We left Woodman Point caravan park south of Perth on Wednesday 21st May to start our trek north to warmer conditions (we hoped) and to begin the next phase of this WA adventure – ‘up the coast’. Our destination was Sandy Cape, a campground just north of Jurien Bay.
This region of WA is known as the Turquoise Coast and our first glimpses of the Indian Ocean from the Indian Ocean Drive (slightly longer, coastal and scenic route) did not disappoint. As we headed north and the country changed from suburban, to farmland, to national park coastal scrub we started to get excited about the things to come.
Sandy Cape used to be a first-in campground set-up, but with the masses on the move it has shifted to an online booking system. Booking online has its pros – you’re assured of a spot on arrival, and cons – no adjustments can be made to factor weather conditions. As it turned out our little spot was just about perfect for our set up, a few steps to the beach up and over a dune. The same dune provided shelter from the wind, as well some gnarly sideways acacia providing shade from the sun (and the rain as it turned out).
Camp set up at Sandy Cape
Jemma cartwheeling her way along the beach
Boardwalk on top of the dunes at Sandy Cape
Sand dunes Sandy Cape
School time in the shelter - we make use of these for all sorts of things - cooking, school and work, and shelter from rain as needed
Sunset on the beach
The forecast for the 3 days at Jurien Bay was for rain on our first full day so we relegated this day to visiting the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park and the Lobster Shack in Cervantes for lunch. It worked out well. An aside here – we have experienced our fair share of desert rain on this trip – more on that later.
We opted to drive the 4WD loop to see the pinnacles, with a warning from the ranger that there was a ‘bit of a hole’ at the end. There are places to stop and get out and walk around and get up close to the pinnacles. The pinnacles themselves are limestone columns that have eroded out of the desert landscape over the last 6000 years or so. The desert sand is an unusual orange-yellow and super gritty with large bits. Scientists aren’t agreed on how they came about. We did a quick whiz through the visitor’s centre and managed to escape without buying any souvenirs. And the hole at the end? It was a doozy - we could definitely see how smaller vehicles would get stuck in there.
The Lobster Shack at Cervantes has been on my list from the early days of planning. It is a lobster processing factory for the local fishery as well as a streamlined restaurant business. It sits right on the bay overlooking the lobster boat fleet. Andy and I shared a seafood platter (why wouldn’t you?) with oysters, pickled octopus, battered Spanish mackerel (so good), garlicky prawns, calamari rings, a delicious lick-the-bowl chowder, all topped off with half a lobster! The kids each had sea-based lunches of their choosing and tried bits and pieces of ours. Quite possibly the best seafood platter of my life. If you’re ever 
Seafood platter!!
We pulled into Jurien Bay on the way back to camp with the idea of getting the kids an ice-cream – I would not have thought it would be so difficult in a seaside town! The café at the jetty didn’t sell them, the bakery didn’t sell them, the first petrol station we went in did not sell them, the IGA didn’t sell them….finally the BP did sell them. Huzzah!
We got home from our days outing with a few hours to spare before sunset and spent it walking on the beach and exploring the dunes.
The facilities at Sandy Cape are pretty good and include a covered picnic shelter with free BBQs which we utilised as the rain settled upon us.
We had some heavy showers one night at Sandy Cape.
Our second day was a designated stay day. After some schoolwork we set up on the beach for some free time – reading, cartwheeling, walking, birdwatching etc
Sandy Cape sunset
After 3 nights at Sandy Cape it was time to pack up and move on to Kalbarri - 350km further up the coast.
We stopped in at Geraldton for some fancy lunch, a play in the playground, a visit to 30 knots gin distillery (owned and run by the family of one of Andy's mates from the UK - thanks Tash for the recommendation) and the HMAS Sydney II Memorial.
The Sydney was sunk by a German ship off the coast in 1941 during WW2 with the loss of all 645 lives on board. Only traces had been found, and the story of the battle was reliant on German survivors accounts until 2008 when wrecks of both vessels were found off the coast of Denham at approximately 2500m depth. The memorial sits at the top of a hill overlooking the Indian Ocean and the dome you see in the photo has 645 steel gulls - one for each life lost. The Sydney was famous before she sank and is still one of the worst maritime disasters in Australia's history.
