Karajini National Park

Karajini NP is marvellous. We spent 3 days here, and went walking every day. First up was a place called Joffre Gorge, the first photo at left shows the view from the bottom, the second photo shows the route down to the bottom, taken from the lookout at the top. If you wonder how we possibly scrambled down those rock ledges, then so do we! Mind you, it was even harder getting up again! When we got back to the camp area we were staying in, we found a bloke in a sling waiting for the ambulance to collect him from Tom Price 70 km away, he had dislocated his shoulder trying to haul himself up one of the rock ledges, so we treated the walks with a lot more respect after that.

The second day we went to Dales Gorge, which was lovely. A steep climb down to the bottom of the gorge revealed a scene that people would pay big money to a landscape architect to recreate. A burbling creek that flowed in small cascades over a series of rock ledges led to a deep tranquil pool. If you enlarge the pool photo you'll find John in thoughtful contemplation, inspired by the serene surroundings. We then walked for an hour or so downstream to a large swimming hole (we didn't swim) before climbing up out of the gorge and back into the dry Pilbara landscape.

On our last day we went to Weano Gorge. Although the lookout was stunning, the walk wasn't quite as interesting as the previous day's. However, it was still a very enjoyable ramble along the base of the gorge next to the creek, and there was enough climbing, rock scrambling and crossing of the creek on wobbly stepping stones for our legs to know that we had done plenty of work.

Our stay at Karajini was also the first time we have stayed in a non-powered campsite. Up until now we've always been at standard commercial campgrounds, but at Karajini the campground is very basic, with no supplied power, water or rubbish collection. It is also very, very dusty, although the word 'dust' doesn't really do justice to the almost oily quality of the Pilbara red dirt. It sticks instantly to anything that touches it, such that it is impossible to clean them, but then mysteriously transfers to anything else inside the van that is brushed against. The campsite was up 30km of dirt road, and the caravan has changed colour inside and out. We're not really looking forward to the cleaning job that awaits us once we get back to civilisation!