The beauty that sprouts from the ground

(30 October – 2 November)


The wildflowers of Kalbarri NP are one of the features of the region, a perpetual kaleidoscope of colours throughout the year, so whenever you visit, there are always some plants in bloom – and we weren’t disappointed. Spotting the blooms are easy as there is the ‘dry’ green background and in contrast, any other colour shines like a beacon – I’ve uploaded some examples throughout this blog entry.


The stark dryness of the park should not be underestimated as the walk to Nature’s Window attested – the day’s temperature was around the mid-30s, but out in the park it was reaching the mid to upper 40s. The walk to Nature’s Window was not particularly long however the heat sure makes itself felt as we guzzled the water like it was going out of style.

The National Park also extends south along the coast where there are some great surf spots as well as rugged cliffs and stacks similar to those found along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The vegetation is very different to that of the NP to the north and inland due to soil and proximity to the sea – due to winds and salt spray. We were however, fortunate to spot the odd wallaby or roo here, whereas we only saw crows in the north.

The tribe had another experience of feeding the local natives, this time it was pelicans – where the feeding has been a daily ritual for the past 40-odd years – ‘Mr Percival’ was the greedy one forever hassling the lady with the bucket of fish as four other feathered comrades and a gaggle of seagulls waited patiently. Of course, the trick with these greedy creatures is to give them some food after everyone else has some of the feed.


Kalbarri is also renowned for Flynn’s Fish BBQ Restaurant – set in a former fisheries shed, with seating rambling outdoors and under pergolas, the venue is one of those ‘must visit’ places, with bric-a-brac and semi-antique-like collectables scattered about decorating the walls, pillars, display cabinets, and toilets. The menu is based upon what Mr Flynn buys that day. The featured fish for our dinner was red emperor – a robust and firm fish that is well suited to the BBQ hotplate. Also, there is the opportunity for you to sing for your supper, however, none of the tribe was inclined to sing despite them practising ABBA and the national anthem on the drive to the restaurant. Also, no other diner offered to exercise their lungs.

Pushing on down the coast, we viewed the Pink Lake (aka Hutt Lagoon) which is an iridescent pink due to high levels of beta carotene in the water. Quite a bizarre sight in itself, although I don’t recommend drinking the water to boost your daily intake of beta-carotene.

We paused in Geraldton for groceries, post and a spot of lunch, and then carried on with our drive as we aimed to reach the Pinnacles for sunset. Setting in at the caravan park in Cervantes, we quickly set-up before heading to the Pinnacles – another one of those odd geological formations where countless limestone ‘fingers’ sprout from the sandy desert over the landscape.

The tribe loved playing around the ‘fingers’ as it provided the perfect place to play hide-and-seek, as well as chasings. It truly is a magical place though eerie in the respect that it is a very alien looking landscape. The funny thing is, whenever you see images of it whether in books, magazines or on TV, the impression is that it is out in the desert, a million miles from civilisation – yet the reality is that it is barely 200km from Perth, a mere day trip away.

Mesmerising sites on the drive from Cervantes to Perth include the occasional brilliant white sand dunes on the ‘wrong’ side of the road – that is on the eastern side away from the beach – dunes which would not look out of place if you were on camel-back in the Sahara. Also along the way were the occasional grass tree forests – unusual for our east coast eyes as these were forests of only grass trees, whereas on the east coast, grass trees generally exist amongst plenty other vegetation, usually amongst eucalypts.

Time for thermals, beanies and jackets

(11-12 June 2010)

It was time to move on from Yuraygir NP, and based upon a recommendation from Bjorn and Katrine (a Danish couple nearing the end of their round Oz trip*), we head towards Mt Warning, deviating from the coast and away from the Pacific Hwy, into the mountains above the Tweed River.

Along the way, we lunch in Lismore and go for a walk – Zak is curious by the stairs leading to an ‘adult shop’ asking if we could go up the stairs. Coincidently, he was telling us about his dream earlier at breakfast (really a made-up story) about Lightning Macqueen and Chick Hicks being naked – we didn’t quite comprehend what cars were doing naked, yet he obsessed on nakedness as a key theme in his story.

We dart through Nimbin, where it seems there is a universal dress code of hippyness – strange, as I thought it was more about attitude . . . oh well.

