The sandboarding incident set me back a little time-wise and i needed to spend another six days in Kalbarri. Longer than I anticipated but the knee needed a rest. The visit to Kalbarri medical centre was not a place I had on my list of places to see in the area, that's for sure and a South american staying in my dorm room was nice enough to take me there as I could barely walk the following morning. After a lengthy wait I was given some crutches and told that it didn't look like ligament damage but it needed some rest. I was told to to pick up some painkillers and headed back to the hostel in a taxi.

At least the beach is within walking distance of the hostel, otherwise my next few days would have been spent in boredom at the hostel. Even with crutches it was still quite close so the next few days were spent relaxing on the beach and having a few drinks at the hostel in the evening. I ended up meeting some new people and having a really good time the next few days - Bernie & Bibi in particular. And all of a sudden Kalbarri pub became a regular haunt. So much so that we became known to the locals and one night they all came back to the hostel for a few after hours drinks. I even did Karaoke again - this time it was 'Brown-eyed girl'. Van Morrison would have been very proud of my rendition, I'm sure.

With my knee rested up a bit and off the crutches I left Kalbarri on the Monday, again with a hangover - you see a recurring theme here! I was finally heading off on the second leg of my Easyrider journey. Looking back, the sandboarding accident gave me the opportunity to meet many more people than perhaps I would have if i hadn't have hurt myself and I will leave with some very fond memories. On ringing the Easyrider office to book the second leg of the journey the lady exclaimed " You've been in Kalbarri a long time". So maybe i set some sort of record for hopping off there for 10 days but it was definitely worth it!

The second leg of the journey had many more passengers on the coach than the first leg. I think there was around 12 this time around. The coach driver was Greg - an older guy but very friendly with a good sense of humour. the first stop today was Kalbarri gorges in Kalbarri National Park to see Natures Window, The Loop and the Z Bend. Natures window is a naturally formed rock frame in the shape of - yep you guessed it - a window. The Loop and Z bend are both gorges, named for obvious reasons due to their respective shapes. Kalbarri National Park is very beautiful, unfortunately we didn't get the chance to walk around a great deal but even so, we saw some stunning views from some of the lookout points. Also, I encountered my first snake and Red Back spider - lurking in the dunnie. The Red Back is one of the most deadly spiders in Australia. Not the sort of spider you would want to see too often.

From Kalbarri National Park our next step on the way up to Denham was Shark Bay, a World Heritage Listed site and home of the Stromatolites - an example of a major stage in the earths evolutionary history. From there we headed into Denham to book into the hostel for the night - Bay Lodge, run by an Aston Villa fan. By this time the group had started to mix and I had been getting to know many of the people on the coach. In particular Shari, Will, Jenna, Katy and Jen. Jen was going to be travelling up the west coast without hopping off but the others were to spend some time in Coral bay, like me.

The evening entertainment in Denham was a meal at the local pub - the Shark Bay hotel. Beforehand I decided to take a look around Denham, as we had arrived before sunset. It didn't take long. Denham is a very small town and at the time of my brief stay was incredibly windy. Although, a charming town it was clear that there did not appear to be a lot to do and that one night was probably going to be enough here. The pub we frequented was very quiet, our group and another small group going south with Easyrider and a few locals scattered about. It wasn't the most welcoming atmosphere I have ever encountered, which surprised me as the pub must be making a good income from the passing trade of Easyrider and other tour operators. It appeared that they would rather we weren't there to be honest! Still, we made the best of it. Played a bit of pool and darts and had a free jukebox to entertain us, before heading back for a few more drinks and a rare early night. When reflecting on my travels up the West Coast, I don't think Denham will stick out in the memory.I think it was more used as a convenient stop-off point between Kalbarri and Coral Bay inorder to see some of the fantastic sights along the way such as Shark Bay, Ocean park, Shell beach and Monkey Mia the last three we were to see on our next leg the following day which was something i was really looking forward to.