moloch
New member
After two nights at Cape Range, we drove to Hamelin Pool for a night (already posted) and then headed on to Kalbarri for another two nights. This park is in the heart of the wildflower belt but unfortunately our visit was too late in the year to see many flowers. Kalbarri was still a very scenic place and definitely worth a visit.
There were good tracks into the gorge cut by the Murchison River. The river has exposed rocks that were formed beneath a primeval sea.
The coastal cliffs were just as spectacular. Again, there were numerous tracks along these with many lookouts.
One of the tracks passed along cliffs that were riddled with fossilized worm tubes. The worms lived in the seabed during the Silurian period.
Here is a photo of the little town of Kalbarri and a nearby beach.
Most of the park was covered with unbroken arid shrubland. Plants in the protea family (Proteaceae) and myrtle (Myrtaceae) were especially numerous.
A pretty eucalyptus:
A native hibiscus:
Kalbarri was yet another excellent site for geckos. Geckos were numerous on the road and we found several species. Once again, I will provide an example below but will have many more pics of these and other animals in the next post.
White-spotted Ground Gecko (Diplodactylus alboguttatus)
I believe that this is a Western Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus granarensis). Originally, I thought that it might have been a pale Ornate Gecko (Diplodactylus ornatus), but after looking at Johan's photos, I think that it must be D. granarensis. Please let me know if this is not correct.
Common Dtella (Gehyra variegata)
Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis occidentalis)
Southern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus spinigerus)
Not a gecko but a beautiful and responsive Western Bluetongue (Tiliqua occipitalis)
There were good tracks into the gorge cut by the Murchison River. The river has exposed rocks that were formed beneath a primeval sea.
The coastal cliffs were just as spectacular. Again, there were numerous tracks along these with many lookouts.
One of the tracks passed along cliffs that were riddled with fossilized worm tubes. The worms lived in the seabed during the Silurian period.
Here is a photo of the little town of Kalbarri and a nearby beach.
Most of the park was covered with unbroken arid shrubland. Plants in the protea family (Proteaceae) and myrtle (Myrtaceae) were especially numerous.
A pretty eucalyptus:
A native hibiscus:
Kalbarri was yet another excellent site for geckos. Geckos were numerous on the road and we found several species. Once again, I will provide an example below but will have many more pics of these and other animals in the next post.
White-spotted Ground Gecko (Diplodactylus alboguttatus)
I believe that this is a Western Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus granarensis). Originally, I thought that it might have been a pale Ornate Gecko (Diplodactylus ornatus), but after looking at Johan's photos, I think that it must be D. granarensis. Please let me know if this is not correct.
Common Dtella (Gehyra variegata)
Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis occidentalis)
Southern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus spinigerus)
Not a gecko but a beautiful and responsive Western Bluetongue (Tiliqua occipitalis)
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