Australia here we come!

12/7/12

We left Nerren Nerren Rest Area about 9.00am and headed back to the North West Coastal Highway. Just after turning onto the highway we had to pull over to allow an enormous wide load to pass. The lead pilot vehicle nearly rammed us trying to force us off the road. I had nowhere to pull over, but just a short distance ahead was a wide clear area large enough for 2 caravans and I was heading for it. I could see the wide load was still about 1 kilometre away and I had plenty of time but the pilot vehicle wanted us off the road there and then. I called up on the 2-way and explained what we were doing but the pilot vehicle driver had a one track mind. At least the accompanying Police Officer had some common sense and thanked us for responding over the 2-way and pulling over. After the wide load passed we continued on and stopped at the Billabong Roadhouse for lunch.

Then we continued on to our next destination which was Kalbarri. We found the Visitor Information Centre but there was nowhere to park the caravans. We drove around and around and finally stopped in the car park of a hotel only to be told we couldn't park there because we were blocking the view of people having a meal. That was strange because we couldn't see anyone eating in the pub. We drove a little further and parked in a car parking area and took up the whole place with the two caravans. Mary-Anne, for the third time on this trip, lost the plot. She leaped from the Patrol with steam coming from her ears and yelling in her pixie voice that Kalbarri obviously doesn't want caravaners as there is nowhere to park at the Visitor Information Centre and she was going to give them a bollocking. I kept my distance and didn't say a word. Even Karen was intimidated by her sister-in-law's manic demeanour. I stayed outside as the girls entered the Information Centre waiting for the Police to arrive and take away my demonic sister. A little while later both girls emerged from the building and I noticed Mary-Anne was looking sheepish. Apparently she gave the poor young girl in the Information Centre 'what for' about no caravan parking and she was told staff at the Centre had been pleading with the local Council for years for caravan parking with no success. OOPS!!!!!

We drove to the Anchorage Caravan Park and booked in for 2 nights. After setting up we went for a drive around town. We visited Blue Hole which is a rocky beach. We walked onto the beach for a quick look. Near the water's edge I was nearly washed away by a freak wave that came from nowhere. Luckily, I have reflexes like a cat and leaped backwards in the air. Unfortunately the wave was high enough to catch my right foot as I cartwheeled through the air and I spent the rest of the day with a soggy foot. Then we drove to Red Bluff which is a high limestone ridge overlooking the Indian Ocean. The view is unbelievable and we even saw 2 whales way out near the horizon. From Red Bluff we drove back towards town and stopped at the Zuytdorp Memorial. The Zuytdorp was a large Dutch sailing ship that was wrecked further up the coast in 1797 on its way to Batavia. No survivors were ever found and the location of the wreck was only discovered in 1923. We ventured back to the caravan park and discovered that there was a sausage sizzle tonight in the camp kitchen. We attended the sausage sizzle along with about 2 hundred other people.

13/7/12

We got up early and drove to the pelican feeding beach. We were greeted by a volunteer lady who should be on the stage. She successfully entertained about 100 people for half an hour while we waited for the pelicans to arrive. Finally 2 pelicans showed up and were fed.

Then we drove to the Kalbarri National Park to view a number of gorges carved out by the Murchison River. Our first stop was at Nature's Window. It was an easy walk to start with and the views down to the river were great. However, the walk became more energetic as it led to a sandstone outcrop where a hole has been worn through the rock. The hole makes a natural frame through which the upper reaches of the Murchison River are viewed. Unfortunately we arrived about two minutes before a herd of Japanese and European tourists who very rudely walked in front of us while we were trying to take photographs through the hole. We had to wait for about 10 minutes for them to run out of film before we could take our photographs.

We negotiated our way back to the car park and drove to the Z bend lookout. We took a short walk to a vantage point from where a 'Z' bend of the Murchison River could be viewed. There was a 2.6km arduous walk around the 'Z' bend but Mary-Anne and I were both still weak from winter colds and out-voted Karen. We had some lunch in the picnic area adjacent to the carpark then we drove about 25 kilometres to the Ross Graham Lookout and enjoyed the views before taking a goat track over huge boulders down to the river below. The water was very clear and we were able to see some fish swimming around. We climbed back up the track to the car and moved on to Hawks Head lookout where there are more spectacular views of the Murchison River and gorge and an outcrop on the side of the gorge wall resembling a hawk's head, hence the name. I couldn't see the outcrop but Mary-Anne said she saw it. We were very tired by the time we got back to the car so it was a very long trip back to the caravan park and a beer.