The Mid West Coast

As we left the suburbs of Perth the landscape opened up with flat expanses of land and the fringing rugged ocean. We passed through the market gardens bordering the city, which as we headed north, gave over to larger dryer farms. Always to our left were the huge dunes hiding the windswept beaches from our view.

A few hours north of Perth we visited the Pinnacles. They are an amazing sight and even more dramatic because of the small area they cover, one minute we were passing through coastal scrub and then it clears onto an expanse of sandy dessert dominated by these rocks sticking up through the sand like daggers. 

Jarvis has a story book about a family who travel around Australia in their camper trailer, two of the places he has been most intrigued by in the book are the Pinnacles and the sideways trees in Geraldton (see photos further below). Both of these places were within this stretch of coast, much to Jarvis' delight.

We stopped in the nearby fishing towns of Cervantes and Jurien Bay before finding a little camping spot behind the dunes at Sandy Cape (for those interested in finding the spot, we camped to the south of the campground down a 4WD track which turns off at the Info Bay). It is a fairly desolate strip of coast, with basic towns, windswept beaches, long stretches of nothingness between towns but sparkling blue waters. Anyone who's read Dirt Music by Tim Winton would be able to conger up pretty good images of the  coast and the towns in this area. Although the campsite at Sandy Cape wasn't ideal (a bit windy and not much to do), it had a great beach and some shade. So we stayed put for the Easter Long Weekend in an attempt to avoid the crowds. However, the holiday makers who were willing to venture along the 4WD track still found us and we were surrounded by big groups of revellers and the beach was crowded with trucks and quad bikes. But once the weekend was over, things quietened down a bit and we got back on the road and continued onto Geraldton for a couple of days.

South of Geraldton we passed through Dongara. If I was heading this way again, I would probably head for this town for a stop over. It has a lovely main street lined with fig trees, the river winds through the town and there is a really nice beach and harbour. Definitely worth a visit. As it was, we really needed the services of a larger town so we just got some treats from the bakery and continued on to Geraldton.

We had been told by numerous people that Geraldton wasn't a particularly nice place but we needed supplies, power and water and Jarvis was dying to see the sideways trees. So we checked into the caravan park in town for two nights. We were in fact pleasantly surprised by the city. Maybe having such low expectation helped, but there is a lovely foreshore with playgrounds, barbecues and lovely views and one street back from the water there is a decent strip of shops and cafes.

Our next stop was the sleepy fishing town of Kalbari. Although, it is a popular holiday destination and as we were there during the school holidays I wouldn't exactly describe it as sleepy. However, the crowds were happy and laid back and we joined in the holiday feeling with them. Jarvis also enjoyed the dozens of kids running around the caravan park and playground at the pub. Kalbari sits on the banks of a fairly large estuary; so, much to our delight,  for the first time in months, we were able to get the boat in the water. When we weren't boating or fishing off the rocks, we explored the surround Kalbari National Park, famous for its river gorges and lookouts, including the well known Natures Window, which was worth the walk in, even in the ever increasing heat.

From Kalbari, it is a long and very boring drive to the Shark Bay area, most well known for the dolphins at Monkey Mia. However, it is with a lot of excitement that we set off for Shark Bay. The waters from there on become warmer, turquoise, full of fish and the coral reef starts. So after four days of R and R in Kalbari (which felt just like a family holiday should) we set off for bluer seas.