Denham to Jurien Bay

Denham is a nice village outside the Monkey Mia Nat Park which has a great Information Centre and a very well kept front street along the waterfront.  There are public jetties, grassed parks and playgrounds, and very good tourist shopping.  The van park we stayed in is at the end of the main street and runs along the beach front rising up a hill.  Our site was just great being about 20m above the beach and looking over the bay and beaches to the south.  It was easy to just sit outside with a cuppa catching the views.  Two sites up was another family we had camped near a few times from Exmouth south and Alby is a keen fisherman so despite the strong winds and a freezer full of fish we went out in his tinny on sunset and picked up a couple of beaut pink snapper.  From Denham south the coast changes into higher dunes and rocky cliffs and there are some very pretty views of the ocean shallows from the cliffs.  On the inland side of the peninsula, the Hamelin Pool side, the beaches are made almost entirely of tiny shells.  Shell Beach is an area where these shells have formed a beach of low dunes several hundred metres wide down to perfectly clear water.   As we sat on the beach we sifted through the shells and noticed that there were also a few tiny shells of different shapes.  The biggest shell we saw was only about a centimetre across.  At one lookout from the cliffs overlooking a bay we watched several rays, sharks, and schools of fish swimming in the shallows. 

Shell Beach

These are all less than 1cm long and make up the beach

Cliffs near Denham - dark water is seagrass

Next stop south was Kalbarri which is a growing seaside town around the mouth of Murchison River.  The river has created a large gorge on its way through the rocky mountains now inside the coastal dunes.  It cuts through the hills until it runs south inside the last dune until it turns right and cuts through it into the ocean.  It is a beautiful place where you can look from your van park across the nearside river beach, the other side of the river and the ocean surf breaking on the shallow rock ledge outside the heads all in a few hundred metres.  We took a drive out to the Gorge Nat Park and enjoyed the wildflowers still in bloom along the road.  The views into the gorge were great.  We also got adventurous and set off early next morning for a kayak paddle 10km along the lower part of the river.  We joined five other kayaks and paddled into the stiff wind, rested for a break over a cooked breakfast on the river bank then paddled the last stretch to our pick up point.  I think we had 8kms into the wind and 2kms where it blew sideways.  We now have aching arms as well as aching legs and backs.  One highlight of the paddle was watching a young lad paddling along watching the small mullet jump from the water and accidently hitting one in mid-air into his kayak.  After many photos he returned to the water to grow up.  The cliffs south of the river mouth are spectacular and watching the huge swells and waves crash into the rocks is like watching a camp fire – you never seem to tire of it.  There are several established walkways along the cliff tops to lookouts and we were impressed with the common sense approach to safety.  There are ample signs warning of the dangers near the cliffs but very few fences and guard rails spoiling the view.  It suited us but we would have very nervous parents if we had had a toddler with us on the boardwalk only a metre from the edge of a 150m high cliff falling into rocks and the ocean.   The views were exceptional and unspoilt though.  

Murchison Gorge through Nature's Wimdow

Z Bend

Garry decided to dust off the golf clubs and have a hit at Kalbarri. Despite being a smallish town of only a couple of thousand people, the 18 hole course was very good.  The greens were exceptional and the views from the top of the hills across town to the ocean were great.  Even the emus running across the fairways didn’t spoil it.  Highly recommended and cheap at only $20 for 18 holes.  There is also an interesting attraction just outside town in a parrot breeding facility and outdoor cinema.  The parrots being bred and raised are from all over Australia, South Africa and South America.  The colours are amazing and the best viewing is in a huge greenhouse free flight area.  The waterfalls, ponds, and trees offer the birds security while you can wander around and see birds in trees and not behind wire.  Unfortunately the cinema wasn’t open until school holidays in another week or so.

Kalbarri Cliffs

Island Rock

Natural Bridge

Murchison River mouth

Kalbarri town beach on the Murchison River mouth

Part of the great gardens in the parrot breeding centre

Kayaking the Murchison River

Brekky time

waiting for those stragglers to catch up to us pros...

Sun smart and ready to go

Next we followed the coast through Northampton with its copper, lead and garnet mines; and passed Port Gregory and its ‘Pink Lake’.  Algae in the lake makes the water appear a bright pink colour under the right weather conditions; warm and sunny.  We had neither but it was still an interesting colour.  

Pink (?) Lake

By now we were well into wheat and sheep country and checked into Geraldton for a couple of days.  Geraldton is the first large town we have been in for a while and has allowed us to restock the pantry.  We both enjoyed the town which has a great blend of marinas, waterfront units, museums, historic buildings and memorials, seafood businesses, and large export facilities through the port.  A major employer in town is the Geraldton Fishermans Cooperative Ltd.  Their business is crayfish (Western Rock Lobster), and they are the biggest exporters of crayfish in the world.  They process approx. $180M worth of lobster each year.  There are 176 members of the Coop each having a boat and catching their Government set quota of lobster each year.  A tour of the processing plant was interesting and mouth watering as there were about 90 tonnes of live lobster in tanks being processed at the moment ready for Xmas. The live lobster is taken from the boat, weighed and graded by colour, packed and air freighted to be eaten in restaurants in Asia and Europe within 36 hours of being caught. 

Lobster sizing and grading

Geraldton Beach beside the van park

On a hill overlooking the city and harbour is a great modern monument commemorating the 645 lives lost on the WW2 warship HMAS Sydney II.  The sculptures and stories are very meaningful and command respect.

HMAS Sydney II Memorial

South of town a little way is the well preserved historically significant village of Hampton.  There are about 10 buildings surviving from the mid 1800’s including school, police station / courthouse, hall, convent, and roads office.  All are made from local limestone blocks cemented together with some having timber verandas added later.  It was peaceful to wander about the whole village and the furnishings and photos in the buildings were impressive.   

Geraldton Catholic Church built in the 1800's

Greenough Village Schoolroom

Road Board office & C of E Church

Inside the Catholic Church

Washing at the Convent

Across a convict built bridge lies another small village which has the ‘Hampton Arms’ hotel still operating since 1860 although it has changed from being a straight pub into a bookstore that sells drinks and offers home cooked evening meals.  The owner’s passion for books has almost got out of control with at least 4 large rooms converted into sitting / reading rooms each with a fireplace and lined with tens of thousands of books.  It looked a wonderful way to spend a cold windy winter’s day reading in front of a fire with a good red wine and no traffic nearby.  It looks more like a book passion than a business but we spent a good while browsing and chatting to the owner who spent her first few months in Australia, after emigrating from England, working at the Palace Hotel in Mackay, Qld in the early 1960’s.

The Hampton Arms main bar - drinks served from window at right

One of several reading room stocked with as many books as you might need for a wet winter!!!

We have missed the heavy rain and storms that fell further south late in the week but we sure are experiencing some strong south westerly winds.  It has been blowing for a few days and is uncomfortable.  The wind is cold but as soon as you get out of it the sun is hot and it is no fun driving into it.

Living proof of how much the wind blows. This is one of many trees blown  over whiles still growing!!