Tom Price and Karijini

Tom Price

We stopped at Tom Price to stock up and do some washing before we headed into Karijini National Park.  They run tours of the Rio Tinto mine site (also called Tom Price) so we donned our hardhats and safety goggles, ready to see some really big trucks.  We were not disappointed.   The huge dump trucks are worth about $4m each, with each of their 8 tires costing $40,000.  The trains that take the iron ore from the mine to the docks are 2.3km long and their drivers earn about $240k.  They took us to the edge of the enormous hole in the ground and at each end there is a mountain.  The guide explained that the two peaks used to be joined and they have excavated the whole middle section of the mountain.  The amount of rock and iron ore that has been removed is mind boggling. 

This dumper is actually a bit smaller than the modern ones!

Karijini – most beautiful place on Earth

We drove to Karijini National Park and checked out the visitor centre before heading to Dales Campground.  Just about everyone we have spoken to before and during this trip has raved about Karijini so we had great expectations.  We were met by our camp hosts Amanda and John who gave us an update on all the gorges and allocated us a site.

After we set up we went for a walk around the campground and realised that we were camped right next to Barbara , Ross and Daniel who we had first met in Red Bluff and then again in Exmouth.  It seems that everyone on these big trips just takes turns at following each other around.  It was really great to see them again – they are fantastic people.  Ben was keen to teach Daniel to play his favourite card game, Sleeping Queens and they also roped Ross and Jenny into a Uno session.  

We set out for our first hike at Kalamina Gorge, which is about 25km along a corrugated dirt road.  We’d been hearing a faint ringing/rattle for the previous few days but had checked all the straps, nuts and bolts we could see without being able to identify the source.  About 200m into the corrugations the faint ringing became a loud rattly clinking and it was definitely a sound not to be ignored.  Just then I noticed that the UHF antenna mounted on the bullbar was wobbling crazily so we stopped and I jumped out the check it.  The bolt holding it onto the bullbar was really loose and about to fall off so I tightened it as much as I could with my fingers and then realised that we did not have a 19mm spanner with us to tighten it properly.  Luckily, most people slow and/or stop when they drive past a car stopped on these dirt roads so we soon borrowed a spanner from a passerby and set off again, happy that we had finally identified that annoying rattle.

Rattle rattle clink clank

Oh.  That hadn’t been the cause of the rattle. 

After a some slow driving and careful listening, Jenny identified that the noise was coming from underneath the car near the front right wheel.  We stopped, had a look underneath and saw that a ring from the bottom of the shock absorber had unscrewed itself completely from the coil and was jingling around freely on the metal arms below.  Lying in the dirt, Jenny managed to screw it back about a third of the way up to where it should have been and then we turned around and drove carefully back to the caravan. 

Patch up fix

After a great deal of brute force, half a can of WD40 and using a tent peg for leverage she managed to get the ring right back up to the top.  We still weren’t sure if that had done the trick though so we drove all the way back to Tom Price, had it properly repaired by a mechanic and then drove all the way back to Karijini.

More patching up

The Gorges

We hiked and swam in most of the beautiful gorges in Karijini.  They are all so amazing that words can’t adequately describe how spectacular, rugged, ancient and unique that each one is.  They all have something different to show you.  We spent 6 days doing really challenging hikes over sharp loose rocks and wet slimy rocks, through ankle deep water and neck deep water, under ledges, over edges, above and below waterfalls, through trees and scrub, up and down ladders and around enormous boulders.  We swam in cold pools with waterfalls, clear pools with tiny fish that nibble your toes, deep blue pools with little leaches and pools that open out and allow you to swim through the gorge as far as you dare.  It was truly magical.  Still being in iron ore country, the rock has a real metallic feel.  It is heavy and sometimes shiny, more like a polished bronze in places.  In others it is red and the flowing layers look like a cake or the black lines of ore are so compressed they reminded me of a telephone book.   Here are some pictures – they don’t do it justice but should show some of the amazing things we were able to do.

Kalamina Gorge

We were going to take all our swimming gear for a swim in the gorge but as we were starting out a family coming back up told us that it was pretty slimy and not that nice.  We ended up putting towels back in the car and just doing the walk. 

Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool

These two spots are close to the campground so it didn’t take long to get there.  We were undecided as to whether we should take Ben’s Wahu floaty vest and thought that he wouldn’t need it.  The walk to the falls is over some rocks and then down a fairly lengthy, steep set of stairs.  You then walk about 300m through some trees on a dirt trail before you reach Fern Pool.  Jenny and Ben jumped in and then realised that it would be much easier for Ben to swim across the pool to the waterfall on the far side if he had his Wahu vest.  Guess who had to hot foot it back through the trail and up all those stairs to the car and back down again?  Yep, the slow Mummy who hadn’t got in the water yet.  At least it was a good workout and there was a nice cool swim at the end of it.

We met up with a family who had camped next to us back at Tom Price so Ben had a good play with their 2 kids.  Allan, Deb, Grace and Jack were also staying at Dales Campground (although in another section) and they invited us over for a drink later that evening.  It was a great night.  They also had some other friends with their 2 kids over so Ben had a great gang of playmates (who also knew how to play Sleeping Queens!).  They ended up feeding the kids and then we were most impressed that they were able to throw together a delicious stir fry for 4 unexpected additional adults.  Their other guests supplied fruit and rice cream while we contributed a giant block of chocolate.  We are meeting some awesome people on this trip and these impromptu gatherings and sharing between almost strangers is brilliant.

Fern Pool

The gorge

Hamersley Gorge

Hamersley Gorge is a 100km drive from the campground but is totally worth the time and effort to get there.  There is an upper waterfall which flows down a gentle incline into a pool which then narrows off and flows through the gorge.  We swam in the pool and then about 100m into the gorge before Ben got too cold.

Heading into the gorge

Rest stop

Amazing layers of rock

Joffre Gorge

We didn’t intend to climb into Joffre Gorge but when we got to the lookout and saw the fantastic views below we decided that we had to go down there and see it up close.  From up high we saw an adventure tour group preparing to climb into tire tubes to float down the gorge.  It looked like great fun and when Ben is older (no kids are allowed) we will all go back for that fun!  The hike into Joffre Gorge was probably the most challenging yet as you need to clamber over big rocks and down steep walls and ledges to get to the bottom.  We kept a careful eye on Ben but he was totally fine and we all really enjoyed the climb.  We had a swim and explored the waterfall before climbing all the way up again.  We dropped into the Karijini Eco Retreat, which is a more expensive campground because it is a fully equipped resort with restaurant and showers and cabins (all frightfully costly).  We had a coffee and decided we were too tired to hike into another gorge that day so we went to a couple of lookouts and then headed home.

Climbing like Spiderman

View down the gorge

Looking down into the gorge

Hancock Gorge

Hiking in to Hancock Gorge was a huge adventure!  We took Ben’s wetsuit and Wahu vest as we’d been told that there is a section where the water is chest deep and most people with kids just swim through.  If you want to avoid getting wet the alternative is a dangerous climb along a narrow ledge above the water and it wasn’t recommended.  We had to climb down three levels of metal ladders to the floor of the gorge and then make our way over rocks and through trees to our first water section.  This was only knee deep so we just took off our boots and carried them through.  We had a waterproof bag for our car keys and towels so when we got to the next water section we left our clothes, boots and bag there and waded in.  It was actually easier to swim through as the rocks beneath were pretty slippery.  We emerged from the water at a beachy area called “The Amphitheatre” which is shaped as its name suggests with levels of rock ledges in a semi-circle facing a pond.  Off to one side of the pond is a narrow opening that the water flows through.  It is called “Spider Walk” as to get through it you need to put feet and hands wide, touching each side wall and shuffling your way down so that you don’t slip over on the slimy rocks in the middle.  Spider Walk brings you to “Kermit’s Pool”, a beautiful green pool in the shadows of overhanging rock walls.  The water then flows over a huge waterfall, which is roped off (presumably to prevent stupid tourists falling to their deaths).

Wading / swimming through the gorge

At Kermit's Pool

The waterfall and gorge continuing after Kermit Pool

We had a quick swim in Kermit’s Pool because the water was pretty cold and then had a snack while we warmed up on the rocks.  We had lent Ben’s flotation vest to a little girl who was too scared to swim in the pool so we sat there a while enjoying the peace, until we heard yells and loud laughing coming down from Spider Walk.  The next minute, a huge group of early 20s English tourists exploded into the pool area, yelling, swearing, being obnoxious and totally oblivious to the people there trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.  Several of them were clearly drunk and they were doing somersaults off the rocks into the pool, taking running dives down the slippery rocks like it was a Slip ‘n Slide and jumping around like idiots. 

