Day 144 – Kalbarri National Park

Today was going to be a warm day, so we had a fairly swift morning of getting ready and heading out to the National Park.

The girls were excited to have the company of the 3 boys for the day and it definitely made the walks enjoyable for the adults as well with busy kids and much more enthusiasm for the outdoors.

Our first stop for the day was Z-bend, a beautiful lookout with views all across the valley. It was really impressive and everyone was keen to explore a little more and head down to the river. Nature didn’t disappoint between the amazing views and beautiful flora all around us on the walk.

The walk itself was fun and adventurous with tight crevices in spots and ladders to climb down to keep the kids busy and distracted.
Scarly even walked a chunk of it, but once the ladders appeared she was back in the carrier for a quicker and safer descent.

Down at the bottom, the water was a bit too stagnant to swim, but we enjoyed sitting in the shade with some snacks and chatting for a while. The kids promptly found some rocks to explore and kept themselves busy once all the snacks were eaten.

The climb up was a little harder as the temperature was really starting to warm up a bit by now, but everyone did the team proud as we arrived at the top and the kids collapsed in a heap on the floor. At least everyone finally drank a decent amount of water!

Then it was off to the skywalk, an incredible suspended structure above the valley with stunning views either side. Now this definitely didn’t exist when Chris and I last visited and it was an impressive view, that’s for sure. Now thing to get nice photos of everyone with said impressive view is a lot harder when everyone is already tired… ha

Some lollies and cold water helped with the final push for the day to visit Nature’s window. It’s such a gorgeous view from up there and makes for a lovely photo, but as it is always busy you feel the pressure to get your photo and let the others through. I think we did alright in the end 😊

It was really starting to warm up by then and the kids were seeking shelter at every possible step. By the time we got to the top, the thermometer was actually showing 35C, which felt hot! A poor lady nearby felt very dizzy upon completing the walk and we all rallied behind her to get her back to her car. When we saw her a little later in town she was back to herself, which was nice to see. It was also a great lesson for the girls to help strangers if we can and to remember to drink water & stay in the shade in hot conditions…

Back in town we grabbed some well deserved ice creams followed by some yummy fish & chips by the water. A bit of a backwards order, but the kids definitely deserved the ice creams first after an epic effort of hiking today!

We enjoyed it by the water’s edge and the park, where the kids had a great time playing with the boys. Jazzy also got to chat to her bestie and after we went for a dip in the ocean, so a perfect day.