Coral Bay, Kalbarri and The Pinnacles

It seems a long time since we were snorkelling off Coral Bay, but it was only 4 weeks ago. There were some lovely beaches and fabulous coral gardens filled with fish and the occasional turtle.  Whilst Francesca and Tony swam far out to sea, Liberty contented herself to look for sting rays in the shallows.

 













Heading South towards Kalbarri National Park, we detoured to Shark Bay for an overnight stay at Hamelin Station - a half million acre sheep farm near the Hamelin Pool Stromatalites. These are a very rare colony of ancient organisms similar to the first life forms on earth. There are only a couple of places in the world in which they survive, and one of these is the protected, super-salinated waters of Shark Bay. 

We have to agree with the girls that it was a long way to come to look at some underwater rocks, but the peninsular and coastline were lovely, not to mention the beautiful and pristine camping facilities on the farm -  so we stayed an extra day to visit the UNESCO World Heritage area. First stop was Shell Beach, made up entirely of Hamelin cockle shells, followed by other stops along the coastline and lunch in Denham. On the way home, we explored one of the lovely beaches to find loads of sea creatures in the shallow waters - sharks, rays and a turtle. The girls were most interested in collecting shells and brought home whole skirtfuls to lay out around the tent.

 

 

Pressing on southbound, we spent a couple of days in the Kalbarri National Park, admiring the gorges, coastline and wildlife.

 

South of Kalbarri we hit our first big town after 2500 miles of driving from Darwin. Geraldton is home to the HMAS Sydney Memorial, commemorating the 645 Australians that died in the WWII battle with the Kormoran, in which both ships sank. The cathedral of St Francis Xavier made us feel as if we were back in Mexico momentarily, and the "leaning trees of Greenough" are testament to the strong westerlies that blow off the Indian Ocean.

Our final destination before Perth was the Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park, a collection of limestone pillars jutting out of the surrounding sandy desert.  We picniced among the stones before driving south to stay in Mandurah and visit Ellen's aunt and uncle.