Wings of feather and aluminium.

30/7/16

First up today we rode to the Rainbow Jungle which boasts the largest walk through aviary in the southern hemisphere. I love birds, so I was pretty keen to get inside.

Here are a few of the inmates:

Now, Rainbow Jungle has a very large range of birds, including my favourites, Macaws. It's well laid out, and very clean, and the walk through aviary is very nice...but...

I did feel a little disappointed that there weren't more birds in the walk through instead of in smaller aviaries around the outside. The smaller aviaries just don't offer these guys the room they need to really enjoy themselves. I understand it's not economically viable to have a 10 acre aviariy, and some birds probably can't cohabit with others, but seeing beautiful Macaws in small aviaries made me feel very sad.

That said, the team at Rainbow Jungle are doing good work breeding birds that are endangered, or whose numbers are dropping, so that's really good news. It's a really good place to visit if you want to see a wide range of Aussie birds up close in one place. I enjoyed my visit and it's well worth a look if you're in Kalbarri.

Now it was time to swap our feathered wings for some aluminium ones, and take a scenic flight around Kalbarri.

On the way to the airport Andrew and I decided to practice our moonwalk moves.

Andrew is much more proficient.

We met Chris from Kalbarri Air Charter at the airport. As a mate said, "Is that the work experience kid flying the plane?" No Pete, Chris is a qualified pilot, even if he does only look twelve years old.

So it was up, up, and away in our little Cessna and off to see the Kalbarri cliffs, Abrolhos Islands, Pink Lake, and then a tour over the gorges on the way home...

Rainbow Jungle from the air.

The cliffs we were on yesterday.

Fishing shacks on The Abrolhos.

Crystal clear water.

Super tubes surf break.

Hutt lagoon, or Pink lake in contrast to the turquoise blue Indian Ocean.

Pink Lake is pink due to the presence of an algae that produces carotenoid. This is a source of beta-carotene which is used in food colouring, supplements, and cosmetics. See, this blog is educational and entertaining at the same time.

Probably Kalbarri's most famous features are the gorges. They are huge and run for miles and miles.

Here are a few random pics...

Chris then rolled the wing over and we turned for home. It was really cool seeing The Abrohlis and the gorges from the air, and something you don't get to do everyday, so notch up another new experience for Simon and Andrew. I'm sure there are more to follow...

Back on the ground safe and sound. A big thank you to Chris from Kalbarri Air Charters for avoiding all the bumps while we were up there. Well done Chris.

Tomorrow we venture further North. An easy 375 km to Denham in Shark Bay, another new experience for me.