A wave preempts a break in the Indian Ocean, south of Kalbarri.

Kalbarri is a coastal anomaly in Western Australia as it’s the only area in the southern half of the state where sandstone meets the ocean.  In general, south to Perth and north to the North West shelf, all of the cliffs are limestone.  This anomaly makes for a fantastic melange of contrasting colours.

Coastal sandstone fringed by low shrubs south of Kalbarri.

Where Ocean Meets Land; just south of Kalbarri at Red Bluff Head.

The last photo from the gorge for now shows the wonderful layers of sediment and the very clear definition between each.  Tomorrow it’s on to the ocean around Kalbarri!

As mentioned yesterday, the Z Bend is caused by a fault, which is clearly detailed in the left hand side of the image vanishing towards the centre.  The fault also allows for a lot of trees to get a start.

The Z Bend is a geological rarity where a river takes a 90° turn owing to a horizontal fault in the underlying rock.  The fault can be seen trailing off to the left in this image (I’ll post an up close of it tomorrow).  The fault allows water to erode out more easily the rock underneath, causing the water to take the path of least resistance and thus, a right hand turn.

Murchison Gorge, Kalbarri National Park.

Galah is both a quintessentially Australian word and animal, and never has a truer word been used, with perhaps the exception of the Sloth.  This playful lot were impressing the tourists at the head of the Loop Trail into the Murchison Gorge.

A small patch of moss colours the sandstone around the Loop, Kalbarri National Park.

Because of the very nature of the river, carving its way down through the host rock, there tends to be a lot of material depositied in the river bed.  Running strongly for only a few months of the year, the Murchison river takes on almost a channel like appearance as it snakes its way along the valley floor.