As a teenager Alice went to Kalbarri on a school hike – she hated it! But that was almost 35 years ago, and gear has changed considerably over that time, as has Alice. As I remember it, the hike was in the inland gorges and took several days, with the gear divided between each of the hikers to carry. They didn’t have two person tents weighing less than a kilo as we do know, nor did Alice have any lightweight hiking gear, or sturdy boots. I think her pack weighed approximately twice the recommended weight for a person of her weight. She now loves hiking, and I’m sure given half a chance she’d gladly re-trace her footsteps from her school days, and with today’s gear, I’m sure she’d love it.

Kalbarri is almost all national park, with rugged and beautiful gorges inland, all fringed by the most amazing rugged coastline. We had intended to do a couple of the shorter inland gorge walks, but it was school holidays, and the amount of cars in the car parks at the start of the walks caused us to think again. How wonderful that so many families are taking advantage of the school holidays to immerse their children in nature at it’s best. We left the inland gorges for the families to enjoy and Instead headed for the coast. I posted several of the photos a few days ago. Here are a few more, including a couple of videos.

We stayed at Red Bluff Caravan park for this visit, which is a little out of town. We’re so pleased we did as only two minutes walk from the caravan park took us down to, what we thought was the best of the coastal cliffs area. On the first night the sea was quite ferocious so we couldn’t safely venture to far, but on our last night the water was a lot more gentle allowing us to venture around the rocks far enough to take the above photos and videos. On a wild night, such as the first night we were there, the power in the ocean is frightening, and has to be respected. Hence our videos show a gentle sea in comparison to how wild it can be. I hope you enjoy them anyway.

We enjoyed Kalbarri. We’re now in Carnarvon, the fruit bowl of WA. We’ve restocked our fridge with delicious avocados, cucumbers, capsicum, cabbage, beans, broccoli, and loads of sun ripened tomatoes. Our washing is all done, the sun is shining, and tomorrow we’re ready to move onto Coral Bay – a place very close to our hearts. But tonight the spud van is due to arrive, and with it I believe there’ll be entertainment (we’re at the Wintersun caravan park, and there’s always plenty going on at the Wintersun). I’d better go and tidy myself a bit …..