We beat a hasty retreat and made our way back to the car, sure that one of them was going to kill themselves.  We bumped into a man in the carpark not long afterwards who had left Kermit’s Pool after us and he said that he saw one of them lying face down in the water unconscious until his friends pulled him out.   He woke up and the mayhem continued.  

We went back to the van and packed up ready to journey to our next destination.  We really didn't want to leave. 

Exmouth and the Best. Day. Ever.

We drove up to Exmouth and were immediately intrigued by the ‘Emus Crossing’ pictorial signs along the main road.  They are like the ones near schools that show an adult and children crossing the road but these ones show a big emu being followed by several small emus.  During our stay in Exmouth it became clear why the signs are necessary.  This is a picture one of our trips to the local shops and it was not an isolated experience.

A different kind of traffic jam.

We set up our van right next to the playground in a very nice caravan park.  Mark, Fiona and their girls (who we first met at Gnaraloo Bay and then again in Coral Bay) were set up 30m away and we were also really pleased when Ross, Barbara and Daniel who we met at Red Bluff stopped for a chat on their way out shopping.  Rachel, Simon and kids were staying in Exmouth too, at a friend’s house.  It is funny but not really surprising that we all keep bumping into each other.  The only downside of meeting the same people was that Ben also saw Jacob, the potty mouthed boy from Coral Bay again so we had to monitor their activities more closely than we usually would.  When he also made friends with Grace and Jonti, the 2 kids next door, the four of them ran around happily together.  After Ben came home and told us that Jacob had taught him the F bomb (which I admit, he already knew) I had to have a quiet word Grace and Jonti’s Mum to let her know that they might come home with an expanded vocabulary (and that is wasn’t Ben who taught them!). 

Awesome things in Exmouth…

Whale Shark Swim!

This was the best day ever.  We went out with the Exmouth Dive Shop tour for a superb day of snorkelling and swimming with Whale Sharks.  Kids should be 6yo but Ben is a strong swimmer and we were very confident that he would be fine.  They took us out to a snorkelling spot far out on the Ningaloo Reef for an initial swim so that they could assess everyone’s swimming skills.  We put Ben in his snorkel, flippers and Wahu buoyancy vest (best purchase ever – thanks Kathryn!) and he happily jumped overboard.  He was awesome.  Despite big rolling swells he swam like a champion.  The crew were brilliant too.  When the swell kept filling up Ben’s short snorkel, one of them swam back to the boat and grabbed him a better one.  They also made sure they were nearby at all times and happily looked after him in the water so that Jenny and I could still see the coral and sea life below.

The three of us snorkelling.

Once the crew had ascertained that nobody was going to drown in the vast deep ocean, we motored further out to sea.  The spotter plane overhead had located a whale shark and we commenced the first of our 5 swims with this magnificent, gentle creature.   As you can imagine, a 4.3m whale shark can swim pretty quickly.   The captain positioned the boat in front and to the side of the whale shark, then we jumped into the ocean and waited for it.  As it cruised by, we swam along with it (keeping a distance of 3m from the body and 4m from the tail) dwarfed by its size and awed by its majesty.  The water that day was what the crew called ‘Gatorade Blue’ and visibility was excellent.   Once the whale shark swam away, we all returned to the boat, the captain motored ahead to be in front of it again and we all jumped in for another swim.  We did this leap frogging over and again for a total of 5 swims, although unfortunately I got an unexpected bout of seasickness and was so busy throwing up that I missed two of the swims.  After the first three swims Ben started to look a little tired but when we suggested that he sit out the rest he absolutely refused, stamping his foot and saying “I AM going in again!”  In the end, he did all the swims and had a brilliant time.  We got a heap of great photos from their underwater photographer who does every dive with us.  These three pics are hers.

Jenny

Ben with one of the crew

Scuba Diving (by Jenny)

I did my recreational open water scuba diving certificate over 3 days and absolutely loved it.  Those first breaths you take underwater are absolutely exhilarating. The first day was theory and in the pool but the next two days were off the boat on Ningaloo reef swimming with bat fish, emperors, reef sharks, nudibranchs, starfish, octopi and more.  While we were being tested on our ability to replace our masks underwater we had the attention of a fascinated bat fish who watched the whole thing. It was interesting to realise that I was very much being observed by the wildlife just as much as I was observing it.
Ben and Louise spent the time exploring Exmouth’s marina, skate park (not good for bikes) and surrounding beaches. 

