Kalbarri – Western Australia

Thursday 31^st May 2012 to Monday 4^th June 2012:

Kalbarri is situated on the Murchison River and the river flows out into the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri. Right in the heart of town is the popular Chinaman's Beach.

We arrived in Kalbarri on Thursday and have enjoyed five days in this beautiful coastal town. The weather has been perfect, daytime temperatures 26 – 28 degrees and the nights a cool 10 – 12 degrees. The blue skies have certainly made this holiday town look very picturesque. This weekend was a three day weekend for Western Australia, enjoying a public holiday on Monday to celebrate Foundation Day or this year their first 'Western Australia Day'. The name change has been a bit controversial however it appears the changed name will remain. Over the weekend Kalbarri have been celebrating the Canoe and Cray Carnival and Zest Festival. The river mouth foreshore came alive with activities such as markets, side show alley, eateries, children's fun activities and the unveiling of Zuytdorp commemorative plaque. We had a great time wandering the foreshore and attended the history making unveiling of the Zuytdorp plaque.

In 1712 the Dutch ship 'Zuytdorp' carrying a crew of 282 and three tons of newly minted silver coins, hit the rocks off the cliffs that now bear her name, near the present-day town of Kalbarri. The unveiling of the Zuytdorp plaque commemorated the 300 year anniversary of its tragic fate.

Saturday June 2^nd we phoned our darling daughter, Nicole, to wish her a "Happy Birthday". She was catching up with her sister Joanne and they were going out to celebrate her birthday.

Over the few days in Kalbarri we bush walked in the Kalbarri National Park, toured Kalbarri's coastal gorges with its magnificent towering cliffs that plummet to the waves below and view unusual rocky outcrops such as Mushroom Rock, Island Rock, Natural Bridge, Eagle Gorge to name a few.

We played golf. The course was abundant with wildlife; we saw kangaroos, emus and ducks.

Tomorrow we continue our journey north and will be in Denham and Monkey Mia in the next few days.