Karajinni Nat. Park



Dales Gorge



We visited this National Park and stayed two days.  It was very hot, very basic bush camping, dry and so so dusty.   The nearest gorge just a walk away, the rest were accessed by very rough 4Wd roads.   The gorges were amazing.   The rock formations again, so different from any that we had seen before.  We were "outgorged" but couldnt resist.   The only gorge that we actually went down into was Dales Gorge.  We were staying at this campground.   It was a very long walk down into the gorge over rough rock steps.  The waterfall was beautiful.  A short 300m walk further on was  Fern Pool.  It was a very deep, cool pool, the most popular swimming hole here.  Sadly I didnt go in.  Very deep right from the edge and I was too chicken.  Instead I sat on the wooden deck and hand fed bread to the hundreds of fish that were here.  It was amazing to see the frenzy they started when they saw the bread sitting in the palm of my hand.  When the bread was gone, I dangled my feet and they gave me a "pedicure" with their needle like little teeth.  So cool.

Fern Pool

Kalimna Gorge waterfall - we walked into see this but didnt go into the gorge itself

Knox Gorge

Circular Pool

Weano Gorge

Joffre Gorge

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At Oxer Lookout, 5 gorges come together and the scenery is breathtaking.  Rick and I were in awe. These gorges can all be accessed by 2-3 hrs. of walking down into them, some you can abseil into and there is one where you actually climb down a ladder to get into the waterholes.   All of them were full of water that was freezing cold according to the young fit backpackers we spoke to who were game enough to do them.This park was a major detour for us, clocking up prob. close to 600km return out of our way, but was worth every minute.  Cant express how beautiful they were, just had to see them to beleive it.  Each and everyone of them was different.   We couldnt actually acess a couple of them due to closures, not sure why. 

We have been very blessed too with the fact that we are now in the midst of the start of the wildflower season here in WA.  From flat, desolate roadsides, we are suddenly seeing flowers of all hues, on the way to the Nat. Park w saw lots of color, two days later, there was a profusion of new flowers.   I am going to start taking some pics and put them up prob. not that exciting for anyone else, but its so exciting to see the colors as we pass by.

Our friends the caravanners from SA,  Tony & Ros left us from here.  They are headed to Kalgoorlie and then back home so that they can take a cruise to Vanuatu they booked many months ago.  They would have preferred to stay on and keep travelling but of course they didnt know they were going to hook up with us 12 weeks ago.   Helen & Eric the motorhomers from SA have been having serious power problems with their motorhome and are hoping that by the time we get to Karratha their will be an auto electrician that will be able to help them out.   Had lots of work done in Broome and now it seems, the "experts" ther actually stuffed their 12volt system up to the point it no longer works.

Broome to Port Hedland

Rick trying his luck

From Broome we moved down the coast settling at the 80 Mile Beach.  It was a very rough 10kms in off the Highway and we were not happy with the condition of the road.  Every thing seemed to rattle in the bus including us.   This is right on the beach, just a  mini stroll over the sand dunes.  Fishing and shell collecting here, the water looks so tempting, beautiful blue but its unpatrolled and you dont quite know whats out there.  Dolphins were here, but also lots of very big jelly fish washed up continuously.   You could drive your cars on the beach for miles from 7am to 7pm each day.  Naturally we did, the boys taking advantage and going fishing each day.  First day, wrong bait, wrong sinkers etc. no fish.  Second day, the right bait, new sinkers but still the wrong ones and still no fish.  Two types of salmon, mulloway and baby sharks were being caught here, just not by us.  It was hot and thirsty work, abandoning fishing each afternoon for beer o'clock.   People spend weeks/months here, just fishing and shell collecting.  We went sir crazy after two days.!!!!!

Nothing but sand and water for as far as you can see.

Helen didnt catch the shark, just abandoned on the beach.

The Highway along this stretch of WA is as boring as you can get.  The Highway goes on for miles in the distance, nothing either side of the road to see, then all of a sudden we found a small waterhole and all these birds.  Took their pic. cant recognise them, not sure if they are brolgas etc. but it was really nice to see them to break the  monotony of the drive.

The sunsets like all we have seen have been pretty beautiful..   It is still very warm, around 30 each day, especially down the beach, the sun has shone all day, gentle breeze to keep it comfy and then by about 7pm it is cool and great weather for sleeping.  Ideal conditions for us.   Am not looking forward to the cooler climate as we head down.  We have had 30o temps for prob. the past 8 weeks without a break and its been heaven.



Just a little sculpture in the Park at Pt Hedland that I liked.



We are now in Port Hedland, staying at the Port Hedland Golf Club, the caravan parks here, there are two, are booked out and extremely expensive, so this will do for us for a day or two until we head of again.  Our next stop is the Karrinjini National Park, 250kms down from here inland on the road to Newman.  We are planning to visit the Park and then drive back up the Highway the way we came and then head again back along the Coast.



One of the ships in Port with a dredger passing by.



