Day 15
" These (Chaco) boots were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do...."
Wow - this place just keeps getting better and better! The weather is just perfect too.
After breakfast the kids walked over the road to watch Pelicans being fed - but they didn't show up? Haven't been around for a few days now apparently - maybe tomorrow?
So we packed up the Disco and headed for the Kalbarri National Park and a couple of the most magnificent gorges I've ever seen! I took too many panoramic pics today which I can't share sorry as this app mashes them together. The gorges are about 30ks on dirt and corrugated track from the Kalbarri township.
The first gorge was a meandering system that the Murchison River has carved out over millions of years. Our first stop was Natures Window which overlooks the river on the gorge floor - really spectacular. We then traversed the ridge for a bit and then headed straight to the riverbed. The water was cool and clear and very inviting for a swim on a 25 degrees plus day but we waited for better things!
Hiking back up the side of the gorge was pretty arduous - lots of loose rocks everywhere which put our mountain goat skills to work. We rested again at the window back over the 2 vistas of the gorge and then onto the car.
We then drove over to Z Bend Gorge - about 7 k's ( all dirt) from the first one. We had lunch up top and then stuffed the hydration packs with chips and swimmers and set off on a great adventure!! First stop was the lookout - about 1.5ks from the carpark which set the scene for our next walk.
We traversed the ridge for a while before plunging into chimneys, ladder descents and rock hopping straight to the gorge floor. Kids were having a blast in all the different descents we had to undertake! Caves and carve outs everywhere with such rich and vibrant colours in the rocks . Just awesome .
We swam in the gorge's brackish water - in the pools and rapid sections and just lapped up the beauty that surrounded us. Must have swam about an hour before the ascent - all still fun-in reverse back to the car! Being wet too made the climb that much more pleasant.
We returned to the township after bouncing about the dirt road and immediately thought of having another swim - maybe a snorkel at Blue Holes. The swell was still too rough and the onshore wind made things just that bit unpleasant. We've decided to stay another day its so good and so we will try the pelicans and snorkeling again tomorrow.
Watched another beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean tonight - our best one yet! I can never get sick of watching them - just mesmerising.
You simply must stay here if you are ever in this neck of the woods - its such a beautiful place!