Before reaching Kalbarri we made a short detour to Pink Lake. The original laguna is closed off from the sea and very salty. The water is colored pink by the algae living in it. The salt and carotene are harvested in large evaporation ponds on the opposite side of the lake.
The National Park at Kalbarri has a coastal section and a river gorge section. On the way in we made several stops to look down the cliffs into the Indian Ocean. The Murchison River gorge section will be visited the next day. All campsites in town were full (it is still school holiday). We drove some 28 km back to a large empty campsite on a hill sloping towards the dunes and the ocean. A great (windy) spot with a lovely view and great sunset.
In the morning, we filled up the water tanks in Kalbarri town and drove on to the park and toured the various river viewpoints. At the first stop, they built 2 skywalks which hang over the gorge of the Murchison River. At the other viewpoints you can go for short or long walks. We took the short ones. You walk over light red colored sandstone rock through the bush. It is spring so many plants are flowering. At one point there is an arch/window rock which frames the river view.
Around 15:00 hrs we drove out of the park and continued our route north on Hwy 1. Along the way we saw lots of tall plants while at another section hardly any. Just low scrubs/bushes. After some 130 km driving, we stopped at the Billabong roadhouse for the night. Free camping. It is Jamaliah’s birthday. This was celebrated with a meal of lamb chops in the restaurant.
Rudy Welling's Travels 