Well Worth The Detour - That's Karijini!

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Sunday 12th - the night had been bitterly cold and not what we had become used to. Tom Price is very high up in the hills so a cooler temperature was expected, but not this cold and when the alarm went off at 6.15 it was a bit of an effort to get out from under our nice warm quilt. But we got ready in good time and were waiting at the caravan park reception to be picked up at 7:30. By then another eight people from the park had joined us and we were to pick up one more person “on the way” so our tour party was eleven. Our tour guide, Chris – a pom from Warwickshire – was a very jolly, humorous chap who proved to be an excellent guide. The tour was to revolve around the numerous picturesque gorges in Karijini which included many waterfalls, rock pools and swimming holes. There would be an opportunity to swim later in the day and we were prepared with our bathers on underneath all of our pullovers and fleeces! But the cool temperature was making us wonder whether that would be a good idea. First though, we had to drive into the park on a gravel road for about 40 kilometers. Chris didn’t hang about and we realized what a good move it had been doing a tour and not having to take PIE into the park. The road was very poor in places but it didn’t slow Chris down as we hurtled towards an Eco Village where our eleventh passenger had been staying. It gave us an excellent insight into what this sort of park campsite is like and although the idea is splendid, we both agreed that they were nice to visit but a bit too spartan for us to camp there.

After we had picked up Jo from the Eco Village, we continued to bump along over the corrugations until we pulled up at the Oxer Lookout (the cushion that the elderly lady had brought with her now seemed a very sensible idea!) When we got to the viewing platform we were all genuinely amazed at the spectacular scene below us - at this point, four gorges meet: Hancock, Red, Weano and Joffre. Over one hundred meters below we could see the flowing water of Junction Pool encompassed on all sides by the beautiful red stone walls of the gorges which were often just a few feet wide but many meters deep. The gorges were formed over 2500 million years ago when this area was part of the sea floor but colliding continental plates caused the rocks to buckle and develop vertical cracks before being lifted up to form dry land. Chris explained the attraction of the gorges to adventure seekers because it was possible to negotiate them by swimming and/or clambering through certain sections of the gorges. Unfortunately the challenges are often undertaken by people ill-prepared for the risks. Emergencies occur far too frequently and have sometimes resulted in the loss of life. We saw a memorial to a local SES volunteer, Jimmy Regan, who had tragically died in 2004 whilst attempting to rescue a tourist who did, in fact, survive. Chris expressed his personal feelings about people who take up these challenges and he wasn’t very complimentary – we didn’t have the courage to tell him that Sarah and Darryl had undertaken several of them when they were here!!! From there we went to Joffre Lookout and walked down the rock steps to see the gorges from a different angle. Had it been a warmer day we would have had an opportunity to go down to Handrail Pool for a first swim but it was just too cold for anyone to consider swimming there. After that we had a warming cup of tea and some biscuits back at the bus.

The most difficult part of the tour was to be at our next stop which was down into Knox Gorge. It involved a tough climb down to the base of the gorge in order to make our way towards the falls. To complete the walk we had to inch our way round a very narrow ledge against a sheer rock face – I wasn’t sure if I would be able to cope with this bit – there was quite a drop into the water if you slipped. Graham was ahead of me and once he was round the worst bit he hung on to me and the lady behind me also made sure I wouldn’t fall. It was a bit hair-raising and I was really relieved to get round. But we both managed it without getting wet! Most of our party successfully negotiated this difficult part but one older couple (yes - even older than us!) decided it was not worth the risk for them. The only problem was we had to go back the same way. I wasn’t looking forward to it as I’m not the most nimble of people, but with a bit of help it wasn’t too difficult and Graham managed it easily. The walk continued further down the gorge where we negotiated some more difficult rocks, though much more manageable than the previous ones. Once we had all made it back to the coach Chris declared that it was time for lunch and handed out a bag of goodies to everyone. It included a salad with two different meats, bread, cheese, two drinks, an orange, a pear, cake and biscuits! We all tucked in whilst recounting how easily we had managed the walk!!

After our lunch break we drove on to the Visitor Centre which is a fairly new building, built of steel and in the shape of a lizard. It was full of fascinating information about how the gorges were formed millions of years ago, the early days of the settlers and how it affected the local
Aboriginal people. Life was extremely tough then! We had a good look round and then a stroll around the shop where I limited my purchases to just one postcard!

Dotted around the area are termite mounds of varying shapes and sizes and Chris explained a little of the life cycle of termites. He showed us a section of an abandoned nest and told us that if the queen dies and there isn’t another one to replace her then the termites in that nest will die. The huge mounds we’ve seen are probably very old and successful mounds. Looking at the outside of a very much alive mound we could see how well it was looked after. Termites are nocturnal insects so you don’t normally see them moving about during the day. Chris also showed us where the termites have constructed “tunnels” along the branches of the ‘snappy’ gum trees in order to get at the leaves “under cover” - remarkable. He picked a shoot from a harmless looking plant, broke it in half, patted it and showed us the liquid coming out which he said was arsenic – something to remember for the future (!!).

Back on the coach we drove to Dales Gorge and saw the campsite where Sarah and Darryl stayed. We stopped at Circular Pool Lookout where we had a fantastic view of the gorge and the fern framed pool far below. From there we all (bar the elderly couple) negotiated the Fortescue Falls Walk – we climbed down the series of metal then stone steps that led to the bottom of the gorge. Once down the bottom it was just beautiful with the creek running through the multi coloured stone. We tasted the pure water from the creek and filled our water bottles. Chris told us a bit about the ochre and demonstrated how over thousands of years the Aboriginal people used it to paint with.

The last walk was down to Fern Pool where there was an opportunity to have a swim and we had come prepared with our bathers on. But even though it had warmed up a bit from the freezing start we had to the day, we were still wrapped up in fleeces and pullovers so a dip in what almost certainly was chilly water wasn’t too appealing! None of our tour party fancied it either, not even the younger ones! When we got there the pool looked quite inviting but nobody else was swimming so we just enjoyed the wonderful scenery and the fish. A group of younger people joined us on the platform and some of them were brave enough to test the temperature of the water. This is a special place to the local Aboriginals and they have requested that people don’t jump in but slide in gently and also that they don’t shout and scream - so we couldn’t really tell how cold the water was! Although we slightly regretted not testing the temperature for ourselves, on the whole we were happy not to be travelling back in the coach in cold wet bathers!

Once we had clambered back to the top and were in the coach, we settled down for the journey back. Most of us still had a few goodies in our lunch bags so we polished those off while listening to an ABBA CD. We had a short stop a few kms from Tom Price at a place where it has become the custom to leave short messages and inscriptions about people who have died.

It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day and for us a wonderful way to see the highlights of Karijini National Park and for this we must thank Lestok Tours.

We were pretty tired by the time we got back to the caravan so just had some supper and then an early night.

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Photos

Junction Pool
where the four gorges meet

Memorial to Jimmy Regan
a very brave man who died whilst saving the life of a tourist

A very profound statement
Part of the display in the Visitor Centre