heading to Kalbarri National Park. It was lunch time by the time we got there so we made some sandwiches and sat in the sun (and flies) to eat them. Then we headed off on the Loop, an 8km hike starting and ending at Nature's window. Nature's window is a natural rock through which there is a lovely view of the Murchison Gorge. There was a big sign warning us not to attempt the walk unless you are cautious, fit and agile, prepared to scramble, confident with heights, with a companion and carrying water. Obviously we completely ignored this sign. We're young and fit (well Matt's fit, and I'm young) and it's only 8km - how hard it can it be? There's no way it could take us 3 - 4 hours anyway and neither of us could be bothered carrying a big bottle of water. Big mistake!The walk started off quite well. The instructions were pretty simple -- start out at Nature's window and keep the river on your right, follow the markers and eventually you arrive back at Nature's window. The first few km were fine, but then we had to climb down into the gorge, and when we got there the most obvious route seemed to be to the right even though that put the river on our left. Without thinking about it too much we carried on right....thinking we might have to cross the river at some point. After walking for about 10mins it became clear we weren't sure where we were going....we just coudn't understand why the river was on our left and if we needed to cross the river. After some discussion (with Matt trying to blame me) and some climbing up rocks to get a better view (with Matt showing his very childish side but making sure he climbed higher than me) we decided to head back as we must have gone the wrong way. Eventually we were back at the sign we had looked at briefly about 45 mins beforehand -- this time we studied it a bit more carefully and it seems we should have gone left on entering the gorge. At this stage we were both starting to get tired, hot and thirsty. Still not far to go to get back right? We must have covered 4km already. Unfortunately the trail back was quite difficult, and we had to
scramble over lots of rocks and try to avoid falling into the gorge, and follow signs like the one in the photo. Very confusing. Also there were thousands of flies buzzing around us all the time -- very annoying. When a couple ahead of us stopped for a rest and a drink it was all I could do not to mug them for their water. Finally we spotted Nature's window again and we were on the home straight -- almost. For some reason when we climbed back up the rocks to the car park level we ended up going the wrong way again and walking away from our destination. We worked that out soon enough though and finally we made it back the car park, desperate for some water. We were delighted to gulp back bottles of water which were now almost at boiling point having been left in the car in the sun all afternoon.By this time it was late afternoon, so we went for a quick visit to Z-bend, another lookout over the gorge before heading back to the campsite, for a well deserved rest. Tonight we cooked on the campsite's free BBQ -- beef kebabs and sausages....delicious! Tomorrow we're going to drive to Monkey Mia...another long drive...and if we can manage it we're going to get up early to watch pelican feeding here. I'm a little concerned that my neck and arms are very red after a day in the sun with no sun cream on. Doh!
