Roadtrip to Kalbarri.

Last week we had the pleasure of boyfriend's mum visiting us here in Western Australia, and we hired a car to tour the vast bushy coastline to North for five days. We had really good time, beautiful views, delicious food and some sunny weather too. Here are some pictures from the roadtrip.

The Pinnacles Desert at sunset. The shadows were long and the atmosphere magical.

There were a lot of Pinnacles!

The colours changed with the setting sun.

And the evening sky was the darkest blue.

A rainy morning in Cervantes made the beach even more beautiful. After Cervantes we stopped in Jurien Bay for fish and chips, and Geraldton for the night and trip to the museum.

Pink Lake near Port Gregory. The colour was quite intense and comes from beta-carotene produced by halophilic alga Dunaliella salina.

Coastal cliffs of Kalbarri by the Indian Ocean - next stop Africa. I could stand here for ages watching the waves hit the rocks... if it wasn't raining! Also, we spotted a Sea Lion swimming in the sea.

What would holiday pics be without one with a huge Bougainvillea bush (notice the bike as a reference)?

We climbed up to a whale-watching tower, and I was handed a pair of binoculars and told to spot a whale. Usually I do what I'm told, so I managed to spot a group of migrating Humpback Whales spraying water out in the ocean!

Rainbow Jungle had a huge collection of all kinds of amazing exotic birds, Australian and otherwise. These birds were Lovebirds, and I think they were the cutest! I also learned a lot: not to walk under beams in the huge walk-in bird cage, and that the Rainbow Lorikeets that are so abundant in Perth were originally introduced into the area by animal activists releasing them from their cages... and now they're so numerous that they're considered as pests and they have taken over some of the native bird species.

My boyfriend managed to convince us that quadbiking would be a great way to see the nature... and he was absolutely right! It also was great fun!

The wildflowers were starting to flower, the spring is slowly coming! The quadbike in these pictures is the one I drove with boyfriend's mum on the passanger seat at the back.

The Little Red Hill, which truly held its name.

The view from our little apartment balcony in Kalbarri. I could've stayed there for so much longer!

The Murchison River runs through the Kalbarri National Park, and it was gorge-ious.

During the winter rains the river is much bigger, but now it was still and beautiful.

On the drive up north we saw a lot of different types of bushland, coastal vegetation, salt lakes, and some farmed land. All of the vegetation has to cope with the hot summers as well as the wind from the ocean. This is one of the wind-sculpted, leaning trees of Greenough.

And eventually we had to return to Perth. I don't think I've posted a pic of the city centre (CBD; central business district) before, so here goes!

After the trip to Kalbarri, I had to return back to work but it didn't prevent boyfriend and his mum enjoying Perth sightseeing, including some Aborginal art galleries and the Aquarium. For the evenings we managed to cram so delicious dinners as well as catching the final Harry Potter in 3D. And on the Saturday before her flight back home we went on a wine tasting cruise in Swan Valley, which was heaps of fun although the Water's Edge wines were too close to their name (watery).

This week has been a busy one at work, as on Sunday we're flying to Melbourne for a week as I'm attending a conference there. Really looking forward to it; seeing another part of Australia and the city which is meant to be the cultural centre of the continent!