26 April – 5 May 2023

So after 4 weeks at Lucky Bay, it was certainly time to move on wards. We decided to have a stop over for a couple of days at the Murchison River Caravan Park Kalbarri to top up on food, fuel, water and washing. Kalbarri is still getting over cyclone Seroja from 2 years ago, with lots of construction still occurring. Many roofs still have tarps on them and some buildings are yet to be demolished.

We found out the the Kalbarri pub had chase the ace so obviously we had to give that a crack. We were one ticket off being drawn out (it’s amazing how often we are only 1 or 2 away!). We had a dinner at Finlay’s which I can highly recommend. For those that have been to Finlay’s in the past, it’s much cleaner now with no cats running around. We decided to checkout the Skywalk in the Kalbarri National Park. The structure is amazing and provides an amazing view of the gorge, Murchison river and surrounding areas. The skywalk area provides plenty of information on the history of the Murchison and the local Nanda people.

After our 2 nights in Kalbarri, we moved on to Denham. This was one of our longer driving days so far, with not a lot to see along the way. The landscape has certainly changed to rich, red, silty soil with scrub and not many trees. In the coming week, we will be back fully off grid and able to have a camp fire, so we scouted out some firewood. Pete and I were running back and forth across the HWY taking wood from one side back to the van. The trusty battery chainsaw certainly came in handy. After loading up the top of the car we were on our way again.

We checked in to the Blue Dolphin Caravan park in Denham and had a bit of a walk down the main street. Emus rule this town and wonder everywhere and anywhere, in their own sweet time. The foreshore is very pretty with BBQs, shelters, fish cleaning stations and a great playground. While in Denham we drove out to Francois Peron National Park. This 4wd road has been hammered over the last few weeks with school holidays, so we decided not to travel to the tip. We went to Herald Bright for the day and had a fish and swim. I managed to catch 3 flathead (all undersized unfortunately), a huge whiting and a huge garfish (not to mention a few blowies). Pete also got a garfish. On the way back to Denham, we stopped by the Peron Homestead and the artisian hot tub. The water is a constant 40 degrees and is a bit on the warm side so you can’t stay in there too long. Another day was spent exploring town including the discovery centre which was full of very interesting bits. They had a section on the HMAS Sydney II which was sunk back in November 1941 and only discovered in March 2008, laying on the sea bed directly out from Denham. The 3d film was very informative. Seeing all the sailor’s shoes scattered on the ocean floor was quite moving. We had a go at fishing from the town jetties, but couldn’t catch anything. Just as well we had our other fish to eat. No trip to a small town in complete without a trip to the pub. Denham has 2 in town. Watching the sunset from here really is something. The rich red cliffs against the turquoise water was quite a site to behold.

It was time to move on again and chase some warmer weather, so off to Carnarvon we went. Along the way, we found out that all of the world’s flys must originate from Wooramel. We were stopping for lunch and Pete noticed oil had sprayed onto the front of the van. After a bit of investigating he noticed the lid from the oil catch can in the motor had come off (presumably when 4wd’ing) and was leaking oil, spraying it on the underside of the car and then onto the front of the van. It was a quick easy fix (for Pete) and any crisis was adverted. The dry, dusty Wooramel roadhouse not only had fuel, but about a gazilllion flys! This was the fist time the fly nets had to come out. Our time in Carnarvon was spent at the Plantation Caravan Park. Parks here are super expensive yet there are only about 5-10 caravans here. We were only here a short time as it is the last of the big towns we will be in for a while. We had to buy enough food for about 4 weeks, fill up on fuel, wash anything we could and top up the water. We did manage to have a little look around town, but unfortunately, many of the shops have shut and are boarded up. The crime rate here is increasing and shop owners have left town. The shelves at the supermarkets are not full so it made shopping a little tricky. One of the things we said we wanted to do before we left Busselton was to visit the Space & Technology Museum. I can’t recommended this place enough. We spent over 2 hours walking through the centre. There are interactive displays including a space module which simulates the Apollo 11 launch, movie theatres and the big OTC dish. We learnt a heap including that 12 astronauts have landed on the moon between 1969 and 1972 and they have collected hundreds of pounds of rocks and dust for science. No man has landed since then, but we all know a certain man who’s planning to send people there. I think I’ll pass though.

Midgie bites and prickles are becoming a thing we are now dealing with (first world problems I know). We know it will get heaps worse the further we go, but at least the weather is amazing and is heating up a little too. We’ve also had to think about our movements in the lead up to the next lot of school holidays. Places up here get booked out months in advance, so we have some plans for exciting places to visit. I’ll tell you about those in later posts. Well it’s now time too move on to explore more of the Gasgoyne region. Point Quobba here we come.