Coral Coast Pt. 1 (14756km)

We started our journey north along the Coral Coast (the west coast north of Perth) by visiting a place called the pinnacle desert. The pinnacles are located about a two hour drive north of Perth close to a small coastal town called Cervantes. We arrived in the afternoon, paid our National Park fee and parked the car. We were met with a weird view as soon as we walked over the hill from the car park. Sticking up from the desert were hundreds of small pinnacles made from sandstone. There was a walking trail and a driving trail through the desert. First we did the walking trail and then the driving trail. Half way through the driving trail we stopped and took pictures in the sunset. The pinnacle desert is one of many natural attractions throughout Australia that makes this country so fascinating and mysterious.

We camped that night at a beautiful rest stop about 30 minutes away. It was a crystal clear night with the amazing Australian sky fully visible. It looks so different from the Norwegian sky. There is a belt of stars across the sky and what looks like the Milky Way. Sadly my camera is not good enough to make any photos to show you.

The next day we continued north. Our next stop was a small town called Jurien Bay. Here we spent a few hours on the beach and had lunch before continuing on. We then made a short stop in a village called Green Head. Our brochure mentioned sea lions in the area, but we saw none.

The next big town after Perth is Geraldton which was also our next stop. Just south of the city grow a special kind of eucalyptus which are known to be extremely hardy. The area is known for it's strong wind from the coast which makes the trees grow sideways. They have become known as the Leaning Trees.

Our first car problem occurred just 10 km from Geraldton. Our front right tire punctured. Punctured tires are not a big problem if you have the right equipment to change it, but that was something I had forgotten to check when we bought the car. So we had to go get help. Luckily a very nice couple helped us out and we were on our way again. We got even more lucky the next day. We were able to buy the spare part that was missing for the car jack for only 2 dollars at a car wrecker and a cheap second hand tire from a second hand tire store.

We didn't do much else in Geraldton. Just a shower, shopping for new equipment and looked at the HMAS Sydney 2 memorial. A memorial for the boat HMAS Sydney 2 that sank during WW2 with it's 650 crew onboard. It wasn't until 2008 that they found the wreck off the coast of Western Australia.

We continued north and made a quick stop just south of a town called Port Gregory. There is a big salt lake here with a special color, pink! It's pink hue is created by bacteria (Dunaliella salina), which becomes trapped in the salt granules. Annina wanted to get really close to the water to make pictures but there was mud under the salt layer on the edge of the lake. She stepped right into the mud and got really dirty. I thought it was funny, but she didn't. :p

Kalbarri

That night we camped just outside Kalbarri and the next morning we started our journey through the Kalbarri National Park. The first attraction was two places called Island Rock and Natural Bridge. The names are pretty self explainable. From the top of the cliffs you have a fantastic view of the ocean down below with a hole in the cliff forming a natural bridge and a lone remaining part of the cliff out in the water forming the island rock.

A few minutes north along the road lay Rainbow Valley. It has it's name from the different earthly colors of the rocks and stone layers. We walked a 1.5 km trail through the valley. It took us past cliffs where you could clearly see the different layers of stone from millions of years ago where the different shorelines had once been. At the bottom of the valley was the mushroom rock, a rock resembling a mushroom.

Where the Murchison river flows out into the ocean on the outskirts of Kalbarri National Park lies the small town of Kalbarri. In Kalbarri we rented a two person kayak and explored the river mouth. It was pretty windy and hard to navigate, but still lots of fun. After an hour of kayaking our arms were hurting and our cloths wet. It was nice to do something different than just driving and walking.

We continued on into the middle of the national park where the Murchison river carves deep gorges through the terrain. At one spot it forms a Z shape and you can see the river flowing deep below you from the lookout post. At least what little water that was left in the river. It is fall here and after a dry summer there isn't much water left. A little bit north from the Z bend is the famous natures window. Located on the top of the cliffs is a rock with a hole through the middle. Looking through it you can see the river down in the gorge below. It is an ideal place to make some amazing photos. We went to two other lookouts as well. The last one had easy access to the river below. We wanted to go for a swim in the river, but there was not much water left and the bank was muddy and wasn't looking that nice. It was still nice to walk down in the gorge. As a bonus we saw two kangaroo's jumping around, I think it was a mother with it's baby.

The road out to the gorge is something special. Made from yellow sand it cuts through the landscape. It gives a similar feeling to driving in deep snow. That finishes part one of our Coral Coast adventure. Stay tuned for more!