KALBARRI 2 - THE MURCHISON RIVER, HAWK'S HEAD AND THE ROSS GRAHAM LOOKOUT (26 MAY 2014)

One of the real drawcards for those who visit Kalbarri is the Kalbarri National Park which virtually surrounds the township. Included in its 186,000 hectares are stretches of the coast immediately south of the town and vast tracts of land to the east. On the coast the action of the sea and wind over millennia has sculptured the rocks of the towering coastal cliffs into craggy layers of different coloured rock. 

Inland, the mighty Murchison River has scoured its way to the sea through the earthy Tumblagooda sandstone of the park plateau to create gorges with rocks formations as old as 400 million years. A number of different sites with associated walking trails and lookouts have been discovered and developed along the river's course through the park. These are monitored and maintained by the Department of Parks and Wildlife staff. A fee for entry is charged to visit the inland gorges. We felt quite smug as we pulled up at each checkpoint knowing that our prepaid National Parks entry sticker affixed (like the now defunct registration discs) to our front windscreen would grant us immediate access.

Many we came across in our caravan park made a real welter of their park visits, scurrying from one site to the next with frenetic haste. We chose a more leisurely approach.  One site at a time, spread over a number of the days of our stay, seemed a much more sensible approach. It also gave Liz a reason to drag me off the fishing beach for the day!

First on our agenda were the relatively closely located Hawk's Head and Ross Graham Lookout. These are both located about 30 kms from Kalbarri and are easily reached along the sealed Ajana-Kalbarri Road which traverses the park from west to east.

Before we gaze at nature's handiwork along the Murchison, a quick word about the river itself. I previously referred to it as the 'mighty' Murchison, and indeed, in WA terms, it is. This river, WA's second largest, drains a huge catchment. It starts its journey in the ancient lands of the Robinson Range near Meekathara some 500 kms or so to the north-east of Kalbarri.  From here it meanders for 820 kms across an ever changing landscape of dry plains, salt lakes, and rocky slopes, fed by many other smaller rivers in a catchment area of 82,000 square kilometres. To give that some perspective, that is an area larger than Tasmania.

Cyclonic rains in the north of the state dump massive falls of water onto the catchment which result in periodic torrential flows down the Murchison. Three weeks or so after these events the flood waters reach the ocean at Kalbarri when the silt laden waters stain the Indian Ocean in exactly the same fashion as the Irwin River which we saw at Port Denison.

With an acknowledgement to the Internet again, let me share two comparative shots to give an idea of the changes to which this estuary is seasonally subjected.

This is, by and large (the water was a little more turbid) what the river mouth looked like during our visit, when the upstream Murchison was a mere comparative trickle, 

and here is a photo of exactly the same area taken when the river was in full spate. What an extraordinary difference.

Enough of the geography lesson, back to our ramble of scenic discovery. This was the view out over the gorge which greeted us on our arrival at the Hawk's Head car park.

From here we wandered down the well constructed path thought the low scrub of the plateau 

to the lookout.

From here we could gaze on the nearby rock formation known as Hawk's Head, the jutting structure which can (just) be seen protruding from the cliff face at about mid shot.

The relevant tourist blurb describes this formation as 'aptly named'. To be frank, I found that equating this lump of rock with the head of a hawk demanded a real stretch of the imagination. 

But be that as it may, the surrounding scenery was stunning as we gazed upstream from the lookout.

From here we could also see across the National Park scrub which somehow thrives in the sandy soil.

Back to the cruiser and off to the Ross Graham lookout, named after Kalbarri's first school teacher, a man described as a "devoted conservationist" who spent a great deal of time exploring the Murchison River before his untimely and premature death in March 1967. He was only 30 years of age.

Here there is little infrastructure at the lookout, and the path to it goes beyond to the banks of the river below. And this is a path of parts. Its beginning is relatively flat and open from the car park 

to the 'lookout' from where views of the river downstream

and upstream were on offer.

For us, however, this was not enough....we were keen to see the river at much closer quarters. Off we went, down the trail

past tumbles of rock and scrub debris

through stands of white trunked gums

and across sandy flats

to the rocky bank of the river .

From here we could see kangaroos grazing on patches of green pick on the opposite bank where the sandy slopes were in compete contrast to the rocks of the side we stood on.

A short distance upstream the river had carved out another cliff face as it wound its way inexorably to the sea.

After a rest and time to take in all we were looking at, we began to retrace our steps. What comes down must go up!

And whilst looking down to make sure I remained upright in all these rocks, I spotted these imprints. Could this have been made by a creature now long dead and forgotten? Nothing like a jaunt through a wild environment to spark the imagination!

These are ancient rocks and in several spots along the way we saw how areas of the river gorge cliff faces were surrendering to the forces of weather and gravity.














And it was on climb out of the river gorge that I came across the first wild flowers of the season...a few strands of wattle which were the harbingers of things to come.

This was our first taste of the Murchison River cliffs and gorges. We were looking forward to visiting Nature's Window and Z Bend, another two local scenic wonders not to mention the coastal cliff sites of Mushroom Rocks, Pot Alley, Red Bluff, Natural Bridge, Island Rock and Rainbow Valley. And then there is always a visit to the Australian parrot breeding centre, The Rainbow Jungle, and that Australian anachronism, The Province of Hutt River. There is indeed much to do at Kalbarri (when the fishing is off.)