Kalbarri turned out to be a fun, quick stop for a last taste of the incredible rock formations in this part of the world. The park is actually split into two parts–there’s an inland part where a high escarpment has huge gorges carved into it by a river, and then a section where dramatic cliffs zigzag along the coast. I met up with a friend there and we first went to take a look at the cliffs, which were really beautiful in the afternoon light, and then to go for a nice refreshing dip. The next day we headed inland. It was pretty hot for the hike, but not bad compared to the temperatures I’d been getting up north. It kind of felt to be a bit like a mini Karijini, and going in without any real expectations was perfect. We did a couple of short-ish hikes, had a nice refreshing dip, and checked out a couple of cool viewpoints.

After a chill evening there was nothing left to do but keep heading south, down to the big city of Geraldton. With a population a bit under 40,000 it was the most populated place I’d been in a long, long time. I spent a couple of days just kind of kicking around, took advantage of the honest-to-god restaurants in town to get a couple of nice meals, and filled up on water and groceries. Geraldton provided the first substantial cloud cover I’d seen in a long time, and I took advantage of the incredible light one evening to play around with my camera. After a few days I left town and went to check out the pinnacles, an area where the desert is pierced by hundreds of rock pillar things. There wasn’t much to do besides languidly stroll around, but it certainly makes for an unusual landscape.

I spent that night parked in the driveway of a friend’s house in the little town of Cervantes, and as it happened her mother in law was unexpectedly up at the house for the weekend, so in the morning we had a nice long chat comparing notes on coffee preparation and such. And then… Perth! The only city on the west coast. Freeways! Traffic! Neighborhoods! Trees! It was certainly a bit of an adjustment getting here after several months in various degrees of the middle of nowhere, but luckily I had friends to help me make a soft landing.

I’ve been staying with Luciana and Peter, friends I met in Cabo San Lucas way back in the beginning of 2020. As always happens when I mooch my way into a comfortable situation I’ve spent the past week largely sitting around the house doing nothing, watching sports, and zoning out. Perth… doesn’t seem to have too much going on, though in fairness I haven’t looked very hard. Everyone I’ve asked about things to do has helpfully pointed out that “Perth has the best beaches”, as if I didn’t know where to find the beach when I’m in the mood for it. Unfortunately, while I love the ocean, I don’t find it overwhelmingly interesting to just sit at the beach for hours, especially alone. On top of that, while the temperature is lower here than up north, the UV index is somehow even higher, so you really cannot be sitting out in the sun for too long.

Anyway, I’m moving on from Peter and Luciana’s place tonight, and I look forward to that being the kick in the pants that I need to start looking for more interesting things to do. I’ll be hanging around town this coming week, getting a couple of new tires and an alignment, and waiting to hang out with a friend who’s coming down from Broome. Next weekend Luciana and I are planning on SCUBA diving down in Busselton, a couple of hours south, so that should be fun. It’ll also begin my exploration of the southwest, which is supposed to be really beautiful. So hopefully lots of surfing and hiking are in my future!

It’s been a quiet few days with a couple of notable highlights. First, Charles Knife road and the Badjirrajirra walk, in Cape Range National Park. Cape Range National Park is the park on the exmouth peninsula, which includes the Ningaloo reef. Or maybe it’s the land, and there’s a separate marine park for the reef. Regardless, the reef and whale sharks are the main attraction around these parts, but the cape range itself is pretty magnificent. As far as I understand it’s actually millions of year old coral reef which has been compacted and petrified and whatever else happens over millions of years, and then thrust up into mountains. You get a feel for this on the walks because a lot of the rock is razor sharp, just like the coral-formed rock right be the sea. The walk is a nice easy (besides the extreme heat) 10km stroll around a loop, with views into the gorgeous Shothole Canyon as the highlight.

After the walk I meandered 1.5 hours south down to Coral Bay, quickly stuffed my face, and set out for the shark sanctuary. This is a spot where reef sharks congregate, particularly pregnant females and juveniles. The best time to go is around high tide and I was a little bit late, so I wasn’t quite sure what I’d see. Right at the beginning of the bay there were a handful of sharks milling around, which was neat enough. You’re not allowed to swim here, since it’s an important area for the sharks and if people were flopping around all over the place they would get scared off. So I watched a few refracted blobs circling around and went, “huh”. Almost everyone who comes to look at the sharks just hangs out at the closest part, but the bay itself is beautiful and I decided to just go for a nice long stroll. This turned out to be a great decision. It was a beautiful day for a walk, I got to see cute little shorebirds and hovering ospreys, and there were more groups of sharks farther along, with one particularly industrious one beaching itself hunting something onto the shore.

The last thing I was interested in in Coral Bay, which a friend had recommended, was the Ningaloo Marine Interactions tour. They check all the boxes with a small conservation-focused operation and an owner/skipper who’s finishing a PhD in marine biology, studying the local manta population. On top of that, they have a plane spotter, and besides the standard visit to a couple of fixed snorkel spots, they spend a couple of hours each tour just cruising around the bay, looking for anything cool to check out and potentially jump in with. Mantas are the focus, and with a resident population and a manta expert at the wheel you’re almost guaranteed to swim with them. Our other highlights were a couple of blotched fantail rays which were at least 5 feet across, and a friggin’ tiger shark! I’ve included a couple of screengrabs below but the videos are definitely better.

So that’s the past few days. I have to say, I enjoyed the Ningaloo Marine Interactions tour tremendously, and I left thinking “Damn, that’s the kind of tour I would’ve loved to work on for a season.” The team seemed really nice and like they were genuinely having a good time, and going out looking for whatever cool animals you can find for 8 months is pretty literally exactly what I would love to do with my life. Something to keep in mind for the future I suppose. Now I’m in a town called Carnarvon getting some library time before I attend to all the necessaries like food, water, trash, etc… The next stop will be Kalbarri National Park, which looks pretty sweet, and then the southwest beckons. You can find the videos for this post here—I recommend checking them out!