Kilbarri National Park

After a short drive through Kalbarri park at 7:00am (we get up early here) we made it to Nature’s Window before any crowds.

The rocks are spectacular with very defined layers and deep reds and striations of pinks and whites.

There are also fossils of ancient sea ripples, worm casts and the tracks of giant scorpions- some of the first animals to colonise the land 400 million years ago

Despite dire warnings and signs suggesting we turn back, we enjoyed the Loop walk (9 km) around the meandering river. There was only one tricky bit:

We took lots of water & only needed half of it but we were lucky as it wasn’t too hot and there was friendly cloud cover. There were black swans and coots on the river

and I spotted a pretty red headed robin and an Australian Ringneck parrot – very smart black green and yellow. And more lovely flowers

After that we drove to the Z-bend lookout showing the dramatic gorge hewn by the Murchison river

After lunch back at the apartment & a rest we went on our 4 o’clock whale watching cruise.

The boat was big and the waves were choppy especially exiting the harbour. Our skipper is a cray fisherman the rest of the year but they give the crayfish a 2 month ‘holiday’ from mid October to mid December so they can ‘have a rest’.

We saw at least a dozen humpback whales, mothers with calves, taking the ‘Humpback Highway’ back from the Northern breeding grounds to the rich Southern seas to restock after feeding their young. A baby whales drinks up to 600 litres of milk a day and gains 60kg in weight!

The babies were frisky, leaping fully out of the water! We also witnessed some serious tail slapping. We have nearly no pictures of whales but lots of pictures of splashes!

We managed to book a late dinner at 7.30 (kitchens usually close by 8 here!) – it was an excellent restaurant run by an Iranian who explained she was trying to make her restaurant a bit special by putting flowers on the table and only serving fresh fish. (We’ve enjoyed good food but we also sense that the British exported their cuisine too). This restaurant has a chef from Mauritius and was a cut above all others – and in a tiny town like Kilbarri!

Goodnight from the other side of the world!