Gorged

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Cape Keraudren - (Port Hedland) - Karijini National Park

We left Cape Keraudren and headed to Port Hedland to collect the bolts and then continue on to Karijini National Park. We arrived at the bolt shop just before 8:30am but the bolts hadn't been delivered yet, so we went and had breakfast while we waited for their courier delivery. We finally left Port Hedland just after 10am, but we had four new bolts and still plenty of time to get to Karijini.

The scenery in this area is awesome - I love the colours out here... Arriving at Karijini we went directly to Dales Gorge Campground. The campground hosts were not very friendly and seemed to take it as a personal insult when we asked for a site away from the generator area (obviously they have a generator). We were told that there are to be no campfires (fair enough) and nothing with naked flames - not even mozzie coils or sandlewood sticks. These are not naked flames and I don't see any danger in using them, especially as we were camped on red dirt (no grass) but rules are rules I guess - I just hoped there weren't many mozzies around (it's bad enough being covered in midge bites).

Anyway, we were allocated our site and provided with a map of the Dales Gorge area and the walk information. We went and set up camp (home for the next three nights) and planned our walks for the next couple of days. Unfortunately there has been a fire in the park (obviously the reason for the strict fire rules) and the campground had been burnt. This has left a lot of blackened trees and no shade at all. The awning on The Beast has come in handy again. The vegetation is regrowing but it will take some time for the trees to return....

The next day we headed off early to do the Dales Gorge walks. We did all off the walks except the spinifex walk, which wouldn't be so good after the fire. After completing all of the walks we returned to Fortesque Falls and Fern Pool for a swim. We had walked over 10km that day, so the next day we spent relaxing - but we did return to Fortesque falls (800m down the stairs) for another swim.

We have both had enough of gorge walks for now, so from Karijini we will be heading towards the West Coast, with a roadside stop somewhere between Tom Price and Exmouth.

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Photos

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Roadside scenery

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Roadside scenery

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Roadside scenery

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Roadside scenery

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Roadside scenery

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Roadside scenery

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Camp at Karijini National Park

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Karijini National Park - Dales Gorge

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Karijini - Fortesque Falls Lookout

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Karijini - the stairs down to the gorge (from Fortesque Falls lookout)

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Karijini - Fortesque Falls

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge... the track

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge

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Karijini - in Dales Gorge... the Heron just sat there and watched us walking by

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Karijini - Circular Pool

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Karijini - halfway up the track to the three-ways lookout (yes that is a ladder - it's a bloody steep walk)

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Karijini - halfway up the track to the three-ways lookout (looking up from the same spot - still a long way up)