Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

Kalbarri - West Australia
Gap Year Travel Journal

Text By Jo and Pix By Mike

(25th - 27th February) Kalbarri
We spent two nights camping in Kalbarri, at the mouth of the Murchisson River. It really is a beautiful place situated in the middle of the Kalbarri National Park. From a cloudy first morning on Australia Day, it cleared up into a gorgeous sunny day. We headed off into the National Park to go and explore the gorges of the Murchisson River. This meant driving 60km (about 40 miles) on a dirt track. Great if you have a 4WD but not so great if you have a camper van. Never mind, we were determined to see the gorge so we grit our teeth and thundered into the bush. Every bone in our body was shaken to the core and the sound was deafening! But the trip was well worth it. The first view point gave us a panoramic view over the river winding its way far below us through the red and yellow rocks. A very serene but dramatic view. The second viewpoint involved a 1km round walk – not very far in normal circumstances but a marathon in temperatures over 40 degrees with only a slight breath of wind! We were again rewarded with fantastic views but with the added bonus of Nature’s Window, a natural hole created in the rock at the top of the gorge, which beautifully frames the river gorge down below on the other side. This must be one of the most popular photos in the gorge and we had seen it in all the tourist guides. So here are our classic tourist shots to add! That evening we joined a sunset cruise up the Murchisson to see it from a different angle. What we hadn’t expected was to see so much wildlife. We saw at least 10 kangaroos on the shores, feeding and drinking water, but the main highlight was seeing a mother with a joey in her pouch peering back at us around its mother’s paws. A strange sight of 4 dark eyes staring back at you! We also saw a white bellied sea eagle, an osprey and pelicans. The boat stopped for us to climb to the top of a sand dune where we were rewarded with panoramic views over the countryside with the river meandering through it – awesome! Once back on dry land, we treated ourselves to fish and chips (no cod or haddock here – we had snapper!) and sat on the beach eating them while watching the big firework display across the estuary to celebrate Australia Day. A fantastic end to a brilliant day.

Highlights of our gap year travel adventure:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.