Leaving Australia (only for ten minutes)- Australia

Campbell had worked on the Abrohols Islands off Geraldton on a pearl farm and he had also spent a bit of time landscape gardening there and so he was familiar with the town and had a lot of friends at the hostel we stayed at. It became our weekend stop after leaving the farm and driving via the Pinnacles. We had all sorts of weather throughout the weekend. Strong winds, lots of rain and some sunshine. Campbell had wanted to make it to Geraldton to see a musician he liked Carus Thompson play at one of the pubs. It was the only CD we were allowed to in the car on the three days we had spent in the car since leaving Perth and so when he played I knew almost every word. Campbell did know every word and was absolutely in his element. Campbell even got a shout out mid concert for a song he had requested.
In three days we had seen all Geraldton had to offer and so it was time to move on. Everything north of Geraldton was unfamiliar territory to Campbell and I. Our next destination became Campbell but on the way there we detoured to exit Australia and enter the Hutt River Province. We had been told they stamp your passports when you enter Hutt River but neither of us had our passports on us so we were unsure if we would be allowed in. We were and it was a little creepy as we were the only people there. The post office was open and I am fairly sure we met the Prince's wife Princess Her Royal Highness Princess Shirley of Hutt. The Principality became its own land on the 21 April 1970 after Prince Leonard was unhappy with the restrictions on wheat farming at the time.
The dirt road to Hutt River took us over about fifty kilometers of corrugations. It was something we had to get used to in Western Australia as many of the attractions are only accessible via dirt road. The car, or 'Mothership' as Campbell calls it was more red than green. The cliffs and surf beaches are one of the main highlights of Kalbarri and so we stopped many times on the drive in to check for waves, not finding a lot though. The sheer cliff drops were quite a sight though.
The other highlight of the town is the National Park and disappointingly a lot of rain had caused the closure of the road to the Z Bend and Loop Walk making it inaccessible for us. Deciding not to hang around to long we stayed only the one night checked out a couple of lookouts in the park which were still open before continuing on to Shark Bay.