Day 21 – Kalbarri National Park
Galena Bridge to Lucky Bay Campground (via Kalbarri) – 126km
WA Park Pass – $13 per vehicle or $60 for an annual pass with RAC 50% discount
Lucky Bay Campground – $15 no shower and the windiest night yet on the beach!
Kalbarri’s most famous area is no doubt the ‘natural window’ and it is exactly what it sounds like. We made our way there early morning, hoping to beat the crowds but by the time we arrived there was an actual queue of people waiting to take a photo there. Definitely an Instagram vs reality moment.
After walking a little of the trail, the queue was much smaller on the way back so we gave in and waited.
Next, we headed to the ‘Z Bend’ and took the river trail which is 2.6km long and swarming with flies! Over the last few weeks we have been absolutely inundated with flies, who’s only ambition in life is to annoy me. We have taken to wearing good old Aussie fly nets over our faces and look quite lovely in them… photo not included.
The beginning of the trail took you to a lookout overlooking the gorge from above and the river below (which almost resembled it’s Z name). We then followed the path and climbed down gorge which was slightly challenging. The official trail ends at the river bed but you can choose to wander to either the left or right a long the gorge. We went left and followed the flow of the water.
Kalbarri National Park has two main sections, an in land network of gorges and a coastal cliff area. For lunch, we drove out to the main town which is on the coast (mainly in the hopes of escaping the flies!) and then took a drive to each of the lookout points down the coast.
Day 22 – Gregory Pink Lake
Lucky Bay Campground to Badgingarra Roadhouse – 338km
Badgingarra Roadhouse – $25 powered
Pink lakes seem to be all over social media and I was intrigued to see what one looked like in real life. They are tinted pink by algae and to be honest I was pretty disappointed. The pink hue seems to be more visible depending your viewpoint so we chose to drive around to the other side of the lake where it was slightly better, but still not as pretty is it is made out to be.
I don’t make it a secret that I edit my photos, most people do in this day and age. I am not an expert by any means, but even I can tint the water colour and erase the broken pipe sticking up from it. Just another lesson of not believing everything you see online. My before and after photo below…
Day 23 – The Pinnacles
Badgingarra to Perth (via the Pinnacles National Park) – 280km
WA Park Pass – $13 per vehicle or $60 for an annual pass with RAC 50% discount
Perth Central Caravan Park – $43 powered
The Pinnacles Desert isa bit of a mind boggling place. It is built up of thousands of limestone columns that stand tightly packed together, surrounded by sand. To view the Pinnacles, you can either walk around them or drive around a loop.We opted to drive, mainly because Hank had been having some mechanical issues and we were scared to turn of the engine! (He is fixed up now for anyone worried about his health).
The area is unlike anything I have ever seen before and extremely odd! The general belief is that the pillars were completely covered in sand up until a couple of hundred years a go and may have revealed themselves in a storm. There are ancient stories told by the aborignal people of warnings not to visit the area as you were likely to sink into the sand and disappear. Nobody really knows how they were formed for sure, though there are a couple of theories involving all sorts of scientific wonder.
After spending a couple of hours at the Pinnacles, we made our way to Perth. I will be writing about our Perth adventures in a seperate blog so watch this space.
Lauren Travels 