Kalbarri is a six hour drive up the coast from Perth. It's a small sleepy little coastal village whose main industries are fishing and tourism. Located on the mouth of the Murchison River, Kalbarri is great for fishing, swimming, snorkling, boating, golfing and generally relaxing. We did all of these things, and were lucky enough to avoid the crowds by going during the week and returning to Perth on the Sunday before the Bank Holiday.

One of the highlights of the trip was a drive out into the Kalbarri National Park where we toured the gorges along the coast as well as inland. The inland gorges were the most spectacular and reminded me of the Grand Canyon (not that I've been there of course).

We were heading to a feature called Nature's Window which was about 25km off the main road down a dirt track. I almost turned the car around after the first few hundred metres because I thought it was going to shake to pieces.

Karina told me you have to drive fast on these roads to skim over the corrugations in the hard dirt and that makes a smoother ride. So I was doing about 60kmph (40mph) down this thing, with the car going like a jack-hammer, and now sliding from side to side as well because of the speed. Not the most relaxing drive ever. I had sweat rolling down my forehead, battling like a fighter pilot to keep this baby from flying out of control or from breaking up, Cap'n, while Karina sat calmly in the passenger seat with her face in a book!!!

We finally got to Nature's Window just as the sun was going down, and then had to walk for about 15 minutes over the rocky valley sides to get to the window itself. But man was it worth it!!! What a spectacular view over the gorge, down onto the valley floor hundreds of feet below where a family of goats and kangaroos were grazing, the tranquility and silence interrupted only by the goats' cries. And then the window itself looking out over all this, like the ruins of some ancient castle.

Of course, then I had to face the inevitable - driving back down that track before dark!!! Now I know how Dad felt driving us all through the Gap of Dunlow in the van that time!!!!

We had two memorable meals. One was for our anniversary night and we went to one of the seafood restaurants in the town. The second was our last night which we spent at Finlays' Fish Barbecue. This place was mad. It was essentially a scrap yard with old cars, trucks, engines and general bric-a-brack scattered everywhere with wooden seats and tables positioned around camp fires. Then at the top end was the kitchen where you went to collect your fish n' chips and homemade damper (Aussi bread).

The food was great and we couldn't finish it, and we washed it down with a nice bottle of red. Then we heard an Irish accent and it turned out to be a girl from Galway with her Glaswegian boyfriend. They invited us over to their table which they were sharing with two pilots, one from Japan. So we had a wee seshoon compliments of their boxed wine. What a great night!!

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