Aka The Pink Lake, near Port Gregory, WA. Hutt Lagoon is Australia’s Most Unique Lake
Hutt Lagoon, or the “Pink Lake,” is a marine salt lake in Western Australia, famous for its vibrant pink color caused by the Dunaliella salina algae and high salt content
When we arrived the lake was a beautiful pink colour. Then the wind got up and the colour disappeared. Thankfully, the wind dropped away.
Today, Thursday 28th, we are heading up to Sunset Beach, WA, to visit our rellies, my grandson and his family. And we are looking forward to seeing our three great granddaughters, for the very first time.
We have just pulled in to the roadhouse at Cataby, making a pee stop, where these beautiful flowers are enjoying the sunshine.
It is almost as if they are cheering us along our way.
The WA weather is also behaving itself. The sky is blue and clouds white and fluffy. Not the dark and brooding ones that have filled the skies around Perth for the last few days.
Yesterday, 9th August, would have been Steves birthday. It was the first since his passing earlier this year.
We thought we would honour his name by having a meal and raising a glass at one of his favourite destinations.
And so it was that we found ourselves heading up to Mindari to visit The Boat. Mindari is about 60km north of Perth, normally an easy drive of an hour or so.
However, yesterday was very wet, and the drive took a bit longer. The conditions on the highways were diabolical. The wipers were going at their max rate for most of the journey, and the road spray was severely reducing visibility.
Having safely arrived at The Boat, we grabbed a table and ordered our drinks and meals. Obviously, given the weather conditions, we opted to sit inside.
Chilli Mussels for Gerry, Garlic Prawns, and Rice for Denise and Battered Barramundi with Chips for me. Oh, and a sharing platter of cheesy garlic bread. All the food was, as usual, very well cooked and tasty.
We raised a glass to Steve and wished him a happy celestial birthday, The Boat, being one of his favourite eateries, he would have approved.
While having our meal, I noticed that we had an observer, keeping tabs on us.
The drive home was much better, dry and sunny.
We have been in WA for nearly a month now. Having travelled out from the UK to support our daughter following the passing of Steve, her husband.
Up until now, our time has been filled with preparations for the funeral and general mundane household shopping trips and, most recently, collecting Steves ashes from the funeral home.
To be honest the weather hasn’t been the best but yesterday we managed to get out of the house for a couple of hours. This is the first time that a trip out hasn’t had a purpose. By that, I mean it was, just to get some fresh air, for a change of scenery.
We opted to drive down to Rockingham, forty odd kilometres south of Perth, to walk along the foreshore. After a forty-five minute drive, we found ourselves on the prom.
The sun was shining, and the sky was blue, and with a temperature of 20°C it really was very pleasant. We had already planned to have fish ‘n’ chips, and so it was we found ourselves sitting in the sunshine enjoying an al fresco lunch.
Freshwater Cobbler in crispy batter with crispy but fluffy chips. The Cobbler was a first for me. The lady who served me in Nae’s Seafood & Grill informed me that it was a kind catfish. It was very tasty, but it’s not Cod or Haddock. However, it did hit the spot.
Then, it was time to head back along the prom and back to the car. And, after a forty minute drive home, we were soon sitting in the lounge with a very welcome cuppa.
The brisk, but not unpleasant, sea-breeze definitely blew away the cobwebs we had accumulated.
Shame the weather forecast for the next few days shows a temperature drop and plenty of rain and thunderstorms.
This just goes to prove that you cannot let your guard down, not for a moment where this pandemic is concerned.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-55877150
10 months clear of any locally acquired Covid-19 and just one individual can undo all the good work done by the many. Clearly there was a lapse of attention or judgement and that is all it takes.
It seems that a security guard working in a hotel, has been tested positive for Covid-19, possibly with the UK variant.
One should also keep in mind, Australia has not yet started to roll out the vaccine. March appears to be the soonest estimate for vaccinations to start.
Supplies of the vaccines also look to be in jeopardy, as the EU plans to impose restrictions on exports. Restrictions, on vaccine exports, are being put in place to cover shortfalls brought about by the EUs own bureaucracy and ineptitude.
This is potentially a double whammy for WA residents.
Took a trip out to Serpentine Dam and had lunch at the Cafe on the Dam. Here are a few of the locals who joined us for lunch ……
Bin Chicken / Tip Turkey / Dump Duck. These are all local names for the ubiquitous Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
Apparently the Bin Chicken is widespread across much of Australia. It has predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long down curved bill and black legs.
These birds are the subject of a “Planet Earth” documentary ….
And even their own animated series ….
Although they are seen in the wild, they have become a feature of the suburbs in WA.
The picture at the beginning of this post was taken behind the Divers Tavern, Broome.
One can only begin to imagine what kind of “bin juice” this Bin Chicken has been drinking
On arriving at Kalbarri we managed to locate our accommodation, despite the best efforts of our sat-nav which was intent on sending us off-road again. We were also confused by the name of the motel. All of my paperwork from the booking referred to Kalbarri Reef Villas. On the same street we found Kalbarri Seafront Villas and immediately behind was Reef Villas. No mention of Kalbarri on their signage but a quick chat with the manager confirmed we were in the right place. So Reef Villas it was and we were soon checked in, car unloaded and ready to explore.
The beach was just five minutes walk from the motel.
Kalbarri is to be found at the mouth of the Murchison River where it joins the Indian Ocean.
Unfortunately, Gerry ricked her back on our first morning here. This meant that we had to curtail some of our exploring. So a tour of the gorges to see Natures Window & “Z” Bend was kicked into touch. The problem with these attractions is that they are only accessible along some sixteen kilometers of dirt road, not really conducive to reducing back pain.
