Kalbarri is a part of the traditional lands of the Nanda people who were recognised as the traditional owners of more than of land and water in the Yamatji region, in Western Australia, on. 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 first European people to visit the area were the crew of the trading ship Batavia, belonging to the Dutch East India Company, who put two mutinous crew members ashore near Bluff Point just south of the town. The cliffs near the river mouth were named after another trading ship, the 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.
Tourism
The town is geared towards tourism and fishing, with attractions including the daily pelican 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 powerline from the central grid. To increase grid stability, a 5MW/2MWh grid battery is installed. The Kalbarri National Park is home to a phenomenon of geography and geology known as the Z Bend, a walking track, and "Nature's Window", a rock formation overlooking hundreds of kilometres of Murchison River. The Rainbow Jungle, located a few kilometres south of the town centre, features hundreds of exotic species of birds in their native habitat plus a walk-in cage allowing humans to interact with the birds. Red Bluff and other coastal cliffs and formations are located south of the town.
Climate
Kalbarri lies in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone. Winters are mild with warm days and occasional heavy precipitation, while summers are hot and dry.
Kalbarri was featured at the end of the film Wolf Creek when character Ben Mitchell was airlifted to hospital from Kalbarri Airport. In the television series Prison Break, character James Whistler states he is originally from Kalbarri.
