KALBARRI, STROMATOLITES, SHELLS BEACH AND DENHAM

We went abseiling this morning in a gorge near Kalbarri! It was AWESOME! The instructor was a bit of a cheek though, after getting me all set up and while my ass was hanging over a lengthy drop he asks, "so, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No"

"Why?"

"What??"

At which point I was intensely focusing on which rope not to squeeze and couldn't multitask this one so ignored him until my feet were on firm ground. It was amazing though! Bouncing down a vertical rock face, not too gracefully I must admit, but lots of fun nonetheless. The second time was easier and daintier.

We went to see Nature's Window, in the same canyon (the photo up there) and walked around in the gorges near the river for a while. I was bitten by a baby caterpillar, flicked it off the cliff, and then mother came to seek revenge.

Lunch was had at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, complete with more flies than you have probably seen in your lifetime. I try not to think about it.

We hit the open outback road, and a couple hours later, a girl called Nat and I smelled burning rubber and passed the message along to Johnno, the driver. He got out and discovered, oh joy, a flat tyre. By some kind of miracle, a mechanic pulled up next to us five minutes later and speeded up the process considerably. Especially seeing as there were about 90% girls on the bus and we thought it best to leave the 3 men to do their job, and set up camp on the side of the road.

We were back on the way after about an hour, to Hamelin Pool to see the oldest thing in the world: the stromatolites. A sort of living rock which has been around for 4 billion years. They used to exist all over the place, and increased the atmosphere's oxygen which means that you and I can breathe comfortably. Then they all died, except for the ones in Hamelin Pool. So thanks guys!

Shell Beach was next: a beach made of millions of tiny little shells, 10 metres deep in some places. No sand. Sunset and lovely calm blue ocean.

We went to the pub that evening for dinner, I had a beast of a lasagne, and some VB which is my new favourite beer.