Our first night at Mt Warning was freezing – maybe not down to zero, but damn cold just the same. We all wore thermals to bed and rugged up the best we could. A quick trip after sun down to the amenities meant donning beanies and jackets. This only makes us look forward to reaching the warmer climes asap. Also, we should just maybe avoid the mountains for now!

In the Wollumbin NP, we do the short Lyrebird track walk in the rainforest, located near the start of the track to the summit to Mt Warning – a more strenuous and longer trek for when the tribe are older perhaps. On our walk, we venture through towering trees and bangalows or piccabeens palms, with the hope of spotting either (or both) a lyrebird and a brush turkey. Although we luck out with the fauna in the rainforest, we actually have a brush turkey strut across our path on return to our campsite!

A spate of tartan and kangaroos for breakfast

(8-10 June 2010)

Driving into Maclean around noon on Tuesday, we refuel and finally reach Yuraygir NP (near Brooms Head), finding ourselves a nice campsite. Here we stay for three nights, with the beach behind us and grasslands and Lake Arragan before us. After lunch, I take the tribe for a walk on the beach where they spend time drawing pictures in the sand and playing ‘chicken’ with the waves.

The tribe is fascinated by the night sky filled with what seems to be more stars than we usually see from Springwood. The boys even have camping chairs depicting the constellations which M and I attempt rather poorly in identifying their equivalent in the sky – however we will have time to improve on our knowledge.

Each day, we are joined by kangaroos breakfasting and dining around our campsite – there’s a great big male with some females and juniors, plus at least one joey in a pouch. Also, there is the lively birdlife – such is the cacophony each morning – those we managed to identify include: superb blue wren, grey butcherbird, wattle bird, plover, willie wagtail, king parrot, plus of course the sea gulls on the beach. I even spotted a Brahmin Kite with a freshly caught fish in its talons.

On Thursday, we venture into Maclean for a seafood lunch and some provisions. Maclean wears its Scottish heritage proudly on its telegraph poles a many are adorned with various family tartans making for a colourful streetscape through town. Also, we buy some mince (for spaghetti) from an old school butcher – a sparse display of just the basic cuts and a large electric bone saw taking pride of place behind the counter.

Falling asleep between the trucks

We left Springwood in the early afternoon, with the rain on its way. Joining the typically heavy Friday* afternoon traffic heading north on the F3, we were dealt with some heavy rain as well. However the rain provided some spectacular features by way of countless cascades down the cuttings along the descent towards and ascent away from the Brooklyn Bridge. This was the highlight of our outbound drive, apart from giving the tribe their first experience of a Happy Meal from McDs – which they all enjoyed (as a very special treat mind you).

Due to the rain and the darkness, we succumbed to checking into a cabin at the Pacific Palms Holiday Park in Raymond Terrace. This proved to be a good thing in the end as our Eagle (camper-trailer) somehow had a leak – and setting up camp in the rain and dark was not the way we wished to begin our Big Trip! (yeah we’re a bit soft).

Saturday morning welcomed us without the rain and some blue sky – this was more like it. Our first major destination is to visit and stay with Kate, Giles, Jordan, Mardae and Bitz, who live on the Sunshine Coast, so the plan is to generally drive up the Pacific Hwy.

After stopping in Taree for lunch and provisions, we made it past Port Macquarie before deciding we needed to stop for the night, which we did at Stoney Park, a few kms north of Port. Here we stayed two nights to reassess our packing and begin to reacquaint ourselves with the Eagle and camping life, plus let the tribe run around rather be cooped up in the car. The place had a small playground and a huge trampoline which were both well used by the tribe. Also kangaroos came by the campsite for their morning feed which amused the tribe.

Based on the suggestion from Kate and Giles, our next stop was to be Yuraygir NP near Brooms Head. Unfortunately, thanks to our short daylight hours, we don’t seem to be able to drive far enough so had to make do with a rest area beside the Pacific Hwy just south of Grafton.

‘We’ll have to fall asleep between the trucks’, M said – as the rumble of another semi or 18-wheeler vibrated the Eagle. The trucks provided the serenade to which the tribe had no trouble sleeping – just the usual bickering of who was touching whom as they settled into sharing their space in the queen bed. M and I, on the other hand initially struggled with the trucks thundering past as we had made ourselves more conscious of the noise, although, of course, eventually tiredness overcomes anything.


(* Friday 4 June)