18/6/20 To the Cape and monkey of our back

      Moving onward from Kalbarri , we found ourselves at Nerren Nerren Rest Area for a late lunch , and after walking around checking out potential sites , we decided to stay the night . Found a nice spot beside the fence and away from the main bitumen area .  

      It was a very cool night , 6.5 degrees when we got up - the diesel heater got fired up pretty quickly !!

    After warming up , we left and headed to Denham for the next week or so . This is the view from the top level of the park , we don't have these views but we do have water views .

     The weather was looking good , so we headed up to Francois Peron NP , we had some unfinished business from 5 years ago . There's about 40 kms of sand track to drive along to get to Cape Peron at the top of the park - we made it about 25 kms and were stopped by a deep sandy section , so we didn't get to the Cape - so there was some unfinished business to take care of . The track was as we expected , today though we dropped the tyre pressures to 18psi and continued on . Driving this track is like driving on rails you go where the tyre tracks go . There were several cars going our direction , and only one or two going the other way .

There's a large clay pan that goes for about 1klm and then there's the sandy section that stopped us last time . We stopped and checked tyre pressures again , before proceeding into the sandy section - we breezed straight through it . This is the clay pan .

      Not much further there's a turnoff for Cattle Well , we took that and found lots' more sand to drive through , leading out onto a beach which we drove straight out on and down to the left hand end . Views were pretty good , orange sand right down to the white beach sand and green & blue ocean .

     Here's some aerial shots , stunning colours .

     The next track we took was in to South Gregories - a small campground . The beach had been damaged by the storm a few weeks ago and most of the sand had been washed away , leaving lots of limestone rock - very jagged and not user friendly .

      Next stop , also not far up the road was Gregories - another campground . The red layer of dirt is quite stunning mixed in with the blue sky , sand & water .

     Next stop up the road was Bottle Bay , another campground and beach access , which we took . About 1.5 kms up the beach we reached the end of the beach and found another bay & beach bordered by a 10m high red cliff , what a sight it was . The storm has washed a bit of it away and large rocks littered the beach closest to us , so we parked and went for a walk before having lunch . Just WOW .

     After lunch we started off again , there were still 6 klms to get to the Cape . More sand and tracks to get to Skipjack Point where there's a lighthouse and a couple of lookouts . We stopped in the carpark and walked down the walkway to this view - how good is that !!

      Down the walkway to the lookout , the scenery is outstanding , and we stopped at the lower lookout and just watched the ocean below - never a dull moment - this school of fish swam on past .

     Then there were a couple of large green turtles - here's one of them .

     We found 4 Eagle Rays swimming by .

     Then we had this 4m Tiger Shark making a couple of appearances . What a spectacular region for spotting marine wildlife - it's just there saying look at me , look at me !!

       Well here it is - Cape Peron from the 2nd lookout at SkipJack Point .

  

 Here we have another red cliff & headland on the western side of the cape - hope you're not sick of red cliffs & blue water just yet .

      Well what a day , monkey is now officially of our back and we've certainly ticked another of the list , one spectacular day !! 

 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/drive?state=%7B%22ids%22%3A%5B%221azLCJZdH5VeNG9_Ur4VwX_2wgfTDm-K1%22%5D%2C%22action%22%3A%22open%22%2C%22userId%22%3A%22115207065084240615246%22%7D&usp=sharing

15/6/20 Some Other New things

     We've been waiting for this one for several years now , contractors going broke and other delays left us waiting like everyone else , but , here it is .

 

     The skywalk has been in progress for quite a few years now , but it opened on Friday 12/6 . The official opening for all the important people was held on friday morning and it was opened to the public about 12 noon . We just happened to be there as the road blocks were removed . Wow is the first thought , the carpark was quite an improvement on the last time we were at the West Lookout . Concrete paths lead from the carpark around to the new skywalk , the path is textured and has messages etched into the path the start , there's also a couple of hand prints that are pieces of steel . It is raw steel and is rusting - and that's part of the interesting construction here - every 15-20m there's other steel plate in the path . There's an information board and a few metal sculptures of a Spotted Quoll , Emu & chicks , a Thorny Devil and a hawk / falcon on the edge of the cliff .

 

     This is the first viewing deck on the 25m platform , the rusty steel featuring in the design .

     This is looking back to the shelter area , where there will be a kiosk that is to be run by the Nanga People - the local indigenous . The mesh walkway has 2 sections - in the photo below , the mesh on the left is open and you can see all the way to the bottom of the gorge , the smaller mesh on the right is above the steel supports , so if you don't like the feeling of walking on air , you can walk on that side .

