Many Faces Of Kalbarri

Kalbarri is about a seven hour drive from Perth and a 100km detour off the main highway up the north coast of Western Australia. But it's really worth pulling off and spending the extra cash on petty because Kalbarri is just beautiful. A favourite with Perthites for holidays (as we found out first hand by arriving in the second week of the school break - I'm sorry but it should be illegal to take kids camping... do you know how much stuff you need for a simple weekend away? Phew!), this gorgeous town has a bit of everything for everyone.

There's an inlet where the river meets the sea - the fishing is really good anywhere along the rocks and the waterway is full of all sorts of different things from paddle boats to canoes and cruise boats that head up and down the river, showing off the town's sights.


There are surf beaches with good waves, if you can brave the rocky entry points and the ever-present fear of what's lurking beneath on these largely untouched coastlines. But if surfing is not your thing, there's plenty of lookouts and bush walks along the cliff tops where the red earth rocks meet the aqua ocean - it's quite an amazing sight.

But it was Kalbarri's gorges that really impressed us. 30km from the main town centre (along a stretch of dirt road that we thought was going to shake loose whatever nuts and bolts are holding the kombi together) you'll find a bunch of lookouts and walks that you can do to explore the amazing Kalbarri National Park. There's a $10 entry fee but it's worth every penny with the view over the colourful country breath taking. We even had a burst of extra excitement when we almost stepped on a baby brown snake, while walking to one of the lookouts. Far out, those things move quickly! Ewww! I hate snakes!

A few words of warning before you book your bus ticket from Perth to this lovely spot though - pack your credit cards if you expect to stay in town for long. We spotted Capsicums at $17 a kilo at the local IGA (and this was the ONLY supermarket in town and for a radius of 300km in any direction) and petrol is up around the $1.70 per litre mark. But as they say, some of the most beautiful places in the world are miles away from anything, so the amazing National Parks and waterways made up for our $5 coffees.

Yours in the great outdoors,

Odette