Bel and I left 80 mile beach reluctantly – I reckon there were more fish waiting me! Miles and miles of fishing heaven!
We headed off towards Karijini National Park. Another big drive ahead of us, we had planned to stay in Port Headland but decided to head straight there when the caravan park didn’t return our call.
I thought it was going to be about 500km, but miscalculated the entry into the park and it ended up being over 650km. The road to Port Headland was long and straight, lined with a procession of caravans doing 80km/h.
We stopped in at Port Headland on the way and picked up some supplies. It’s a massive port and hub for the mines. A salt processing plant is the feature of the landscape as you enter, and very long freight trains. Not long after Port Headland we turned South and back inland toward Karijini. The road must be a major route for road trains because after an hour I had counted over 50 before getting bored.
The countryside was once again stunning and yet different. We were lucky enough to be approaching spring, so there were wild flowers – purple, yellow, white and pink, floating in a sea of blue and green shrubs along side Mulga and Snappy Gums, set with a back drop of deep red, iron laden mountain ranges. This wasn’t the harsh Pilbara that I had imagined – it was beautiful.
We arrived at our campground – Karijini Eco Resort late afternoon, a great place with bush camping sites but the benefit of flushing toilets and a central restaurant. We went to our site and there was a problem – it was only big enough for a car and small tent. Back to reception we head and they put us on the emergency site – a big win as it was much closer to all the services.
The next day we went straight to the visitors centre to get a guide on how to spend our time here. A great centre with lots of aboriginal history. The most disturbing thing that I read was that Karijini NP had been halved to allow mining of the iron ore! It seems that economics still wins over natural history.
From here we went to Dales Gorge. We did the 4km walking loop that started with a descent down into the gorge at Fortescue Falls. Very pretty and slippery!
Once at the bottom we rock hopped through the gorge and crossing the creek trying not to slip in. The gorge was solid iron ore and silica (with a little bit of asbestos thrown in) The rocks we clambered over were like giant stones of iron that had a metallic clink when they banged together. They were worn smooth by the water and were very very slippery when wet.
At the other end we arrived at Circular Pool, a beautiful oasis like swimming hole.
We stopped for a snack but didn’t swim. The water was freezing and we were used to much warmer weather (and water).
We then clambered out way back up to the top and walked back along getting the aerial view. Breathtaking. Amazing country.
We had a late picnic lunch back at the car and then went to the Kalamina Gorge. This was a much shallower entry and easy walk – about 2km return. Similar but different – a very pretty walk in the amazing place.
Overnight the temperature really dropped – to about 10 degrees and we felt it. We have been in constant 30 degree plus weather for 3 months so this was a shock to the system. In the morning we were rugged up like Eskimos.
It warmed up quickly once the sun came up and the mornings were so tranquil and relaxing I could have spent a month there. We decided to just soak it up and read our books before heading off on a walk to Joffre Gorge.
It was local to the resort. About a 3km loop. First stop was a lookout – wow!
We then were able to cross to the other side at the top of the falls entering the gorge.
From the other side you could see our campsite.
And there was a lookout over the falls.
There was an option to climb down into the falls – but climb was the operative word and we chickened out half way down.
After lunch we headed over for our final gorge walk – Weano Gorge. The start of the walk wasn’t great and no where near as spectacular as the others we had seen but that all changed as we entered the class 5 section (most difficult) at the other end. The gorge narrowed and you are surrounded by water smoothed iron stone while you straddle a small creek that is flowing to your destination Handrail pool.
It’s called handrail pool because there’s a bloody big hand rail you hold onto to get down over the falls and into the pool. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo from the top because I was too freaked out trying to figure out how to get down. I’ve already mentioned how slippery this stuff is when wet.
There are steps carved into the wall near the handrail but these aren’t immediately visible. But there was no turning back this time and in we went.
The spot was beautiful and one of the prettiest we’ve seen and certainly memorable. Next we had to get out, which was much easier, and luckily we went when we did as two tour groups arrived at the entry and it’s definitely only one way!
That evening we packed up ready for a quick exit in the morning and enjoyed dinner at the restaurant.
A lovely way to finish in such a beautiful place. We really loved the Pilbara and hope it is kept safe from mining for future generations.