Kalbarri National Park 10/09/08

The girl at the Visitor Information Centre said, the road into the National Park would be full of bad corrugations. The half-day tour costs about $60 and I thought that its her job to sell tours and so quite possibly make the road sound worse, so decided to drive myself anyway. The Ranger at the Park entrance also said, corrugations all the way. Yesterday morning I saddle up and go. Yes, its all dirt and yes, quite corrugated, sandy, slippery, driving does require all your attention, the only real difficulty though is, getting up to a speed that will allow the vehicle to kind of 'float' over the top of all those corrugations across the road caused by other vehicles. I find the best speed is about 75-85kmh, leaving a trail of dust behind me. Its also reassuring to know that my van is 4-wheel drive and so chances of getting bogged are much reduced.

Its 25 km to the first lookout, a half hour walk through the bush reveals many a delicate flower that has made its home in such harsh and dry environment.


Even some trees make a sparse living, creating bizarre forms

The views down the gorges are, as expected, spectacular, once again.

View through "Nature's Window" down to the river gorge

Quite different to the bright and stark colours I saw at Hamersley Range some time ago, but rough and rugged multi coloured sandstone instead.



I am also quite surprised how many people have come down this road to see the sights with all kinds of vehicles.




There is a path down to the bottom of the gorge as well, but its warmish, the flies plentyful and fierce, also the insignificant fact, that I am simply too lazy to tramp all the way down to the bottom of the gorge today. I drive another 12km to checkout a place called 'Nature's Window' which also offers great views to the gorge and the Murchison River that flows through it.

Finally, on my way out I pass many other vehicles that are taking the road the slow way, at speeds of about 15-20kmh. Yes, that’s another way to go, but I think the car suspension has to work a hell-of-a-lot harder at the slower speeds. So it’s a large trail of dust that I leave in my wake yet again, hopefully accompanied by not to many curses from the drivers I pass on my way out. It was a great experience that I truly enjoyed.