HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kalbarri is a coastal town in the Mid West region located north of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. The town is located at the mouth of the Murchison River, which has an elevation of . It is connected by public transport to Perth via
Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport between Perth and the ...
coach services N1 and N2.


History

Kalbarri is a part of the traditional lands of the Nanda people, who were recognised as the
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of more than of land and water in the Yamatji region, in Western Australia, on 28 November 2018. Nanda people have been awarded exclusive native title rights over several key areas including Paradise Flats, Bully, Wilgie Mia, Mooliabatanya and Syphon pools. The story of the Beemarra serpent is the central Dreaming story of Nanda people. The Beemarra is, according to Nanda culture, an ancestral being responsible for the creation of the land and waters in the region. Kalbarri was named after an Aboriginal man from the Nanda tribe and is also the name of an edible seed. The cliffs near the river mouth were named after a trading ship, '' Zuytdorp'', that was wrecked there in 1712. The area became a popular fishing and tourist spot in the 1940s, and by 1948 the state government declared a townsite. Lots were soon surveyed and the town was gazetted in 1951. In April 2021 the town suffered serious damage from Tropical Cyclone Seroja.


Tourism

The town is geared towards tourism and fishing, with attractions including the daily
pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
feeding, the Kalbarri National Park, Murchison River Gorge and the Murchison River. There are two charter boats to go on to view the Murchison River. The town attracts 200,000 tourists every year, with the population of the town swelling to 8,000 during holiday seasons. Electricity to the town and hotels is supplied by a fragile 33kV power line from the central grid. To increase grid stability, a 5MW, grid battery is installed. The Kalbarri National Park is home to a phenomenon of geography and geology known as the Z Bend, a tourist lookout, and Nature's Window, a rock formation overlooking the Murchison River. Red Bluff and other coastal cliffs and formations are located south of the town. The Rainbow Jungle (The Australian Parrot Breeding Centre), was severely damaged by the 2021 cyclone and is permanently closed.


Climate

Carnamah possesses a
hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
( Köppen: BSh) with hot, dry summers and very mild, somewhat rainy winters. Average maxima vary from in February to in July, while average minima fluctuate between in February and in July. Annual
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
is rather low, (averaging ), and is spread across 62.6 precipitation days. However, on 11 April 2021 the town was struck by Category 3 Cyclone Seroja, causing significant damage and causing widespread power outages. The town is very sunny, experiencing 185.9 clear days and only 59.9 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 20 January 2025 to on 24 July 1979.


In popular culture

Kalbarri was featured at the end of the 2005 film '' Wolf Creek'' when character Ben Mitchell ( Nathan Phillips) was airlifted to hospital from Kalbarri Airport. In the television series ''
Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...
'', character James Whistler states he is originally from Kalbarri.


References

{{Authority control Coastal towns in Western Australia Shire of Northampton