Kalbarri –

Walking Away the Writing / Isolation Blues…

Glenda Larke — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 00:29:00 +0000

We here in Western Australia have avoided the worst of Covid-19 thanks to sensible scientific-based decisions of our politicians and public servants. We spent 3 months isolating ourselves. Once restrictions on local travel were eased, we headed north to Kalbarri, where a morning walk of 7 kms yielded up these photos of the Indian Ocean’s most easterly shores along our rugged coast.

And now I shall grapple some more with the final chapters of

“THE FUGITIVE QUEEN”*, which I am now re-writing,

as I have never been happy with the conclusion.

As the waves broke, the spray shot up into the air like fountain spray.

There’s nothing like the ocean to put bring perspective or

— in spite of the thundering surf —

to bring calm…

*Provisional title

Some of the things we enjoyed around Kalbarri

Glenda Larke — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 05:43:00 +0000

Like the wildflowers:

Eremophila

Murchison Rose

Detail of the plant above

Birds’-beak Hakea

Detail of the flowers of the Hakea

And the animals:

The big reds around Kalbarri were sometimes brilliantly red

And the birds:

Where galahs mow the lawn for you…

…or wreck your TV reception, just for FUN

These two just spun round and round for the heck of it

Welcome Swallow

Crested Terns and a Pelican

Total self-satisfaction of a well-fed bird

The birds of Kalbarri were great: the flocks of Galahs and Little Corellas ruled our caravan park, noisy both day and night. Pallid Cuckoos were everywhere, right down to the sea in the coastal scrub. Besides the Australian Raven and the Willy Wagtail, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes were the most common bird we saw roadside, all the way from outside Perth to Kalbarri…

In Kalbarri itself, there were so many seabirds and waterbirds, including gannets, the Osprey, four species of cormorants…and other interesting stuff like Blue-Breasted Wrens.

And if anyone knows what the hell this is, tell me…

Kalbarri Gorges

Glenda Larke — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 20:44:00 +0000

So, the Kalbarri coastline was pretty spectacular, but the true glory of the area is further up the Murchison River: into the river gorges. We went for many walks and rambles and scrambles…

A Hans Heysen painting? No, maybe more Namatjira..

No photo can do the colours justice

Me and my sister

The road in: took this because of the colour — in such contrast to the reds around the gorges

Husband poses

And this is what was directly above his head in the last photo

Narrow gorge, looking strrraaiiiight down. That’s a long way

The Kalbarri Cliff Coast

Glenda Larke — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Kalbarri had still more to offer us than I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Spectacular walks along the coast and into coastal gorges and beaches…like these:

Mushroom Rock

I know this looks as if someone dripped vanilla ice cream on reddish sandstone, but…

That white stuff is hard white rock embedded in millenia-ancient sandstone, and finally uncovered by erosion

No, no one painted the rocks with circles. These are the rocks, just as they appear.

And no, I didn’t adjust the colour.

Ok, this one had a bit of human help.

But not this one.

There is a coastal cliff walk which produces scenery like this.

And this.

Here, the path is made for you.

And this is what it looks like at sunset.

Tumblagooda Sandstone. It rocks…

Kalbarri, at the mouth of the Murchison

Glenda Larke — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:08:00 +0000

The Murchison River is supposedly 850 kms long (510 miles), the second largest river in Australia after the Murray-Darling. I say supposedly, because…well, in common with many Australian rivers, much of it is dry riverbed more often than not.

The river’s entrance can be as calm as a puddle, but more often, it’s a swirling, breaker-washed patch of water that demands a Z-shaped route through jagged rocks.

Here, you can see the rocks clawing out into the entrance; unfortunately you can’t see the humpbacked whale that was repeatedly breeching and whacking its tail right there. (Damn digital cameras that click after the action is over…)

Further upstream, life is calmer, with pelicans and Black-fronted Dotterels and Red-capped Plovers resting on a sandbar…

…while above, people picnic at the foot of Tumblagooda Hill. Tumblagooda Sandstone — 400 to 500m years old –gives it that red colour.

Kalbarri and the Murchison at dusk.

And wow, it was a place of incredible sunsets.

And windswept shores.

We all had our hobbies to pursue, like me with my birding. Spot the cuckoo (photo, left)

A Pallid Cuckoo

Husband with
his fishing.

The view…

Glenda Larke — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:14:00 +0000

The view from our caravan.

Well, the view we had yesterday, anyway. Today it’s raining. And blowing a gale.

Which makes it a writing day…

Kalbarri