Moving North

06/06/2011
Moved further north to the larger coastal town of Geraldton, a fairly industrial town with a large working port. We have travelled about 200K’s mostly along the Indian Ocean Drive, quite spectacular in parts but mostly miles and miles of scrub and sand dunes. The dunes are lime sand which is quarried and brought by rail to the port of Geraldton then to be shipped to who knows where. We took a short detour inland to have our lunch at a place called Windfarm Lookout, the view out to the coast was very nice, but wind farms are just as ugly here as they are in the U K --a blot on the landscape.
The site at Geraldton is on a peninsula, with sea on 3 sides and open to the elements-- it is still very windy. Took a walk up to the Point Moore Headland and lighthouseand watched a pair of ospreys refurbish their nest on a platform on the top of a telegraph type pole.

07/06/2011
The scrub and sand we travelled through below Geraldton has given way to lush fertile ground as we drove inland along the Chapman Valley scenic route. Eventually we arrive back on the Brand Highway where we stopped for a coffee in the small town of Northampton before crossing the highway to to follow the coast road to Kalbarri. About halfway is the tiny coastal town of Port Gregory set beside an inland sea . There we are amazed to that the inland seawater is red! Whether it is a trick of the light or elements in the ground that turn the water red we don’t know, but it was noticeable there ws a lack of wildlife around the shore. and outside the town there was a sign to say the water was not potable.
On towards Kalbarri, stopping at lookout points along the shoreline, the rock formations being similar to those on the Great Ocean Road but on a smaller scale. All had impressive titles, such as Natural Bridge, Island Rock and Castle Cave. We visited Kalbarri briefly in 2003 and why we are surprised to see that it has grown to 3 times it’s size we can’t say, except to say it is a lovely place, and we intend to stay a couple of nights here at least.

08/06/2011
Kalbarri is such a nice quiet , relaxed sort of a place that we thought we might chill out here for a while -- 4 nights in total. The weather is warm during the day, but with a annoying breeze which keeps the temperature down, and chilly at night when we are glad of our air-con/heater, not warm enough to eat outside just yet.We had a lazy morning wandering around this small town, which actually did not exist before 1955, when it was first settled. Lurched across the road to the beach with our picnic lunch (a couple of rolls, fruit and a bottle of water) and played with the flies ---- we had forgotten about them!