Cape Range National Park

We did a day trip to Charles Knife and Shothole Canyons.  They were beautiful but not as amazing as we hoped for. The day was more memorable for poor Ben’s face plant that left him with a graze and bruise next to his right eye.  It was a freak accident that saw him stumble on a rock as we explored a cliff top and unfortunately when he put his arm out to break his fall he managed to stick it straight down a hole that swallowed his entire arm and left him to smash his face straight onto the rock.  We didn’t have an ice pack us but we did have a car fridge full of cold drinks.  I’m sure nobody driving past thought it odd to see a 5 yo sitting in a car with a can of beer pressed to his face.

Cliff Risk Area was right.  At least he didn't trip over the edge

Ouch!

Osprey Bay

Osprey Bay is one of many campsites in the Cape Range National Park, a short drive from Exmouth.  We chose this campground on the recommendation of friends and we were not disappointed.  The campground is huge, clean, well set out and is right on the beach.  We took the caravan and were loaded up with food and water as you have to be entirely self-sufficient there.  There are really clean drop toilets but no showers and no water.

We were initially booked for 3 nights but we lost most of the first day because we had to take the car back to the auto electrician yet again to get the dual battery system tweaked some more.  By the time we arrived at Osprey it was late afternoon and we were met by the fantastic camp hosts, Frank and Merle.  During peak season most National Park campsites have hosts, who are volunteers (usually Grey Nomads) living in the campground for 3-4 months.  They check everyone in, answer questions, keep things tidy and look after the place.  It’s a great gig – free accommodation in a beautiful spot.  Something to keep in mind for the future…

It took us all of an hour to realise that 3 nights was not going to be long enough in this awesome place.  It was warm and sunny, we had a brilliant view out over the ocean and the sunsets were spectacular.  It was a short 2 min walk to a pristine beach with white sand, clear blue water and turtles so we ended up booking a further 2 nights even though it meant we would have to move spots in the campground.  On our second day we saw Rachel, Simon and the kids pulling in and discovered that they were also staying there for a few days.  Ben and Jamie ran the length of the campground towards each other, yelling each other’s names and enveloped each other in a giant hug.  It was like a scene from a soppy romance movie.  So funny.

Ben and Jamie on a 'date'

There is awesome snorkelling in Cape Range NP and we made several trips to Turquoise Bay where we swam with loads of fish and turtles above interesting coral, clams and sea snails.  The water was cool and we were glad that we had Ben’s wet-suit to keep him warm.  There is also a great place called Oyster Stacks where you can only swim at high tide as it is really rocky and the current is pretty strong.  If you go when there it’s too shallow you get cut to ribbons on the rocks and coral.  Even though we went when the tide was at its peak we still had trouble getting in.  Jenny ended up carrying Ben over the rocks and into the water while I hobbled over and tried not to slip while I put on my snorkelling fins.  It is well worth the effort and danger though – the sea life there is magnificent and we saw more turtles, loads of colourful fish of all sizes and a diverse range corals.  A few people saw reef sharks and I am glad I wasn’t one of them.

Lots of fish to swim with

Cape Range NP also has some great walks and we hiked though Mandu-Mandu Gorge, a 3km round trip that was pretty challenging.  Ben was a superhero and clambered over all the hard bits like a little monkey.  Given the choice of paths he would (as usual) ask “which is more dangerous?” and choose that one.  We walked up the gorge on the dry river bed and looked up to see mountain goats standing half way up the steep walls.  I have no idea how they got there, they are amazing animals.  The trail eventually led to a steep, rocky path up out of the gorge and we walked back along the top, looking down on the route we had just taken.   It was about 30 degrees and sunny by then and we were glad to head back for a swim.

Agile mountain goats

Looking back down the trail

Yardie Creek is at the southern end of the NP and we went down there one morning to walk up the gorge above the creek.  We pulled into the carpark at 10.50am and saw a sign for a boat tour up the gorge at 11am.  We were lucky enough to get the last seats and spent a great hour on the water with the very informative guide/captain Pete.  He told us all about the history of the local cattle station, the numbers of Euro (like wallabies) that he monitors every day, the Osprey nests in the gorge that were first constructed by the birds over 100 years ago and are still in use today. We also learned about the young WW2 war heroes of Z special unit from Exmouth who snuck into Singapore Harbour aboard the "Krait" disguised as local fishermen. They placed limpet mines and blew up seven Japanese Navy boats. A movie called "The Highest Honour" (also known as "Heroes of the Krait") as well as a mini-series called "The Heroes" have been made about it.

