24 October 2009
Today we left Cervantes for the Kalbarri National Park (approx. 150 miles). En route we stopped at Northampton which is one of the oldest settlements outside of Perth. There are only a few quaint old shops and it seemed a good place to stop for lunch.
As we had some time to spare we stopped at the museum/visitor centre. While in there we were joined by a small group of backpackers and their guide. He was a real Crocodile Dundee lookalike. You know the type – big boots, khaki shorts, checked shirt and leather hat and a lot of his words began with the letter F. One of the backpackers asked him if he had seen any crocodiles. ‘Mick Dundee’ quickly warmed to the theme. He said ‘Well, there are two types mate – a smaller one with a long thin snout. He won’t do you much harm but there is a bigger one with a broader fatter snout. He’s pretty dangerous’. Bearing in mind that we are talking about one of the most deadly creatures on earth, so perfectly engineered to kill that it has scarcely changed in 2 million years the casual way he put it seemed quite understated to us. Later, driving the coastal road to Kalbarri we were discussing a possible canoe trip on the Murchison River and also joking about Mick Dundee’s crocodile conversation. We thought that if on our canoe trip we found a nice area for swimming and a crocodile swam by providing he had a pointy nose we could throw him a ball or something and then spend the rest of the afternoon playing with our new best friend. But, if he was a bigger one with a fat face then we wouldn’t even get a chance to throw the ball.
With that thought we drove on and passed a huge pink lake near Port Gregory. It is caused by a naturally occurring beta-carotene and is farmed for use as a vitamin A supplement and colouring agent. It really looked quite stunning against the blue sky.
We arrived in Kalbarri late afternoon and checked in at our next campsite.
