Kalbarri Redux

We've just spent a few fabulous days in Kalbarri, Western Australia. This trip wasn't breaking new ground for us, we were here about five years ago. But the opportunity to return to far flung places is a real luxury and last time we were here, we didn't have nearly enough time to do it justice.

In Western Australia terms, this place isn't particularly far flung. We are a mere 6.5 hours north of Perth. Western Australia covers an area roughly the same size as the continental United States from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast, that's a big space.

Even more astounding is that the entire population of Western Australia is only 2.5 million people - and 1.7 million of those people live in Perth, leaving a mere 800,000 people dotted around the rest of state. For a bit of context, that's like if the population of Utah was spread over the entire western 1/3 of the United States. Western Australia makes the American West look and feel crowded.

Back to Kalbarri. Kalbarri is a hokey little town with 2 pubs and about 3 fish and chip shops. You can get a decent cup of coffee and there is a moderately well-stocked supermarket. Everything you need for a few days exploring and not much more.

Like so many other places in Western Australia, I'm sure that if Kalbarri was located anywhere else it would be world famous. Sure, the population of town swells in the summer months and there is a steady trickle of grey nomads the rest of the year, but it's hardly the worldly destination that it would be if it weren't so remote. This suits me just fine.

Kalbarri is planted at the mouth of the Murchison River where it empties into the Indian Ocean. The Murchison River has carved out  a stunning series of gorges that makes up the bulk of the National Park.

This trip we managed to complete the 9km Loop Trail that plunges down into the gorge and follows the sandy banks of the river before it turns into a (at times poorly) marked trail that leaves you scrambling along precarious weathered red rocks hanging over the river. Eventually you make the steep climb out of the gorge and follow the relatively narrow ridge of the gorge wall (about a 150 meter drop down to the river) back to where you started. It's a brilliant class 4 (out of 6) hike and suggests 3.5-5 hours to complete it. We did it in 3 hours with a lunch break. It would be a punishing trip in the summer when temperatures can soar to 50C/120F. We did it in a mild 16C/60F.

The other big attraction at Kalbarri is the stunning, and I do mean stunning, coast line. A dramatic stretch of bright red cliffs follow the coast south of the town and to the north 200km of sandy dunes stretch all the way to the World Heritage area of Shark Bay. There are numerous paths and lookout points along the coast, or you can do as we did and ditch the trails and (cautiously) climb along the cliffs.

The surf along this stretch of coast is relentless and provides a steady stream of brilliant turquoise waves. Year-round it is pretty easy to spot dolphins, whales and seals (we've seen all of the above this trip) but if you miss out on the local wildlife, the local surfers make a pretty good consolation prize as they gather in the late afternoon to show off their skills as the brilliant sun slips into the sea.

Whaling around town

Unobliging wolves in Yellowstone, unwilling orang-utans in Borneo and uncooperative tigers in India - we have some experience of the local wildlife refusing to put in an appearance at the required time and place. So when we set off for North Head (a hamlet of Sydney Harbour National Park near Manly) for a bit of whale watching on Wednesday afternoon, our expectations weren't too high.

It was an area we'd been meaning to check out anyway as it offers stunning views out over the South Pacific and back to the city. But it's also migration season for Humpback and Southern Right Whales (they are headed north to the Coral Sea for the summer) and several had been spotted off of Bondi Beach just a few days earlier. It was a beautiful day - nearly 80 degrees and even the light breeze off the Pacific still had a touch of summer warmth.

As promised, the views were stunning. I'm still a bit in awe of Sydney and can't quite believe we live here:

View from North Head, Sydney Harbour National Park

I digress. So we found ourselves at North Head and after a few moments of gawking at the city, we headed for the ocean-side lookouts. Being a weekday afternoon, it was quiet with only a sprinkling of tourists, suicidal-looking guys in suits and a few retired couples milling about. 

We didn't have to wait long. Not hardly ten minutes after our arrival, a spout of water shot up from the surface. It was a mildly breezy and there were a few white caps on the water, but this looked distinctly different. We held out breath and waited. A few minutes later something big broke the surface and we couldn't hardly believe our luck. 

This whale wasn't in much of a hurry and was still quite far away, we could see him/her clearly with the binoculars, but our camera lens couldn't stretch quite that far. Fifteen minutes later, it was swimming near the edge of the rocks almost directly below us and we could see him/her with our naked eye under the surface of the water. 

He/she splashed around a bit more and eventually graced us with a few full-breaches of the surface. Unfortunately, this is the best photo we got, but I assure you it was spectacular.

Occasionally, I worry slightly about my wanderlust and my (bad) tendency to get bored with a place before I've even had a chance to fully explore it. I don't think Sydney and I are going to have that problem, I think we are going to be just fine.