Kings Around Oz: Karijini National Park

Karijini was never on our radar as a place to visit but we kept hearing fellow travelers talk about going to Karajini and thought it might be worth a look. The wind was blowing a gale on the coast so we thought we would head inland and see what this Karijini is that everyone is talking about. Well, we were not disappointed, and we really enjoyed our time here. This is another place that you just have to see and experience to fully comprehend the beauty.

We stayed at Dales Campground for the first night. From here we did the Gorge Rim walk that walked around Dales Gorge and where you could see Circular Pool but due to recent rockfalls it is now closed. The walk continued and ends at Fortescue Falls. It was beautiful here and the waterfall was still running. We had a refreshing dip here and then continued on the Fern Pool. This was a quiet little pool that was very deep, but you could swim to the other side and check out the little waterfall there. There was a definite tranquility about this pool. Emmalisa really enjoyed her swim at Fortescue Falls so we went back there the next morning for Emmalisa to have another swim before heading over to the visitors centre so the kids could show Miss Kayleen there workbooks on the Karijini National Park. Miss Kayleen took us around the centre and taught us about her family’s connection to this land. Haydan and Emmalisa then were officially congratulated on being Karijini Junior Rangers. We then started to make our way to Kalamina Gorge on the dirt road. It was on this road that we decided we found Australia’s worst dirt road! The corrugations on this road were horrendous and shook every part of the car and camper! The road in may have been terrible but the gorge was certainly worth it. The walk took you down into the gorge and you followed the base of the gorge until you got to a lovely little swimming hole. We all refreshed in the pool before making our way back out of the gorge. It was then back onto the corrugated road to make our way to the other side of the National Park to the Eco Retreat. We stayed here for the next 2 nights to checkout all the gorges on this side. The first afternoon we did Joffre Gorge. Again, this was a climb down into the gorge and a bit of a scary rock climb on a narrow ledge to get to the main part of the gorge. Unfortunately, Joffre Falls was no longer falling but it was still a wonderful place to sit and appreciate natures beauty.

The next morning, we got up and headed straight to Weano Gorge. This was quite a challenging walk at the end as you had to go down a vertical drop using only a handrail to get to Handrail Pool. This pool was beautiful but if you swam down the very cold chasm you reached the next pool which was equally as beautiful. We were there just as the light was reflecting off the rock walls which made them glow and reminded us of Echidna Chasm at the Bungle Bungles. After this gorge we then made our way to Hancock Gorge. The walk was once again with its challenges as we had to swim through a cold passage to get to the next section of the gorge which then became very slippery as you made your way to Kermits Pool. This was a small but deep pool that was a very green colour. We enjoyed another swim here and then very carefully made our way back out along the slippery rocks. It was then time for a quick lunch before we tackled the last gorge, Knox Gorge. This was a true Grade 5 walk as you went down a VERY steep hill that was on loose slate like rocks before reaching a set of rock steps that were more like vertical drops than steps. We then walked along the base of the gorge and found yet another cold but beautiful place to swim. We then had to get back out of the gorge. As we got to the steep incline we looked up and decided the ‘track’ looked more like a rock fall than a track. We climbed our way out and then made out way back to camp, very tired after walking to and swimming in 7 gorges in 3 days! That night we were delighted to have a ‘nice’ cold shower with a frog and a huge spider back at the Eco Retreat! Not really how we wanted to end a tiring day! We then left Karijini and were glad to get off that dirt road! We called into Tom Price for fuel and thought we would just pop into the visitors centre to find out what else we could see in the area. It was here the lady convinced us that we should do Hamersley Gorge and assured us that the dirt road to get there was not anywhere near as bad as the Karijini road we had just been on. So, at the last minute we made the decision to do that last gorge in the Karijini National Park and once again we were not disappointed. The dirt road, thankfully was well maintained and it was a very easy walk down to yet another beautiful gorge for us to swim in. Emmalisa and Laura stayed in the lower pools, but Glen and Haydan carefully made their way up the slippery rocks to find the spa pools that were truly glorious and well worth the effort to get there. After completing 8 gorges now in 4 days it was a family consensus that Weano Gorge and Handrail Pool was our favourite but was also the coldest to swim in. We are now going to make our way back to the coast and head to Exmouth.