Dongara to Kalbarri via Geraldton

Wed., April 6^th

The short drive from Dongara to Geraldton was once again through the massive wheat belt. Geraldton is a city of over 37,000 people so the supermarket, petrol station and service beckoned.

I walked in the hot sun up to the impressive HMAS Sydney memorial, set on a hill top with a view of the port and town. Graeme and I went to the Regional Art Gallery where we saw some marvellous works that had been entered in the recent and new art competition. The gallery space, in the refurbished Town Hall, was wonderful and the city is lucky to have such a prominent building to use for art.

A drive around the well-developed and attractive foreshore, beaches etc. confirmed for us the need to move on to less populated regions, so off we set towards Kalbarri, and although we probably will regret the lost opportunity to visit the museum with its Batavia exhibition, the heat and need to be settled early in the day prevailed.

We drove to picturesque Northampton, and recorded history of this area dates back to 1629 with the wrecked Dutch ship Batavia and two men being marooned at the mouth of the Murchison River. Copper was first discovered in WA at Wannernooka in 1842, with lead then being discovered in 1848. Many lovely and interesting buildings line the main road, including two great hotels.

Back on the road, we saw a convict hiring station near Port Gregory that was established and used around 1853-1856, a reminder that WA was also built using convicts, despite the early desire not to do so. A little further on was the Pink Lake, a series of salt ponds from which beta carotene is extracted.

A brief stop at Wagoe Chalets indicated a very loose use of the term ‘chalet’ and proved to be an unsuitable overnight stop for us, so we drove the extra 20km to Kalbarri, where we stayed in a caravan park and enjoyed the facilities, including a swimming pool!!

Kalbarri

Thursday, April 7^th

We woke to find a few drops of rain on the windscreen and a strong wind blowing. This was not going to be a good beach day! A visit to the Tourist Info Centre confirmed this as the swell was high and therefore snorkelling and reef fishing not recommended. Ah, there’s always ‘plan B’.

 Although the coastline around Kalbarri was explored by Europeans in the early seventeenth century the actual town of Kalbarri did not come into existence until 1951 and it exists today just as a tourist destination. The history of the area is one of shipwrecks – the coast is treacherous and entry to the Murchison River involves navigation around the reef. In 1712 a Dutch ship named the Zuytdorp was wrecked on a reef north of Kalbarri. It is claimed that the ship sunk with a bullion of 100 000 guilders and pieces of eight aboard. This was not an isolated event. By the eighteenth century it had become commonplace for Dutch ships to round the Cape of Good Hope, sail west along the Roaring Forties, and then sail north along the West Australian coast towards the Dutch East Indies.

In 1839 Lieutenant George Grey, while attempting to explore North West Cape, was shipwrecked near the mouth of the Murchison. He was forced to walk back to Perth and thus became the first white explorer to travel along the coastal strip of the Central West.

The Kalbarri NP with its spectacular scenery and red rock gorges cut from the landscape by the Murchison River became our new focus for the day. I bought a fly veil which Graeme quickly commandeered and we were grateful for our hats and shirts as when the sun came through the clouds it was very hot.

Not something to try when the temperature is much above 30 as in the gorges it can be up to 10 degrees hotter. The scenery made the 30+km trip on corrugated roads worthwhile. The green river contrasted with the sandy beaches and the red rocks. Beautiful!

Back in town after lunch, Graeme fished without luck at Chinaman’s Point while I swam at the main river beach. It was lovely to have a relaxing afternoon of reading, cooking (for GVS) and doing very little. Our caravan park was situated opposite the river and the view was lovely, the breeze strong and the pool water cool.

Instead of going into town for dinner – Graeme has been desperate to have crayfish – we opted for joining the caravan park owners and fellow travellers for a BBQ. It was good to have company after a few days on our own.