As an alternative we decided to visit the numerous local ocean lookouts, all of which have paved roads right up to the car parks and also, in most cases, smooth pathways to the lookout. The following are a selection of the photo’s I took. I hope they give you a flavour of this area.
Some of the Aussies were really chuffed to see a car, with references to an English football team, sporting the Aussie flags.
While we were at the Blue Holes, a fellow Brit spotted the Pompey stickers and the rego plate. He was originally from Salisbury and knew all about our home area in Hampshire.
Every day pelicans are fed down on the Kalbarri foreshore. There is a seated arena for the early risers to use and children are invited to feed the pelicans. The couple that run the feed are very informative, with a touch of humour.
After touring the coastline, we returned to Kalbarri and found a site on the foreshore so that I could go fishing.
Although I did get a few bites, I didn’t manage to catch anything.
The fish weren’t the only things biting. There were crabs in the river who were taking a repeated interest in my feet. The canoeists were friendly and chatty, interested in how I was doing. I think they were also amused by how far out in the river I was.
Later the same day we were, again, down on the foreshore to watch the Australia Day fireworks.
During our all too brief stay in Kalbarri we were lucky enough to eat at the Black Rock Cafe. Here we had our evening meal on the day that we arrived. Good food and a table to watch the sunset. For our breakfasts, we visited Angies Cafe where they do a really tasty Bacon, Egg and Tomato Toasty as well as filling Tuna Patties (fish cake). Both establishments seem to be very popular.
Angies was our last stop in Kalbarri, before heading off to Jurien Bay.
Awoke in Geraldton to wet pavements and fairly heavy rain. Seemed just like home in the UK, except that the temperature was up in the twenties. First things first, we had a full cooked breakfast. The Ocean Centre Hotel has so much going for it, but the breakfast let it down. Soggy toast, tasteless scrambled eggs and poor service.
Car loaded up we set out for Carnarvon. After a while the rain stopped but it wasn’t to be the last time that we saw it. After about forty minutes of driving, we are heading up the Northwest Coastal Highway and soon approaching Northampton. Having been following a road train for some time, we were presented with a much-needed overtaking lane. So I hit the pedal and we were soon speeding past the leviathan of the road. Admittedly by the time I passed the truck I was probably doing approximately 120 -130 km, which is exactly when I spotted the dark vehicle parked at the side of the road. The one with the strange device facing out of the back window. No flash, no blue meanies on motor bikes like back home, in fact no indication that I had been nabbed. I’ll just have to wait and see if this turns into a ticket.
A general comment for driving in Australia but it is amazing how often the highways folks put in place an overtaking lane and just as you reach it they will reduce the speed limit from say 110 km down to 80 km !!! Especially when the overtaking lane is on a long incline. Does that make sense ?
We passed through Northampton which looked to be a pretty rural town. I made a mental note that we should stop and have a wander on our way back to Perth.
A few kilometers north of Northampton I stopped to take a photo of the never-ending countryside. According to the GPS on the camera we were near someplace called Alma.
On we traveled until we reached the Billabong Roadhouse some 180 km north of Northampton.
We topped up with fuel, made good use of the toilet facilities and stretched our legs at the roadhouse before continuing northwards.
Travelling along the North West Coastal Highway you begin to realise the name is something of a misnomer. Mile after mile of generally straight roads bounded on both side by sandy soil based bush might give one the feeling that you are driving over a very large beach but close to the coast ? Nope, I don’t think so.
If you look at a map of WA you will see that the road does run sort of parallel with the coast but in reality you are usually many kilometers away.
A few kilometers up the road from Billabong we topped a rise and I stopped to attempt to show how long and straight these roads are. These two photos show the north and south views of the North West Coastal Highway from a point near Carbla.
And so we moved on….. and eventually we made it to the 26th Parralel.
Now we were truly into the north of the state. The roads looked pretty much the same but the accompanying countryside had changed and soon we came upon signs for a lookout. We didn’t see any signs giving a name and there were no information boards explaining what you could see. Subsequent googling identified it as White Bluff or the Gladstone Lookout.
On top of this, very windy, flat-topped, hill we discovered a couple of “cairns” comprising all manner of memorial artefacts. Some were formal, cast iron, plaques. Most were just rocks that had been written or painted on. One of the “cairns” comprised various gnomes, dolls and other figures. White Bluff gives an almost 360 degree view over the Wooramel countryside. Showing the highway disappearing northwards and southwards, views across the plain and out to the sea at Shark Bay (I think).
descending, from White Bluff, we once again commenced our journey north. Pausing at the Wooramel Roadhouse to top up again with fuel. Shortly after leaving the roadhouse we crossed the Wooramel River ….
This picture doesn’t really show just how dry this land is. This river is actually just a sandy river bed. You get used to seeing signs on the road for such and such a river or so and so creek. Never seeing a drop of water or even mud in the little, narrow, gully passing under the road. However, the Wooramel River is quite a reasonable size. The pictures below show how wide and how dry.
After only another 115 kilometers we arrived in Carnarvon and checked into the Carnarvon Motel.
This foot bridge was once part of the railway line from town to the One Mile Jetty. It now provides a pleasant walkway along the same route.
The Fascine is a picturesque bay in Carnarvon. The boardwalk is apparently popular with the locals for walking and picnicking. It wasn’t very busy while we were there.
We had thought to freshen up and go into Carnarvon for dinner. It, the town, appeared to be closed so we returned to the motel and had dinner in their restaurant. Which, as it turned out, wasn’t bad at all.
WrAnTz 