Kalbarri (5n) 24-29 May
We were booked in to the caravan park for 3 nights. The park was right in town, across the road from the mouth of the Murchison River. There’s a LOT to do in Kalbarri and we made a bit of a plan. Kalbarri is a lovely town with a great feel to it.
Pink lake/ Hutt Lagoon on the way to Kalbarri
One of the many things to do is the pelican feed at 8:45am each morning. Volunteers have been feeding the pelicans here since the 1970’s. The pelicans are wild and transient and are only given a small number of fish daily so not to upset their natural fishing tendencies. Pelicans are opportunists and get plenty of free feeds at the fish cleaning stations dotted around town as well. The volunteers give a little commentary, answer questions and let the public feed the birds.
Graceful in the air and on water - these giant birds are comically clumsy on land.‘Naughty boy’, a charismatic show-off pelican did not show our first day. We had been told about him by the friendly caravan park reception staff. When he did show on subsequent days there was no mistaking this character – he was noisy and held is wings up to puff himself up to be the biggest he could be. His other claim to fame is that if a seagull dares to take his fish, he takes the fish AND the seagull in his great big beak.
We attended the pelican feed 4 days in a row and the experience varied depending on the birds present as well as the volunteer.
Tragically we learned that 2 of these beloved Kalbarri pelicans were murdered the day that we left. It was reported on the regional news and the local community was understandably devastated and angry. The police and RSPCA are on the case but at time of writing no one has been arrested.
After the pelicans and some schoolwork, we headed out to the National park and visited Nature’s Window and Kalbarri skywalk. Both lookouts provide different overlooks and are spectacular in their own rights. The skywalk is a cantilevered walkway-lookout over the gorge gouged out by the mighty Murchison River.
Kalbarri skywalk - incredible cantilevered walkways over the canyon in Kalbarri National Park
Natures Window - Kalbarri NP
A photo of the photographers at Natures Window
Just too hot to go on - it really wasn't hot, she just wanted an ice cream.
Skywalk 
The skywalk over the canyon gouged out by the Murchison River
The same afternoon we drove to the south of town to check out some of the coastal national park sites with the plan to finish at Blue Holes for a swim/snorkel.
By the time we got to Blue Holes the wind had got up and we parked the swim for the following day when it would be slightly warmer again, and we would beat the wind.
One of two scorpions that I came across in Kalbarr - eeeek. They were really tiny thankfully.
We were keeping an eye on the weather and trying to figure out our next steps as Kalbarri was the last of our pre-booked spots until Coral Bay on 10th June. We had 14 nights of unknown ahead of us. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go but there was some flexibility here.
Kalbarri foreshore adventure playground - also a convenient place for the adults to watch the sunset.
We decided quickly and easily that we could stay and extra night or two in Kalbarri. The weather forecast clinched it. Luckily for us the caravan park could accommodate us for the extra 2 nights and the decision was made.
Sunset over the Murchison River, Kalbarri. Our caravan park was just across the road.
We did some more coastal sightseeing but mostly spent hours at Blue Holes making the most of the gloriously warm weather and warm(ish) water. The snorkelling here was good practice for things to come and had some reef fish as well as lots of fin fish.
An enormous hermit crab at Blue Holes - there were loads of these in the shallows but this guy was bigger than my hand.
Snorkelling at Blue Holes was lots of fun - especially at low tide when it was protected from the surf by the reef.
James sitting at the octopus den
Octopus investigating James' fingers
Dinner in the camp kitchen
Kalbarri surpassed our memories and expectations, and we loved this little town and its surrounding National Park. But after 5 nights of easy living, it was time to move on.
We packed up early with rain on the radar and got the job done just as it started. This seems to be a bit of a theme. Good planning, perhaps, plus a big fat dose of good luck.
Here it comes!! A very quick pack up.
The first couple of hours was in pouring rain as we headed north once more – Francois Peron National park was in our sights.
Just one more at Natures Window
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