18TH August and we were on our way to Karijini National Park via Woodstock. To save going back to Port Hedland we decided to take this route even though it was a gravel road. Most of the 166klms to the Great Northern Highway was not too bad, but we did hit quite a large bump only to find out later the damage it caused. The scenery was just amazing as it changed so often. The countryside covered in Spinifex hills and differing colours of earth.
Once we hit the bitumen, The Great Northern Highway, it was a further 112klms. to the Albert Tognolini Rest Area where we camped for the night. During this part of the journey the highway was just a picture of colours with the wildflowers. So beautiful. Some of my photos don’t show enough justice. This area is on the eastern side of Karijini National Park and on top of the Munjini East Gorge, so we only had a short distance to travel the next day into Karijini. The views from here were just stunning especially during sunset and sunrise. As always a stroll around and you get to meet up with fellow travellers.
There are 2 main camp grounds in Karijini. Dales on the eastern side and Savannah on the western side. We chose Dales which is controlled by camp hosts and very well set out. Of course you have to be self-contained, but there were long-drop toilets. We made this our base for 4 nights while exploring the Park and the many Gorges. The only disappointing thing with National Parks is you cannot have an open fire, which we love to have. We walked Dales Gorge along the bottom through to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool after observing the scenery from the top. It was not that challenging going down, but quite steep in places and had to take it careful and steady. After reaching the bottom of the Gorge we discovered another lovely scene. The Circular Pool. A bit too cold for swimming but would be lovely in the summer.
Our camp at Dales was approx. 45klms. to the east of Savannah and we travelled the gravel road, which was quite good for day trips to all the other gorges.
We decided to only walk through Weano Gorge after visiting the lookouts of Joffre Gorge and Falls and Knox Gorge. It was quite a pleasant walk although at times a little narrow and slippery, but like a lot of walks it was worth it. You have to get some exercise somehow.
12klms from our camp was the Visitors Centre and well worth a visit as its display is set up to depict the early days of the original settlers and the aboriginals who worked on the stations. A further 2klms towards camp is a fresh water supply for campers. So to top up our tanks we filled our containers frequently so there was no worry about running out of water.
I almost forgot to mention during our travels in WA I have not even seen a snake up until coming back along the track from Fern Pool. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the rustle of leaves only to look over and see a brown snake sliding off behind the rocks. I was glad he didn’t decide to come my way, which was only about 2mtrs from me. Might not seem close for some, but it was to me. Too quick to get the camera out.
After our 4 days it was time to head towards Newman......
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