What a wonderful place Kalbarri is! We loved this little coastal town located almost 600 kilometres north of Perth. Getting there was a delight, travelling along gorgeous rugged coastline and the magnificent Kalbarri National Park area. We stayed in a fantastic caravan park, complete with jumping pillow and plenty of little companions for Amelia to play with. In fact we hardly saw her for a day or two!
The area has a long history, beginning in the early seventeeth century with two disgraced crew members of the Batavia (A Dutch East Indian Company) gracing the shores early on when they were sent overboard. Not sure if they lived with the local Murchison tribe or not.
The coastline around Kalbarri was the scene for the notorious shipwreck, mutiny, executions, and punishments which surrounded the wrecking of the Batavia on the Houtman Abrolhos in 1629. The captain, Francisco Pelsaert, took the ship's boat and sailed to Batavia while a mutineer, Jeronimus Cornelisz, terrorised the survivors eventually murdering 125 of them. When Pelsaert returned he constructed a simple gibbet and executed Cornelisz and his followers. Two of the mutineers, Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom, were marooned on the mainland somewhere near the modern day site of Kalbarri - they had the unhappy distinction of becoming Australia's first white settlers. Their arrival on land is commemorated at the mouth of the Wittecarra Creek near Red Bluff where a cairn has been erected with the inscription: 'It is believed the first permanent landing of white men in Australia was recorded here, at the mouth of the Wittecarra Creek.' (FROM the website http://www.kalbarri.org.au/pages/history-of-kalbarri/)
The colourful seafaring history continued with the Zuytdorp in 1712, which was shipwrecked on a northern reef, alledgedly sinking with a significant amount of gold bullion onboard....
Then 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.
(Again referenced from the website http://www.kalbarri.org.au/pages/history-of-kalbarri/)
The town was gazetted and named after an edible seed and a Murchison tribesman in 1951.
The Murchison River is a delight and we spent time fishing and paddling in the clear sandy shores.
When he decided I was getting too close!
The area is surrounded by stunning cliffs, gorges, rivers and more. Here are some of the highlights...
Natural Bridge
On the Southern end of Kalbarri National Park, this was formed by the ocean washing away parts of the cliff face, the subsequent erosion causing the spectacular bridge structure. (A bit like our Victorian 12 Apostles)
Castle Cove
Another amazing coastal rock formation.
Kalbarri National Park
Heading inland we braved the heat and walked through Kalbarri National Park experiencing the magnificent of the Murchison river and its gorges and lookouts. We did the Loop and the Nature's Window walks. Here are some photos in which I tried to capture the amazing views. This place felt culturally significant, almost more so than Uluru did we we travelled there many years back. Anyway, see what you think from these images...
Nature's Window
The view was breathtaking, even if we needed to queue to get a photo.
Our littlest explorer on a rest break suddenly became tired and needed carrying back to the car- poor Daddy got the job and Mummy got the backpack.
The rock layers are simply incredible, with rich deep reds, purples and orange colours, set off by the amazing blue sky and a few clouds (which were to increase in size and product a few days later!)
And now for some random images of the last few days...
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