Week 7 part 2: Murchison House Station and Kalbarri

With the car issue hanging over our heads, we were chatting about the cost of travelling, both financial, physical and emotional. It is hard work to be always on the move, meeting new people, going new places. It is a romantic, appealing but there are challenges. In this instance, we have had to accept the additional costs of a new battery, Scan Guage 3 and NRMA membership. We won’t have much change out of a thousand dollars.

On the flip side, we are always reflecting and learning, and each time we meet someone new, we pick up another gem along the road, whether a must-see location or mechanical tip. 

Fingers crossed a battery is all we need to resolve this issue. 

On our way into Kalbarri we popped in at the cliffs and Natural Bridge, reminiscent of the Bunda Cliffs in SA. These rock faces have been buffetted by the Indian Ocean for millennia and the layers in the cliffs are a mix of aptly named Tumblagooda Sandstone and Tamala Limestone, forming the distinctive lines of pink and yellow along the coast.

At Murchison House Station, a working property on 350,000 acres, we moved from beach camping to the banks of the great Murchison River, Western Australia’s second longest river running 820 km from north of Meekatharra, central WA, to Kalbarri. Still on the sand, we were surrounded by river gums, red rock, whistling kites and nesting galahs, breeze and space.

The station has excellent tracks for four wheel driving and we headed south to check out the town beach, on the northern side of the Murchison River mouth. The landscape changed from river gums and red sand into dune systems and the ocean. We also explored the other side of the property on the River Road to the north of the homestead, including more challenging dune and sandy sections, and lots of hard, sharp rock to slow us down.

The staff we met here — Donelle and Amanda — were super friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to answer any questions and ask after us and our trip. 

One of the station’s boundaries is the Kalbarri National Park, Kaju Yatka, which is a visual feast. We planned to make use of early evening and morning light to explore the park, with a sunset visit to the Skywalk and Nature’s Window. The Skywalk has two impressive steel structures, an engineering feat of beautifully designed shapes and materials that sit in harmony with colours of the landscape. The rusting steel and aged timber patina captures the ambience of the park. There are with seated areas and shelters, necessary in a climate prone to searing heat. The platforms jut out 25 and 17 metres from the edge of the gorge.

We tackled the Z Bend walk at sunrise to avoid the heat and flies, which have suddenly appeared. Most days here have been around 39 degrees with some walks in the park closed because of this heat. The early morning temperature was perfect for a short walk into the gorge and being in shadow, it felt quite mild, say only in the early 30s.

We were the first car in the carpark and had a cuppa there as the light slowly descended, enjoying space from the flies, the quiet and the cool. Walking down into the gorge, the rocks glowed crimson. Down the bottom we wandered along the river a couple of hundred metres to find a swimming hole with the schools of little fish. The leaves of the gum trees and sheoaks somehow growing out of the rock faces and on the gorge floor seemed to glow, the bark white and ghostly against the ochre and scarlet boulders.

This national park has the third highest number of plant species recorded in any Western Australian park, after Fitzgerald River and Lesueur national parks, evident along the track and down into the gorge.

Kalbarri itself was a great little town. We stocked up at IGA with fresh fruit and vegies for Dirk Hartog Island, the next venture. We ate a delicious spicy teriakyi chicken and a chicken katsu bowl, as well as their yummy choccy milkshake and good coffee. The vibe is relaxed and friendly, a busy little hub in town. I also ate an eggs benedict ‘bruffin’ and they have a handsome range of sweet tarts and pastries. Again, the staff were friendly and helpful here.

On our last morning we filled up with fuel and water in town, including extra jerries for each, before heading out of town to Dirk Hartog Island via Hamelin Pool where we will leave the camper trailer. We have to be fully self-sufficient for the next 10 days living in a tent and a much reduced kitchen and wardrobe.