All the maps show a 4WD track crossing the creek but it has been flooded for some time now and is under several metres of water.  Pete told us that this doesn’t stop some people from trying to cross anyway – the map says there is a track after all.   Late last year he had to help retrieve a Britz van that had tried to cross, despite the creek being fully flowing.  Not only had they just driven straight in, they hadn’t engaged 4WD or reduced their tire pressures (apparently they were also without insurance). 

We were sad to leave Cape Range and Exmouth but excited to be heading to Karijini.

Coral Bay

We finally left Carnarvon for the final time and headed for Coral Bay.  Jenny had developed a head cold and really sore throat and was feeling hideous, which was terrible timing as she had tentatively booked on a scuba diving course and you can’t dive if you have any congestion in your ears or sinuses.

Coral Bay was very busy and we had to squeeze into a really tight caravan site.  Despite her being sick, I handed the wheel over to Jenny as she has a magical talent for backing the van. Although I do it my fair share of the time, she is much, much better at it and on this occasion we also had to avoid a tree and someone’s boat.  It was tricky, and as is usual when one of us gets out to help direct whoever is driving, a well-meaning grey nomad man commented that my husband was doing a great job, before becoming doubly effusive in his praise when he discovered that a woman was driving.  This praise was (as commonly happens) followed by his grey nomad wife giggling and saying that she never tows the van and aren’t we amazing and brave.  I’m not sure that they ever take that next logical step to realise that if we feeble women didn’t actually tow and reverse the van, we would be having a very strange holiday in the carpark at the caravan dealership.

Unfortunately our arrival at the caravan site coincided with our second battery completely failing and causing our UHF radio and car-fridge to turn off.  Our issues were obviously not solved and require more investigation.  Jenny was very sad about this.

We eventually got set up in our tiny little spot and Jenny went straight to bed.  She pretty much stayed there for 3 days, getting up for short spells each afternoon to take a walk to the beach or visit the town nurse.  Remote medical assessment is interesting.  The nurse in Coral Bay examined Jenny and called a doctor in Carnarvon to relay his assessment.  The doctor in Carnarvon agreed that she needed antibiotics and faxed a prescription to a chemist in Exmouth, who filled it and sent it by courier to the dive shop in Coral Bay where Jenny’s collected it at 4pm the following day.  She hadn’t been able to fit in with Scuba training dates in Coral Bay so had booked a course in Exmouth the following week.  She called them to tell them she was sick and ask what to do about the course and they were awesome, telling her that she could just move to the next course 4 days later.  It meant that we had to shuffle a few things around with our travel plan but it was all possible.

While Jenny rested, Ben and I went on a glass bottom boat tour in Coral Bay.  The reef is really amazing here and there are fish everywhere, really close to shore.  There were heaps of fish visible while we were still tied up to the shore with only about 3 feet of water under the boat.  It was amazing.  The snorkelling is brilliant and we saw dozens of fish species including lots and lots of massive Spangled Emperors that hang around in the shallows.  Mon, Wed and Fri they have a fish feeding session and you stand in mid shin deep water with hundreds of huge fish swimming around eating the pellets that you drop in the water for them. 

Beautiful coral under the glass bottom boat

Ben made great friends with a boy called Billy and his friend Regan.  I was very pleased about that because the previous day he had been playing with a boy called Jacob who had promptly taught him to swear.  Luckily Ben knows that’s not on and he told us straight away.  We also found ourselves camped 2 spots from Mark and Fiona who we had met at Gnaraloo Bay so we had lunch with them one day as Jenny’s ‘leave the sick bed’ excursion.

Outback Paddy

We were super lucky to be able to attend a concert by ‘Outback Paddy’, a travelling Irish musician who certainly loves Australia.  He performed two long sets of his own original songs which included gems such as “I Never Made it to Sydney as I Stopped in Kalgoorlie”.  In between every song, he would chat away and tell truly terrible ‘Dad’ jokes.  We thought he was a lovable larrikin until his second gig a couple of nights later when Billy’s Mum was entertaining a group of kids that had gathered on the lawn near Paddy’s performance space.  She had some bubble mixture and was blowing bubbles for the kids when Paddy cracked it.  He stopped mid song and started ranting about how rude it was to be playing while he was performing.  There was about an equal mix of old folk tut tutting in agreement and every parent of a child under ten staring in disbelief and remarking to their spouses what an old fool Paddy was.  We lost our Paddy love that night and our hearts broke a little.