10 May 2013 - Kalbarri Tudor Caravan Park, Kalbarri, Western Australia

We missed the solar eclipse just after sunrise this morning. We had sat up late re-watching a thriller and were in no hurry to wake. It was too cold to be out of bed; we are not used to temperatures of about 12 degrees on rising. However we were back on the road soon after 9 am, and covering the last seventy nine kilometres through to Kalbarri out on the coast. We had camped just thirteen kilometres north of the turnoff, and so were soon enjoying the better road, albeit narrow with soft edges. Most of the approach road to the seaside town of Kalbarri passes through the heath-land of the Kalbarri National Park. We passed the turnoffs into the park, the access routes into the gorges we will visit tomorrow.

Views north back over Kalbarri

Kalbarri is a very modern settlement, with just 2,000 people, established in 1951. There are a lot of very smart houses, quite unlike all those we have seen through the north. These remind us of New Zealand and our own home, currently rented.

We were set up before lunch in this excellent and friendly caravan park, lunched and then headed out to visit the sights along the coast in the southern section of the National Park; Red Bluff, Mushroom Rock, Pot Alley and Eagle Gorge. We walked only to the lookout points rather than taking the longer trails along the coast. Here the coast is rugged, spectacular and the cliffs dangerous.

The coastline around Kalbarri is notorious for wrecks, mutinies and executions, the most famous of these the demise of the Batavia which shipwrecked on islands off shore from here in 1629, with only about forty of the 322 on board lost. The captain, Francisco Pelsaert, and a few others, took the ship’s boat and set sail for Batavia, the place, now Jakarta, for help. He left the rest of the survivors on Beacon Island with as many supplies that could be salvaged from the wreck. Left to their own devices on the island, waiting for unlikely rescue, a mutineer took charge of those left behind, terrorising and murdering 125 of those who did not toe the line. Unexpectedly Captain Pelsaert turned up to rescue them and found mayhem on the island. Once he managed to resume control, he erected a gibbet and executed the mutineer and his followers, chopping off their hands first. Two of the younger mutineers were spared this gruesome end, and instead marooned on the mainland near Kalbarri; at Wittecarra Creek if the cairn is correctly sited. There is nothing to explain what became of these two first white Australian settlors. Their names were Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom. 

Perhaps they were integrated into aboriginal society and fathered a line of progeny. Sadly four hundred years has erased the stories. Googling the shipwreck and resulting drama turns up a whole lot more bizarre facts; I would be interested in getting hold of a book about the Batavia affair.

We turned back after Eagle Gorge, shopped for a couple of provisions at the IGA and returned to camp for a quiet afternoon. We have since caught up with Larissa, or rather, with our granddaughter, India; always a delight. I have prepared our lunch for tomorrow and we will be up and away early for a day’s exploration of the National Park.