KALBARRI

WILDFLOWERS,  WIND  AND WHALES

We started to notice more wildflowers growing on the side of the road as we got close to Kalbarri.  Later, when we went into the National Park, we saw an even greater variety.  We loved seeing them, but don't ask us to tell you what they are!! 

The town of Kalbarri is on the mouth of the Murchison River, so is sheltered from some of the winds that blow in from the west.  But it was still quite windy while we were there. 

We were lucky enough to see some whales, a fair way out to sea, from several viewing points up on the cliffs to the south of the town. 

We also saw a baby whale playing in the breakers close to the river mouth, but didn't manage to catch it with the camera.

Just over the road from our caravan park was the spot where they feed fish to the pelicans each morning near the beach.  While we were there, only one turned up - and it was a fairly young one.  It had a bit of competition with the local seagulls, but the pelican won every time!

We had a great day at the Kalbarri National Park.  There were some beautiful views - more gorges, but with more growth than we'd seen further north in our travels. 



There's a terrific Parrot Wildlife Park close to the town, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  There was a great walk-in aviary, with birds flying close overhead.  And I didn't even panic!  Most of the birds are Australian natives, and as you would imagine by the name of the place, mostly parrots.

 But they did have a few finches, so Geoff took careful note of  how they had their aviaries set up.

They also had some exotic overseas parrots, and Geoff managed to get up really close and personal to this macaw.