The dramatic coastal cliffs of Kalbarri’s Red Bluff offer amazing views over the ocean, perfect for whale watching! In fact, we were lucky enough to view whales migrating when we were there! See the pictures and learn more about the iconic Kalbarri region of Western Australia.
Note: This article has been re-shared onto DirtyDrifters from Tahnee’s other blog, www.PerthGirl.com.au
🌞 Kalbarri is the ultimate adventure playground that’s part of Australia’s Coral Coast. 💦
Located 6 1/2 hours from Perth, it’s blessed with warm and sunny weather for most of the year, featuring the unique Murchison river, magnificent coastal cliffs and ancient, rugged inland gorge landscapes. It’s a very popular destination for mini road trips, as Kalbarri is especially family friendly with budget accommodation, dining options, supermarkets, playgrounds and a foreshore.
What makes Kalbarri so unique is its two very distinctly different landscapes. East of town are inland river gorges with rock formations as old as 400 million years in Kalbarri National Park, while the south features towering ocean cliffs plummeting to the waves below, along with gorgeous white sandy beaches.
Just look at the pictures below to see the beautiful contrast in these two landscapes…
☀ Here’s the rugged, earthy landscape of Kalbarri National Park 🍁
I’m a home-grown, Australian-made girl, yet I still act like a foreign tourist taking pictures with everything. Kangaroo signs are common here in WA, especially on country roads.
At the West Loop Lookout in Kalbarri National Park.
Standing near Kalbarri National Park’s Nature’s Window, overlooking the river.
Looking out from the Z-Bend Lookout at Kalbarri National Park.
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💦 And then you get the coast featuring towering ocean cliffs & sandy beaches! 🌊
At Kalbarri’s coast, you can see the evidence in real time – how the wind, waves, and salt spray from the Indian Ocean have helped carve a remarkable coastal landform on Kalbarri’s coastline.
Driving into Kalbarri, this is the view!
Walking on the cliff edge – beautiful, but mind your step!
COASTAL LANDMARKS: Red Bluff, Mushroom Gorge, Rainbow Alley and Pot Alley
The dramatic coastal cliffs of Kalbarri’s Red Bluff offer amazing views over the ocean, and its perfect for whale watching! (Spoiler alert – we saw whales, scroll down below for pics! yay!).
Red Bluff is currently rated the most popular thing to do on TripAdvisor in Kalbarri and for good reason. With cliffs towering 100 meters over the ocean below, it’s the ideal spot to see humpback whales which migrate along the Kalbarri coastline annually. In addition, Red Bluff, along with neighbouring landmarks, provide walkways along the cliff’s edge that make for great exercise (especially after a long road trip in the car!), so you can have invigorating walks in the fresh air and with amazing views.
You will also be amazed by the unique landscape of Red Bluff, where delicate threads of red rock look like tears frozen in time in formations believed to be over 400 million years old.
Other nearby dramatic coastal landmarks nearby include Mushroom Gorge, Rainbow Alley and Pot Alley.
You can get to Red Bluff and other nearby landmarks from Kalbarri Township on dirt roads which are accessible by conventional vehicles.
Check out more pics below:
🐳 WHALE WATCHING! 🐳
Yes this happened! We saw whales while at Mushroom Rock, one of Kalbarri’s popular coastal landmarks. We weren’t expecting to see them, but when we did, I got out my old faithful canon camera and x50 zoomed in on them! This is where we wished we brought binoculars with us! Fortunately out of the 30 hazy pictures I took, I did get a few good ones:
Amazing, right? This was hands down, the highlight of our trip. It was just us, sitting on the cliff rocks, watching the sunset while whale watching. Then we went into Kalbarri Town to have a seafood dinner. Ha. It really can’t get much more romantic than that.
See you again soon, Kalbarri!
TOURS IN KALBARRI
Local tour operators offer a range of exciting experiences, from abseiling and sand boarding to wilderness cruises, scuba diving tours, hiking tours, quad bike tours and scenic flight experiences. Search the list of Kalbarri Tours here.
ACCOMMODATION IN KALBARRI
There’s plenty of accommodation in the Kalbarri region to give you a comfortable stay while sightseeing the area. You can choose from superior apartments to the most comfortable budget accommodation in town. There’s also villas, townhouses and resort units to choose from. Search for available accommodation on sites like Kalbarri.org or Kalbarri Accomodation.
KALBARRI VISITOR CENTRE & CONTACT DETAILS
Located along the Kalbarri Town Foreshore, Grey St.
Phone: + 61 8 9937 1104 | Email: bookings@kalbarri.org.au
Monday – Saturday 9am-5pm / Sundays Off-Peak: 9am-1pm / Sundays On-Peak: 8am-5pm
Open all school & public holidays (except Christmas Day)
- Nature’s Window –360 degree image
- Official Kalbarri Website – https://www.kalbarri.org.au
- Download Kalbarri Maps
- Download Kalbarri National Park Information Walk Trail Guide
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There’s actually one more distinctive area nearby Kalbarri that’s particularly unique to the rest…
A Pink lake! Now that’s something unique and different!
Pink Lake is nearby (the nickname of ‘Hutt Lagoon’), a salt lake with a pink hue due to the presence of carotenoid producing algae, Dunaliella salina, which is a source of beta-carotene used as food-colouring agent and source of Vit-A in cosmetics and supplements. I visited this locally famous Pink Lake and wrote a blog on it.
It’s along the coastline up to Kalbarri Town, so it’s not that far of a detour at all. You should really check it out if you have the time. 
Read about my blog on the Pink Lake here. 
Me at the Pink Lake – it was so pink that day we visited!
