Exmouth across to Karijini Gorge National Park

Before we start I have a photo of me in fly net I forgot last time. Flies here are over abundant because of the cyclone and storms last year and the cyclone a few weeks ago, there is a lot of debris both plant and animal so there is plenty of food for the flies to boost their population a few times over. Consequently most people have opted to walk around in fly nets rather than keep applying repellents that don’t work.



As we were packing up to leave Cape range we found a variegated Delta , its a gecko, lizard,
As we have to pass through Exmouth we stop and top up water, fuel, bread and milk.
We are heading into Tom Price a mining town , this will take a couple of days. Stop here for a couple of days then on to Karijini National Park for a week.

First night is at Burkett road rest area next ar Barradale rest area and the Yannarie river. This river is down along way and cows are wandering the rest area and river. This has a nice walk along river bed , little tiny fish are in the very small flow between little ponds. There are lots of Kites and bee eater birds.
We pull up at the Nanutarra road house to top up fuel , it is $1.695 ltr expensive but we are told it is dearer in Tom Price.
We stay the night at House Creek bridge rest area, I find a monitor lizard on one of my trips to the toilet, I rush back for camera and only manage 2 photos before he is gone. It certainly moved quick for something that is missing part of his tail. I could not have caught him even if I wanted to, to check on his health.I also found yellow butterflies.
We are meeting a lot of people travelling and we find out on radio another cyclone is to hit the area . The majority of the people where staying in Cape Range and have been asked to move out of the park, they are travelling quicker then we are so have caught up with us. Some are heading to camp in Karijini instead so we decide to slow down and stay in Tom Price and see the sights for a couple of days giving them time to move on .
Another night spent in a rest area at Beasley river, but we are ready to move if the storm front hits and the river rises. There are 10 vans and campers in an area that would normally have 4 or 5. Lots of kids so we walk along river bed then stay out of the way in the van with the satellite telly on.

Tom Price
Highest town in WA at 747 metres above sea level.
We stay at the caravan park , no where else to stay, $46.00 a night. Oh well can not be helped.
Mt Nameless is behind the caravan park and is the tallest driveable Mountain in WA,1128km above sea level, but it is a definite 4 wheel drive road to the top. Its a dirt and rock track that has been washed out in last storm attached to last cyclone. In places it is very steep with big ruts and wash aways. The views from the top are of the surrounding landscape of the open cut iron ore mine, Tom Price and rolling hills of the Hamersley Range. We did take a video on the way down , Larry driving me trying to hold camera steady.


 

We found Spinifex pigeons and firetails on the way down. 

Before we leave Tom Price we take a induction of 20 minutes and gain a permit to travel a Rio Tinto private road beside their own railway. This we will travel after Karajini to get to Chichester and Millstream NP and then to Karatha .
On Monday morning we pack up and head the nearly 100km to Karijini gorge National Park.
First we visit the information centre which is run by the local tribe along with an Eco retreat camp ground. The lady there is very knowledgeable and gives us a few good areas to visit what to see and what not to do. Then its to the camp ground at Dales gorge ,we are in site 30 of Burrunga loop. There is trees and space between most of the camp sites , composting toilet behind us kept clean by volunteer camp hosts.
A little of the geology of the gorges in the Karijini park which is part of the Hamersley range. There are three rock layers Banded iron formation – hard brown rock of thin bands of iron oxide and fine grained quartz which can be weakly magnetic, Dolomite- grey to pale brown similar to limestone, broken surfaces have a sugary appearance and can be easily scratched, Shale- very soft purple pink rock. This area was millions of years in the making. It started as sea floor back 25,000 million years ago. Sediment rich in iron and silica settled there , crushed by more sediment, then earths plates moved pushing sideways causing cracks, the start of the gorges.
Blue asbestos was discovered in 1908 in Karijini and in 1930 extraction started. This stuff occurs in veins in the iron formations. Its seams are parallel to the layering in host rock. It was first mined by chipping away at rock sides then underground in 3 locations n Witternoon gorge and Yampine gorge. All was stopped in 1966 and Witternoon abandoned, so the road in has lots of warnings and is closed in parts.
 
 
Our first afternoon is spent walking to the Lookout of Fortescue falls then on down to the falls and their pool for a swim . This pool is a little hard to get into over the rocks and its a little cold so we walk another 15mins to Fern pool and its smaller falls . This has the sun on it and a ladder into the water. It is a little warmer but deep like all these pools so can get cold very quickly. We swim over to the falls and stand on the rocks to get a masage by the water of the falls. There are fish in this pool which are like the ones in Thailand and Singapore, so while you stand on the ladder and then on the rocks under waterfall these fish nibble away your dead skin cells. They nibbled away at my scratch on my leg and Larry’s sore big toe. We took some photos with the underwater camera, but we were soon too cold so had to swim back and get out. It was very nice though.


We set out early tuesday morning 7.30am to drive to and then walk Kalamina Gorge. This walk is classed a 4 with part hard rough going with not much as a track or signage. Meant to take about 3 hours . 

 
We start by descending down into the gorge not far from its main waterfall, then follow the water along the gorge floor. There is lemon scented grass in parts and fish in the little pools. You zig zag your way along rocks and boulders and in and out of the shallow water to what is known as Rock arch pool where there s no way of getting any further than up through the arch. 5 younger people climbed up and went through but could not get to far. We did not attempt this as getting this far was good enough for us and very pleasant too. This place is full of different coloured dragon flies, some skinks and little dragons and black/white and yellow and brown butterflies , some birds which hide in the leaves and dart around so you can not get photos.
 