 

     This is looking to the 2nd platform that goes out 17m . All of the Skywalk is wheelchair accessible . All of the steps in the photo and all round this site are cut from the local rock - probably from some of the rock they cut out to mount the steel framework of the platforms .

     The weather wasn't as good as it could be and another heavy shower passed overhead , we went in under the shelter beside the kiosk to sit it out - all of about 5 mins . You can see in the next photo the view from under the shelter , also the seats & tables that have been cut out of the local rock .

     The view to the 25m platform .

  

     This is some of the rocks used for edging - the colours vary due to the iron content in the clay and sand as the rock was formed - amazing colours & patterns .

     Here's the full size sculpture of the thorny devil .

     After spending the best part of an hour and a half here , we moved around to Natures Window carpark and picnic area and had our lunch . We don't get bored coming here , we see something different each time we are here , this is visit number 4 . 

      Rain was threatening again so we took an umbrella with us this time , making it down to the window before the rain started , so we stopped at the shade sails and sat and waited it out . When it had finished raining , we discovered we had the window all to ourselves - a minor miracle here , it's extremely popular .

     The was plenty of water in the Murchison River , and with the last shower plenty of pools of water lying around , here's one and the new Skywalk is on the cliff at the top right of photo .

     There you have it , here's map link :-  https://www.google.com/maps/d/drive?state=%7B%22ids%22%3A%5B%221wmVk98WWJP9mYI1sLhJ2ZSeJSkE6Dl97%22%5D%2C%22action%22%3A%22open%22%2C%22userId%22%3A%22115207065084240615246%22%7D&usp=sharing

13/6/20 New things for us at Kalbarri

  Most of the things to do in Kalbarri we seem to have done , but we enjoy coming back here , it's a relaxing place to be . 

  We got the kayak out and went for a paddle across the river out to the rock shelf that guards the river entrance . The tide was going out and the water was very shallow , but we got to the end and pulled the kayak out of the water and went for a walk up the beach to the north . The rock shelf is a huge section of limestone and is difficult to walk on with all the sharp edges and pointy bits , then there's all the tiny shellfish that live on it as well .

  There were a couple of oyster catchers keeping on eye on me .

 The sand on the beach this side of the river is quite colourful , an almost scarlet red colour - as you would expect from the amount of scarlet red sandstone further to the south near Red Bluff .

       As you can see , we weren't the only ones to go over this side and go for a walk along the beach , footprints everywhere .

      

 

        The limestone has interesting shapes as well as textures , showing plenty of fault lines where it's a bit softer and gets eroded away .

   

 

      Yes here's another aerial view , this time the river entrance and the rock shelf , with parts of Kalbarri behind .

     Any boats coming in and out of here have to do a zigzag pattern to get in or out of the river . They come from the right hand side , below the white water , then turn 90 degrees to go toward the southern headland , then turn 90 degrees left into the river , then left , right and left again to be clear of all the rocks and sandbars - and the sea was pretty calm today . Several Cray boats operate out of here and there's avery popular boat ramp just behind the sandbar in the middle of the photo .

 

      While we were walking we were also picking up stray pieces of plastic etc . Today we found these 2 bait boxes from some broken cray pots , a spare float , some rope and a few bottle tops another broken plastic .

      Yet another sunset at Red Bluff Beach .

      After the sunset I tried some time exposure shots on the constantly moving water , didn't work out too badly . Gives me something to work on 😎

 

      We had a drive around , south & east to Binnu past Hutt River Province - may not be a province anymore since Prince Leonard died - it has also closed down for visits as well .

  From Binnu we headed north along the highway to Galena bridge which goes over the Murchison River  and is also an extremely popular free camp . The free camp is on the left hand and right hand sides of the river near the bridge . We have stayed here on a few occasions .

      From here we went back to Geraldine Rd , they have recently seeded the next wheat crop . The colours of the ploughed fields are remarkable .

       There is also the remains of an old lead smelter & chimney , and the rock walls of a small building 

     That's it for the moment , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/drive?state=%7B%22ids%22%3A%5B%221hNEOzCulC0PmJeNI8kskzwmCNiMDJmGV%22%5D%2C%22action%22%3A%22open%22%2C%22userId%22%3A%22115207065084240615246%22%7D&usp=sharing

6/6/20 Warming up

  From Port Denison we headed north again - todays destination , Kalbarri . It's definitely warmer today and makes the drive much more pleasant . Stopping at Geraldton for fuel and continuing on was a bit strange - we normally stop here for a few days or more , not today however .

