister moved here from Perth for a sea change just before Christmas and her 6-bedroom, 3 bathroom and 2 kitchen home is now unliveable, and she has to find accommodation to rent for the next 12 months and there is nothing here. The insurance company will pay $69,000 for a year’s rental but if they go and buy another property that does not happen. I also met some very nice 4-legged humans today and we had a lovely chat.

Complaint of the day

Michael – “No way to buy seafood from the source – ridiculous!”.

Helen – Scary, but my complaint is “No way to buy seafood from the source – ridiculous!”. THE SAME…Oh no!

Another complaint which can be quite common when camping. Here goes – needed to do a wash which I can do in the van but needed to use the park dryers.  There were 2 dryers so had to wait which was not a problem. The dryer I chose (after cleaning the very dirty filter) then ate my 4-$1coins and did not work so off to the reception and they gave me back my $4 and so off to the other dryer. Transferred the clothing over to the next dryer; had to clean that filter as well; and set it going. Even after the time that $4 used, they were still damp…. not happy; so now the clothes are hanging around the caravan. I realise this is a pathetic complaint but it pissed me off so I felt I just needed to vent and share.

Mystery Person – There has been no Complaint of the Day for a while!!😇