ON THE WAY TO EASTER HOLIDAY

16/04/2014    On the road to Kalbarri Linda and I are going on the Easter/Anzac Day 8 day break with the Action Outdoor Association  www.aoa.asn.au . This is a great group located in Perth that arrange cycling, kayaking and bush walking trips each weekend, plus occasional weekends where all three activities can be included.  We decided to really splash out and leave two days early with Linda’s camper van so we could explore the coast line on the way north (approx 600kms). First stop was the Pinnacles, these are limestone formations contained within the Nambung National Park. The raw material for the limestone came from seashells. The pinnacles featuring Linda’s new and trusty camper van. You wouldn’t want to be stuck here on a dry and windy day! We stopped for the night at Coronation Beach, only to find it full up. Being tired and foolhardy we parked in the no camping car park and went to sleep, only to be woken up by a ranger at 5.30am (a bit rude we thought) and told that if we weren’t gone in 30 minutes we would get $100 fine. So off we went, up the hill to the nearest parking spot, where we resumed our sleep. Upon awakening, we decided we’d go back to the beach for breakfast as it was such a beautiful place. Well worth the effort, especially for me, as I walked down to the beach and saw….. a sea eagle perched on this sign.  That really made my day, to see one up so close and watch it fly off. The Pink Lake (Hutt Lagoon), the water of the lake is bring pink in color due to the presence of two types of algae that produces a reddish-orange organic pigment called Beta-Carotene, that is used commercially as a coloring pigment in food and medicines. Hutt Lagoon is the world’s largest system of algae farms dedicated to the production of this pigment. The 14 km long by 2 km wide lagoon is separated from the Indian Ocean by a beach barrier ridge and barrier dune system. Hutt Lagoon is fed by marine waters seeping through the barrier ridge, but high evaporation rates barely balances the net influx of salt, resulting in high levels of salinity that is constant throughout the year. During the summer about 95% of the surface is a dry salt flat.