  The highway has been surprisingly quiet , we expected that there would be many more people doing what we are , but no . 

  Through to Northampton and we turn off toward Port Gregory , the roads are becoming very familiar to us - must have been here too many times haha . We drove in past Pink Lake to Port Gregory and pulled up in the carpark beside the beach - a great spot for lunch . 

  Back onto the road past the lake , which has more water in it than last year and was pink , but there was so much reflection you didn't really notice the colour much . 

  It wasn't too much longer and we were in the National Park , and then in Kalbarri . We went to the park we stayed at last year and were gobsmacked at how quiet it was - we were customer number 6 !! This park is normally quite full and busy , not at the moment though - Covid 19 has taken it's toll , some businesses have closed , several shops are empty . 

 The sky looked interesting so we headed out to the coastal NP and Pot Alley lookout to watch the sunset . The colours of the cliffs were quite colourful when all lit up by the setting sun .

 Colours change as the sun ducks behind clouds and again as it comes out again .

 This is a spectacular piece of coastline , and it changes dramatically as the sun gets lower - it would be awesome to watch this from a boat .

  The sun disappeared beyond the horizon , so we headed back into town for some fish & chips . While we were waiting we headed across the road to the Murchison River estuary , It made for some stunning reflections .

  Back to the van for tea and the temperature was still 25 degrees at 7pm - we were like the cat that got the canary .
 Had a round of golf today - 1st one in 3 months - no wonder it wasn't that great haha - only had 9 competition games in the last 12 months !
  Well there you are , all up to date , stay tuned 😎

4/6/20 Time to hide and time to run

  Well what the hell happened 10 weeks ago , the world went absolutely nuts . It went quickly though - only felt like 2 years .

 We filled the ute with fuel 3 times since we left Albany - it didn't know what was happening , sometimes it didn't move for 4 or 5 days - the spiders moved in and found lot's of new places for their webs . Overall it was our least expensive time for fuel ever !! so that wasn't such a bad thing .

  The whole Covid 19 thing reinforced to us that we aren't ready to settle down anytime soon .

  Enough of that , we were staying at Bonneys Ski Park - where we have spent quite a bit of time over the past 3 years , but it was probably the best place to stay away from everyone during all the drama . There were only 7 other vans , so 14 other people that we got on well with .

  The camera didn't get used for 10 weeks and I was surprised to find the battery still charged up . Fortunately the phone was with me to catch all these photos - yes sunsets seemed to appear to us , here's a couple of them .

We isolated ourselves as requested , keeping ourselves as safe as possible , luckily for us we were here in WA where there hasn't been a lot of cases - only those from cruise ships and sick people coming back after being evacuated from overseas .
  The weather cooled as time went on , and we had a few nights with a fire pit burning to keep us warm while we had the odd happy hour or two .

 After about week 6 , our lockdown was relaxed a little so we had a day out at Rockingham with Dave & Sue ( fellow inmates haha ) . This is the pier at the western end of Rockingham Beach looking toward Garden Island .

  Another happy hour and another sunset .



 There's a couple of bandicoots that come around of an evening , they are pretty used to people and don't mind running around under your chairs in search of any food they can find . This is one that came along to say goodbye to us the other night .



  We are now lucky to have the restrictions eased in WA and we can start to head north to some warmer weather - we don't like the cold anymore !!
 
  It was like we had just started to travel again , the smiles on our faces got bigger & bigger as we headed off , the weather was on our side as well , a nice sunny day with no wind . Within an hour we were clear of Perth and into the coastal country north of Perth . We were on a mission today and our destination was Cliff Head and a free camp - bit of a problem there - Irwin Shire Council has closed the campground due to the virus - I rang them and asked when it would be opened and they wouldn't say - they did say that there was a dead whale there as well ?????
 Back out onto the highway again and on to Port Denison to the caravan park - all the free camps are closed - I think they will lose money in Dongara due to this decision , people will not stop and spend money as regularly as they did .
  Anyway , we arrived , setup and went for a walk along the beach , it was really nice not to need to wear a jumper . Another sunset and this time the bird went for a fly .

 The sun bathed the rocks in orange as it went down .

 Colours of the water , sand , rocks etc look much better from above .

  This is the boat harbour .

  And there you have it , we are at it again and loving it , see ya 😎