After slowly retracing our steps back and up to the top of the gorge it has been 4 hours, but before we drive back to camp we drive to Joffre and Knox gorge lookouts while we are here. Both these lead to their gorge walks which we will not be walking as they are both class 5 with parts you have to scramble up and down the gorge wall and over big rocks. We have to be a bit careful now both of us we could easy slip fall into cold water or hurt ourselves or worse break something.
Knox gorge is a 15min walk to the lookout and you step to the edge and look down into a very cold looking pool. 

Joffre gorge is a 10 minute walk to the lookout towards the waterfall and a pool where some young ones are jumping in then sunning themselves on the rocks. Water looks cold .
So its back to camp and a very late lunch, we did have apples and water while we were walking the gorge.

 By dinnertime we both a little sore and aching but nothing a good sleep will not cure.
Wednesday is back to Dales gorge and the walk around the rim then down into the gorge and back to Fortescue falls and a possible swim in Fern pool again. Last night the temperature dropped to 7 so blankets had to be found so we will see about swim when we get there, could be hot by then.

The walk starts at the camp ground and you can go either way down then along and up at the other end returning along the rim but this would mean I had to climb back down and up if I wanted to swim. So we go along the gorge rim and then down the pretty steep end near Circular pool and along gorge floor to Fortescue falls and fern pool before coming back up.
I am glad we did it this way as having to come up the bit we went down would have been so hard as it was very steep with big steps having to be taken with nothing to hold onto. Then one piece down a very smooth area they have added a ladder as there is no other way down. The walk along goes past one little area of natural asbestos and we had read the warnings of do not disturb even though it is safer than the processed stuff. Parts of the park are closed and a road to the north of the park is closed because of asbestos risk. We were going to use this road but now have to go another 350 km around or use Rio Tinto road. Thats why the permit we got in Tom Price.
Back to the gorge its a very nice walk beautiful colours in the walls and little waterfalls along the way. We get to Fortescue falls and its very cold and we entre at the bottom and have to cross the shallow { at moment] river and climb up the rocks and boulders to the top of the waterfall before walking to Fern pool. We get to Fern pool and no one else is there, so we change and sit with our feet in getting our fish clean and decide it is a little colder but we will still go in. Swim to its little waterfall and sit on rocks and get massage until its too cold and I am a little worried about swimming back as this is a very deep pool with no other place to exit but the ladder. My legs are numb by the time we make it to the ladder but I feel quiet refreshed.
We dress and head back up to top and to camp for lunch. Again 4 1/2 hours after we left. We rest for couple of hours then go out walking again out the back of camp to Circular pool lookout and back along the gorge rim.
Thursday is an easier day as the gorge we are going to is out of the park on its east boundary along the main road north to Port Headland or south to Newman or further to Kalgoorlie. There is a lookout but it has no entry into the gorge. It is a 120km drive there and back but it was well worth the drive as we are not going on this road again. I was listening to local radio and the federal and WA government have said yes to a uranium mine to start about 200km north east of here.
Albert Tognolini lookout over the Munjina Gorge – this is a nice drive with very good views. We see 2 falcons over the gorge out hunting.  
 
 After getting back and having lunch Larry goes walking while I wash clothes and start typing this. He finds a Pheasant Coucal and a western spotted bower bird and a Military dragon we think . We are going to have to find a descent book on reptiles and mamals of Australia that is not too big and heavy, we are relying on small books and pamphlets on my kindles and when we can the internet.
I had a funny visitor while sitting outside the van typing, a caterpillar crawling along dragging its cocoon with it.
 
Friday is a big day
We are walking 2 of the harder gorges and with luck swimming in their hidden pools.
The first is Weano Gorge , this starts as a class 4 and progresses to a class 5.. The trail starts at the car park with obsticles of large rocks and soon drops steeply down with some rock steps to gorge floor and its seasonal pools. This has short steep sections with no helping steps then along the gorge floor you have to keep crossing the water course with some rocks to step on or just walk through the water. The trail up to the rim is before the swimming pool so you clamber over slippery rocks to 
 
 
get to the Handrail pool. It has a hand rail for you to hold on to as there is no other way to get in and out of the deep cold water. Then back over the rocks to climb up to the gorge rim with the help in places of rock sort of steps. When we arrived at this end a tour group had just arrived too, all young and loud , so we did get in. This walk was hard and at the top we moved the car around to a lookout to have lunch. We took photos from both lookouts , which are over the deepest gorge Handcock gorge. While we were at the lookouts the ranger turned up to do his check on walker with his binoculars. He told us there had been 3 snake bites in the last couple of weeks around our campsite at dusk with campers walking around in thongs not watching where they put their feet. Death adders live here and after the floods are in the camp grounds.
Handcock Gorge this is class 5
We start out ok but after just 15 mins I stop. Its not the going down but the climb at the bottom and walk through cold water to spider yourself across gorge wall to the swimming pool., Kermits pool, then have to climb back up. So I sit and wait Larry goes down to gorge floor and to the water you have to cross and then returns very much out of breath when he reaches me. 


We return to Dales gorge and camp , but decide we would have our last swim in the circular pool.
This means another steep decent and climb over wet slippery rocks to get to pool. I get in first and its freezing, no sun on this water , I make it across to the small waterfall and Larry joins me. It certainly is refreshing in here but is not good for a long swim. So out , dry and then face walk back up to the top.


You are not going to believe me but we went walking to Fortescue falls at dusk to see if we could find anything, all I found was mosquitos Larry saw the tail end of a snake but could not get camera to focus in semi darkness. The light was going to make the walk back up difficult soon so back to camp before its too dark.

It has been a good few days but it is time to move to Millstream- Chichester national park,.