On leaving Winnemia, we headed back to Gascoyne Junction and took the Byro-Woodleigh Road, joining up with NW Coastal Hwy just north of Overlander Roadhouse. Going this way is significantly shorter than going to Carnarvon and then running down the highway. It is also much more pleasant, far less traffic and absolutely full of goats! Neither of us have ever seen that many goats in such a short period of time. Our destination was Murchison House Station, Kalbarri where we elected to cross the river, turn right and find a spot in the “Upstream” camping area. Tucked in underneath the rock ledge provided respite from the ever-present Kalbarri wind. Once again, we had the spot to ourselves, as the majority of people towing elected a “Downstream” camping spot
The Station provided us with a station map (on returning it, the deposit paid was refunded), together with trip notes. A leisurely start the next day saw us pack a picnic lunch and tackle the River Road upstream. River Road was sandy, rocky and provided a fun 4WD-ing day. Possibly the highlight was “The Tunnel”, a roofless tunnel created by water erosion. The return High Road was mostly a corrugated, soft, sandy road, although it did have a firm base, given the time of year.
The following day we did the River Road downstream, again following the trip notes. The view from Castle Rock down the river and over the station was spectacular. As was looking westwards, with a blue sky, a deep blue ocean and white foam at the base of the red cliffs plunging into the sea. Another fun 4WD-ing day, including a view of Kalbarri from over the river at Town Beach.
We then started the homeward trip on the Mullewa-Wubin Road, with the intention of camping at Caron Dam Reserve. However, the weather was setting in and there were already a lot of people there, so we kept on moving. We spent the night at Wongan Hills where, for a small donation, you can camp in the carpark at the recreational grounds. Our last day was spent meandering through the countryside, trying to stay off main roads as much as possible and eventually popping out at Williams. From there it was home via Collie.
All up, we did some 4,500kms which was very achievable in the just over 3-weeks holiday we had. It needs to be remembered we planned the holiday around 5 nights at Warriedar with TCWA, but I would recommend including Warriedar in any Upper Murchison-Inland Gascoyne trip.
Dale Winfield