Ascot Rotarian Jeff Stephenson and his wife Donna took a quick trip north to Kalbarri and discovered that all was not as idyllic as we thought it should be in this tourist hot spot.
Jeff and Donna managed to head north to Kalbarri for a few days of respite. On route they stopped in at the Pinnacles and dined at the Crab Shack in nearby Cervantes. The Crab Shack was built to seat about 300 people but on the day they were there not that many people were dining in. They also stopped in on Geraldton to view the Memorial to the HMAS Sydney - and found that the 75th Anniversary celebrations for peace in the Pacific was being celebrated at the same time. Once they arrived in Kalbarri they headed to the only accommodation available to them. It was a shared place with friends as they could not find any other available accommodation. They found time to head out to the newly opened Skywalk where the views were spectacular. A major upgrade to facilities within the park was a pleasing feature, making it easier for everyone to get around. Not so pleasing was the issue that the local hospitality industry people were facing - which was the lack of staff. This was due to the fact that there was no reasonably priced accommodation available for them to be housed as there were literally no places available to rent. The cost of putting staff up at motels was prohibitive so despite the opening up of the state to tourists the local people were finding it very hard to accommodate those who are willing to travel. Finding booking opportunities is limited and Jeff indicated that most places are booked solidly until October. Local food places are in a bind as they cannot open full time to meet the needs of travellers for food as they do not have enough staff to stay open.
Jeff said that he'd been up this way about 30 - 40 years ago and it had been a very pleasant experience to retrace his steps. Kalbarri is close enough that people could get there in a day if they set their minds to it. One of the other things he mentioned was that they had the opportunity to see whales out in the water as they headed south for the summer.
President Michael indicated that he had been to Kalbarri for his honeymoon.
[Ed: it may have changed someone President Michael. Thanks Jeff for your very informative talk, despite it being Plan C on your planning list!]
