We stayed at Kalbarri for four weeks at The Tudor caravan park, noted as a Family Friendly park and we agree, it certainly was! They looked after us on price and we found the management & staff very friendly.It's not far at all from the main street of town,within easy walking distance,they have a great pool and a small playground for little kids ,clean & tidy amenities and there's an oval and skate park opposite.And of a late afternoon and also in the night some of the biggest roo's we have ever seen pay a visit to the park along with a few rabbits! The following is a video link of one afternoon at the park with the roos!
http://youtu.be/vhaJJb-jcOo
Here's a link to The Tudor caravan park website! http://tudorholidaypark.com.au/
The Kalbarri welcome sign
We used Kalbarri as a base and had day trips out to the sites around the surrounding areas of Kalbarri one very interesting place was The Hutt River Province which is roughly about 80k's south of Kalbarri. Hutt River is an Independent Sovereign State having seceded from Australia on the Twenty First Day of April 1970.Here is there website which explains more about the province http://www.hutt-river-province.com/ We all found our visit there interesting and being the only visitors for around an hour we had a good chance to speak with Princess Shirley and ask her many questions of how The Hutt River Province started out,lovely lady and she was more than happy to share her life stories of the last 42 years since the place started! While there we also had a chance to have our passports stamped for the first time so officially we left the country even though it was only for a day, this was done in the Administration Building containing the Government Office and Post Office just one of a couple buildings which are within the grounds.Throughout the province housed in the two main buildings are the many gifts to Princess Shirley and King Leonard which have come from all around the world and allot from royalty these gifts range from small coin collections to two Rolls Royce cars parked up in their garage and even equipped with the Hutt River Province flag and royal emblem on the sides of both cars.
While there we also met up with a Austrian couple who are touring Australia in a very well equipped left hand drive 4x4 we talked to these guys for a while & helped them out with marking on their map a few must see’s throughout a couple of states.
Before leaving we caught up with Prince Leonard and also had a chat with him,nice bloke and a very intelligent man even they he seems to have been branded extremely eccentric!
A statue of Prince Leonard's Head
The Hutt River Province Flag
Below is The Government Building containing the post office ,this is where you have your passport stamped upon entry and also where you can see the display of many gifts that Princess Shirley & Prince Leonard have received from all over the world over the years.
Government Building
The Entry into Hutt River Province
There is also camping available for those that would like to stay a night or more ,there’s plenty of room with clean amenities and even a swimming pool for those hot days.Pets are welcome!
Inside the church where a few weddings have taken place!
Inside the church and in the background the two thrones that Princess Shirley and Prince Leonard sit on during special occasions.
The outside of the church
Walking around the grounds of the province
On the way home after visiting The Province we also stopped in at the Southern end of Kalbarri National Park where we walked out to Natural Bridge and Island Rock,great views of the coastline from both of these lookouts!
Part of the coastline south of Kalbarri
Natural Bridge
Island Rock
From Kalbarri one day we also made a point of visiting all the side roads that lead off the coastal road to Geraldton,some of these roads take you to Mushroom Rock,Rainbow Valley,Eagle Gorge and Pot Alley a place we visited twice,once on a nice day when the ocean was calm and also on another day when it was quite rough,so rough to the point the waves were crashing onto the rocks at the end of the alley where we had been standing on the earlier visit.
Pete sitting up on the Cliff filming the kids at Pot Alley
The beach at Pot Alley
Once again the beach at Pot Alley
The sunsetting while the kids look for shells
At the end of the Ajana Kalbarri Rd which takes you through Kalbarri National Park is a turn off which takes you by Warribanno Chimney a chimney from 1854 the base is all that remains of the 105ft stack.It was the first smelter mine in WA and one of the oldest in Australia.On the walk up to the chimney make sure you stop off half way and sign the visitor's book which can be found inside a old fridge.Once up the top at the chimney stick your head in for a look and you can see the tunnel leading off at the bottom of the shaft but be warned when we did it stunk! something must of died down there.After walking back down the hill we walked around to where the tunnel came out from the chimney but decided against venturing in though.
On the walk up to Warribanno Chimney
The Warribanno Chimney
The view from the Warribanno Chimney
In the area of The Geraldine Mine which was on the Murchison River
Not too far from The Warribanno Chimney is the old Geraldine Mine which was active back in the 1850's to 60's, it took us a bit to find this place and a few wrong turns but eventually we found the area.There's allot of piles of rubble and a fair bit is scattered throughout the the overgrown bush.Across the river is where the original cemetery still stands and also a stone building that lay in ruin.
Part of The old Geraldine Mine area
A old open mine shaft that we came across and a pretty deep one too! We threw a rock down and it took quite a long time to hit the bottom.This is one thing you need to be careful of when visiting this area,as this mine shaft was one of many we spotted that day.There's quite allot scattered throughout the area and some partially covered up.
