About Kalbarri
Kalbarri is a popular holiday and retirement town surrounded by one of the most beautiful regions of wildflowers in Australia. Although the coastline around Kalbarri was explored by Europeans in the early seventeenth century the actual town of Kalbarri did not come into existence until 1951 and since then it has grown to become a popular tourist destination with fishing, swimming, bushwalking, organised cruises and a range of activities designed for holidaymakers including the impressive Rainbow Jungle, Australian Parrot Breeding Centre and walks in the beautiful and dramatic Kalbarri National Park (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Kalbarri Caravan Park
Selecting a place to stay was a bit difficult as we had stayed in Kalbarri in 1979 and an lot of changes had occurred in the last 39 year (LOL). We chose Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park for the standard reason – it’s close to town (maplink). It turned out to be a great choice.
Kalbarri Surf
After we arrived in Kalbarri we soon discovered the wind was still howling but it was practically offshore at Jakes Point so took some great surf snaps.
Kalbarri NP – Murchison River Gorges
Natures Window & Z Bend
We last visited Kalbarri in December 1979 and spent about a week here. The temperature hovered around 45 degrees celsius every day so the trip into the Murchison River Gorges section of the Kalbarri National Park was undertaken at about 6:00am. It was a dirt track back then and we had to drive around the kangaroos as they lazed away on the track.
Move forward 39 years and all of the tracks are now fully bitumised but the vistas at each location are just as incredible. One thing we did notice was the flys are just as horrific as they were back then; but this time we came prepared with our fly nets over our heads (not a good look but very effective).
It is a 50km trip (maplink) into the area from Kalbarri township with heaps of wildflowers now on display to make the trip even more enjoyable. The first area to visit was Natures Window and Z Bend.
Natures Window is probably the most visited and photographed piece of rock in Australia, coming in a close 2nd & 3rd to Uluru and Kings Canyon.
Route map
Some links…
Hawks Head & Ross Graham Lookouts
After visiting Natures Window and Z Bend we drove another 50km to view Hawks Head and Ross Graham Lookout (roadmap). The beautiful wildflowers certainly made what would have been a boring road-trip quite beautiful.
We attempted to eat our picnic lunch at Hawks Head but the flies were so intense we ended up in the car.
Named after the first school teacher in Kalbarri (not the bloke who I worked with in the old Board of Works), Ross Graham was a devoted conservationist who aided in the exploration of the Murchison River. We took the walk down to the Murchison River from Ross Graham Lookout which gave a better perspective of the enormousness of these gorges; it was wonderful.
On our way back into town we stopped off at Meanarra Hill which provides a view over the coast and Kalbarri township. We were amazed at the eating shelter and layout of this beautiful spot; created by funding from the “Royalties for Regions” from the WA mining boom.
Route map
Some links…
- TripAdvisor – Ross Graham Lookout
- TripAdvisor – Hawks Head
- TripAdvisor – Meanarra Hill
- National Parks website
Kalbarri NP – Coastal Cliff Gorges
The coastal cliff gorges of Kalbarri National Park are totally different to the inland ones along the Murchison River. We rated these as better than the inland gorges; cannot exactly say why except for the wow factor they provided. We travelled south from the Kalbarri township with each place accessible via bitumen road (roadmap).
We visited…
- Shellhouse and Grandstand – originally seen by sailors out at sea and thought to be a house on the cliffs
- Island Rock – you almost could think that one of Victoria’s 12 Apostles has decided to move to a warmer climate in WA.
We had our picnic lunch in one of the wonderful shelters above the cliffs overlooking the ocean. - Natural Bridge – huge waves crashing up against the coast with this rock formation providing ample photo opportunities
- Eagle Gorge – we saw a large pod of dolphins herding a school of bait-fish from the cliff tops. This spectacle was pretty amazing seeing how they worked as a team to feast upon their prey.
- Pot Alley – very dramatic looking rock formations as you walk down a very old creek-bed to the beach – probably the best spot we visited.
All of the above are easily accessed with fantastic board walks and shelters along the way made possible by the royalties from the WA mining boom.
Some links…
