A WILDLIFE EXTRAVAGANZA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
By Trina Caufield-Holt

Then we headed to "The Loop" where we did an incredible hike. On the way down, we stopped at the Natural Window, a rock arch which framed spectacular views. Because of the recent rains the river side was brilliant green, verdant and fresh looking. We decided to head down to the river for a swim (Ian was more keen than me) and to eat our packed lunch. Once we got down there the water didn't look quite so inviting, again because of the rains it was churned up and muddy, as well as a bit smelly. We saw some huge termite mounds and Ian had a fleeting glance of a wild pig. We also saw a couple of red kangaroos and some feral goats.

It was a great walk along the river's edge, interesting and colourful rock formations, almost every shade of red and orange. We met a few people as we went along who looked at us dubiously and asked why we were doing the walk the wrong way round? The truth is we hadn't really planned to do the walk to start with, but changed our minds once we were down by the river. Nevertheless, we carried on, thinking that it couldn't be that different doing the walk this way.

One fellow we met mentioned that we would have to look out for a small gorge with waterfalls flowing down it that we would need to climb up. All we needed to do was follow the stone cairns. Simple, you'd think! Unfortunately we couldn't find it and we eventually ran out of path! We did pass something that could possibly have been it, but there were piles of cairns everywhere, pointing in almost any possible direction you could go in, except UP!

We also seemed to have run into SPIDER country - spiders who would drape their webs across the path between trees so that you could walk straight into them. Great huge scary looking spiders, sometimes with 4 or 5 on one web. They would all vibrate when you touched the web, anticipating their yummy meal to come! Neither Ian or I are particularly arachnophobic, but this scared the *$@#& out of us!! It was like being in a horror movie, giant spiders everywhere you turned, it really made my spine tingle and my flesh crawl. It turns out that they were probably harmless Golden Orbs, but we didn't know this at the time and even so, I wouldn't have wanted one in my face!

We both got a bit nervous about how far out of the way we had come and how far back it would be, which was not helped by the scary spiders everywhere. Anyway, as the path had finally run out, we decided that we must go UP - which we did. We headed up an incline where we could see other people had been, scrambling up the cliff.

Ian acted as scout and headed to the top and luckily found some cairns - HOPE! I followed to where he had rediscovered the path and headed off in the direction that we guessed we should go. Though Ian is a geographer, he does not have a good sense of direction, and nor is he much cop at reading maps, but fortunately I am. After a while we found a lookout point and Ian said, "Oh that thing way off in the distance there, must be Z bend", but I looked and I said "No, that's where we're parked!" We both swallowed and thought how very far away it looked, and that it would be at least another hour away - our feet were on the verge of blisters and our legs ached.

Surprisingly, it didn't take us that long, the track was pretty well marked (those fickle cairns!) and we made quite fast pace. What a relief to get back to the van - phew! It had taken us about four hours in all, the guidebooks had estimated six, so not bad considering we got lost in Valley of the Monster Spiders! We were exhausted but happy to be safe and sound.

We headed 'home' to have delicious showers and to investigate dinner at Finlays Fish BBQ, an infamous place to eat in Kalbarri. You sit outside at wooden benches around a roaring fire, or because it started to rain, under cover. They have all kinds of fish, which you have battered or BBQ'd, and they do delicious rice and veggies with it.

If you're broke you can literally 'sing for your supper', which two guys did the night we were there. It was heaven, watching the rain through the soft lights, and listening to the guitarists singing in the background.

Day 4: STROMATOLITES AND MONKEY MIA