Kalbarri and Deja Vu

Some days are a blur we just seem to do so much.

Last night had a reasonable sleep at Drummond Cove Holiday Park. We stayed in a cabin again, due to the weather.

The park we stayed in is wedged between the highway and the ocean so we were expecting a noisy night. Thankfully the traffic stopped and started again at a civil hour. I was exhausted from not enough sleep the night before so it wasn't long before I was asleep.

It was almost eight o'clock when we woke this morning...I think that's got to be the latest we've ever got out of bed since the start of our trip.

The weather was grey but relatively warm so I was thinking that we might get more rain.

Carried out the usual routine, shower, breakfast, dishes, pack the car and head off.

We decided to go back into Geraldton but with no definite plans. Stopped for petrol and LPG on the way in then picked up some groceries at the Centro Shopping Centre before heading north again.

By this time the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue.

At Northampton we stopped for morning tea in a park opposite the caravan park.  While we were there we visited the Catholic Church of St Mary's then headed off to Horricks for a quick drive through the town. We'd heard about an Aboriginal Art Site so went looking for that but ended up on the wrong road due to lack of proper signage. Thanks to a local farmer, we were put on the right track and made our way to the vicinity of the Bowes River where we found a rather small cave with some distinctive cave art. 

Next stop Port Gregory to see yet another pink lake (Hutt Lagoon). This lake is pretty impressive – the pink colour is caused by beta carotene which is farmed at this lake.

Lunch at Port Gregory, looking out to the ocean while watching some crayfishermen load their catch onto a truck to be transported to Geraldton.

The new housing that is sprouting up in some West Australian remote towns we've visited is amazing. Not only did we see massive modern houses in Geraldton but also in small towns and villages such as Green Head, Horrocks, and even Port Gregory.

Up until we left Port Gregory, the countryside was that typical of farming land, mostly sheep and wheat.

That all changed when we reached Kalbarri National Park...suddenly the vegetation reverted to banksia and heath like plants, stunted from the salty ocean winds...and as we stopped at lookout after lookout I started to feel a bit of deja vu...Great Ocean Road, or perhaps Head of Bight?

Once more no words to describe the immensity and the intensity of the view before us.

Drove into Kalbarri, found a caravan park for the night, set up the tent before heading off for a walk up the street. As we were walking past the other caravans, camper vans, etcetera, Andrew says... "Is that the boys?"

“No”, I say, “that's a Queensland number plate”.

“Yes it is”, and Andrew goes off to check and lo and behold, it's Mark and Mal! The last time we saw 'The Boys' as we like to call them was at Esperance and as they were heading towards Albany and Margaret River, we thought that would be way ahead of us. It was a nice surprise to find them in Kalbarri and at the same caravan park as us.

We have a good old catch up before we pull ourselves away and head off just in time to catch another magic sunset.