Forget the bucket list

Instead of a having a ‘bucket list’ we believe in taking travel opportunities as and when they arise. Sure, it’s good to plan but instead of spending a lifetime writing a list of where we might want to go, we like to be ready for any travel opportunity that presents itself. Because the WA government wisely imposed first interstate and then intrastate travel restrictions, we wondered what our next adventure would be. Early in the Covid crisis we watched an ABC 7.30 report about regional towns that were doing it tough. The story featured a town 600 kms north of Perth, Kalbarri. It looked amazing so we decided that a soon as the intrastate restrictions were lifted we would head north.

We foolishly began to announce to WA friends that we were planning a trip to Kal- bar-i only to be rebuked rather sternly as the town is pronounced Kal-barry. With the Lonely Planet as our guide we plan a two-week trip north up the WA coast with our second stop at Kalbarri, 4000kms due west of the Gold Coast.

Kalbarri is a town that many sandgropers (Western Australians) used to have their summer holidays in, until Bali became more hip. Now with that option closed Kalbarri may well be poised for a comeback.

If you want coastal scenery, a pounding surf, fishing and an old-fashioned beach holiday Kalbarri seems picture perfect. We score an iconic, river front, powered site and set off for an afternoon stroll to the river mouth and beach. We watch a tourist boat cruise head out across one of the trickiest river mouth bar crossings imaginable. The boat proceeds west out the river mouth and then turns 90 degrees to starboard to avoid a rock shelf which lies directly ahead. It then steams north for a few minutes catching the large swell side on. Finally it turns to port and heads west towards the sunset, directly into the swell. Epic!

From the headland we watch a surfer ride a board with a keel that lifts him out of the water. He was being towed out to sea by his mate on a jet ski and then let off on huge rolling waves. Winter seems to have fled with brilliant sunshine, no wind and 23 degrees.

The nearby national park offers bushwalks, the coast deserves more exploration and a blog follower (Russ) suggests that we check out the Skywalk.

Stay tuned as we explore Kalbarri – we hope you said that correctly!