Just as the BOM predicted, the rain cleared overnight. It was still overcast and remained so until midday when the sun finally showed itself but the overcast conditions did not stop our Pink Lake Buggy Tour going ahead. The young couple that own the Caravan Park at Port Gregory also run the tour and the hour long tour was well worth the money.
The buggy is a six seater so five people can enjoy this tour that they run three times a day. At $80/head it is a lucrative business. One of the owners who took us on the tour today said that they had just sold the caravan park but were staying in Port Gregory so that they could still run Buggy Tour. Wise decision.
As we started our journey in the buggy I whispered to Philip that it felt like familiar territory. I would hate to add up how many kilometres we have travelled in a side by side buggy! Our journey started along the beach as our guide filled us in on the history of Port Gregory. The whaling industry was certainly a biggie back in the day but now it is all about the crayfish. There are four ships permanently based at Port Gregory. Our guide told us that Port Gregory has a population of forty with around thirty of them living in the caravan park (I think that was meant to be a joke!)
We left the beach and climbed up and over the sand dunes as we made our way to Hutt Lagoon or the Pink Lake. Hutt Lagoon is manmade and is surprisingly just twenty centimetres deep. It was built to specifically grow the algae that turns the lake pink. The algae is very rich in Beta Carotene that converts to Vitamin A. It sells for around $1000/litre so it is another lucrative business. Our guide showed us how once the algae is rubbed between the hands it instantly turns the hands orange. We all know that carrot - also heavy in Beta Carotene - will do this to your hands.
I was a little disappointed when we reached the lake as it was not as pink as I would have liked to see but in the ten minutes we were there the clouds cleared and the sun came out and almost immediately we could see the lake taking on its pinkish hue.
After the obligatory photo we once again boarded the buggy and continued our journey around the sand dunes and eventually made our way back to Port Gregory. There are more and more wildflowers and after the rain yesterday I guess they will be prolific in the next week or so.
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| Port Gregory |
It was midday by the time we arrived back at the van so we made ourself a quick lunch before we headed back to where we came from yesterday to walk the cliffs of Kalbarri National Park. I raved about Kalbarri National Park a couple of days ago when we walked the gorges and I said that it was world class. Walking the cliffs of Kalbarri underlined for me the greatness of this national park. It really has it all and it is a place you just cannot pass by if you are travelling this area. From the deep gorges that the Murchison River has carved to the towering cliffs that the Indian Ocean has carved. What National Park in the world has so much diveersity? None that I know of.
The boardwalk is just 1.5km from Natural Bridge to Island Rock and it is a beautifully laid out path that wanders ever so close to the cliffs edge. No place for anyone afraid of heights. The ocean is just so blue, bluer than anything I have ever seen on the east coast, and we watch pods of whales and dolphins pass below us. It is just the most magical place. As we walk along the boardwalk we spot a blue tongued lizard scurrying across the path and then hiding in the bushes. He really wasn't afraid of me taking his photo.
After this short walk we drove another four or so kilometres and then walked another kilometre to Shellhouse Grandstand that really does look like a grandstand with its tiers carved out in a seating arrangement. Gosh we really do live in the most beautiful country in the world and I don't think I ever want to leave Australian shores again! There is so much beauty right on our doorstep.
On our way home we once again stopped at Hutt Lagoon for a final photo, just because........
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