Last night in Broome

Giving way to the camels as we leave the beach

Sand for as far as you can see

Our camp spot

Its our last night in Broome, the church campground has been ordered to close tomorrow.  The Shire President has his own very successful caravan park here and doesnt like the "overflow" parks to remain in business too long.   Everyone is sad to leave, this place has been a huge pleasure to stay at.  Lyn & Jim the caretakers are lovely people who maintain this place beautifully.  When Rick was laid up with his sore knee, they presented him with a Get Well card and a box of chocolates.!!!!!!!!

Last night we had a bbq with some local Broome people who run a B & B here.  They are friends of our friends (Bruce & Helen from Port Macquarie).  It was a good night out and interesting to here what life is like here for the residents.   This is a very expensive place for real estate and rents are pretty high.  There is a huge amount of protest going on up here due to Woodside Petroleum wanting to build a gas plant here.  Signs everywhere, protest camps out on the road to the site etc.   It is almost a 50/50 split with residents, some wanting Broome to remain the same and others wanting progress and growth. 

The days have been sightseeing or just relaxing.  Every afternoon we go down to Cable Beach and drive up the beach to have a swim, happy hour and watch the sunset.  Its been heaven.   Yesterday, we accidentally discovered the Nude Beach.   I cant explain the sights we saw.   Today we were back in our usual spot, but the nudists seem to have moved down closer to us, they have no problems in parading up and down the beach and going in for a swim (with the tide way way out) its been mind boggling for us.   The camel rides go right past them, lots of kids on these rides.

Our last night here we were treated to a magnificent sunset, it was a great way to finish off the night, driving down the huge stretch of sand as the sun set.  Fish N Chips at Cable Beach that night finished it up for us.
Heading out tomorrow and will end up at the 80 mile Beach around 360 kms from here.  Hopefully spend a few days there, swimming and fishing.

Broome

The Variety Bash is in Town.   The cars ended their epic journey from NSW here in Broome on Wednesday.  They all parked up at a local primary school and we went out for a look.  Rick shed tears when he saw some of the cars that were being used.  The car above is a genuine GT falcon.       The little turtle we spotted at the wharf, swimming against the tide, for every stroke he got pushed backward.  The view is from the jetty at the wharf.   Everywhere, the color of the water against either the rocks or sand is beautiful.   Yesterday we went out to Quandong Point in our 4WD - all dirt road for a swim.  It is about 45kms out of Broome.  The water was magic, Rick went in for a body surf and ended up being hit by a wave and damaging his knee.  Snapped the medial ligament on the side of the knee.  A trip to Hospital, followed.  He is OK.  Needs to keep it bandaged, elevated and rested.  Doesnt need medication or physio.  He feels pretty good this morning but he is banned from all activity for the day.   He is half way thru an oil change on the bus and is busting to get on with it, but he will have to wait.   Shouldnt affect his ability to drive, but it will be a good excuse for him now whenever I mention the word "shops"   he will reply "I cant walk that far".

Touring Broome

Broome seems like a really lovely town.  There are some multi-million dollar houses and then there are the dregs.    The famous Cable Beach is stunning and so are the rock formations along the coastline.   It is claimed, the town doesnt like the invasion of the Grey Nomad, but without us, it would be almost dead.  Wherever you go, all you see are the tourists.  If Darwin is the Crocodile Capital then Broome is the Pearl capital.  70% of the shops are selling pearls and or souvenirs.   The strong Aussie $ has seen more people head for Indonesia/Asia instead of Broome.  Their trade is down 40% yet the caravan parks are chockers.Today we went out to see a Pearl Farm operation. It was very informative, the pearls in the showroom stunning.  The boys opted to sit in the carpark and drink coffee rather than spend the $40 entrance fee.   Good move on their part, they would have been bored.    Happy Hours have been spent down on the sand at Cable Beach.  At low tide you can drive along this beach for approx. 15kms.   There are 3 companies doing camel rides along the beach, something we will think about.

A phenomenon that happens each month for approx. 3 nights in a row is the "Staircase to the Moon"  This is when the full moon rises and shines down on the tidal flats.  It gives the impression of a staircase, depending on the cloud cover it can be sensational.     This attracts huge crowds down on the foreshore, and a Market that is held here every Sat-Sun morning, also runs on the foreshore on the nights that the "Staircase" happens.  Typical market art/craft stuff, lots of nice hot Asian style food and entertainment. 

Staircase to the moon, cant seem to turn the photo around for you to view.

Camel ride on the beach

Cable Beach

Sunset on cable beach at happy hour

One of the touristy things here is the "Sun" movie theatre.  A very old outdoor movie theatre here in Broome.  Deck chairs, very uncomfortable, watch the movie and see the aeroplanes fly over as they land at the airport just behind.  An amazing sight to see the planes coming in so close.

Too much Happy Hour

At Happy Hour one day we got to talking about how much exercise we have gotten - clambering over rocks, trekking on rough paths, walking thru canyons etc.  you get the picture.

Here are the "before" we started our journey and the "after" of our menfolk.  Obviously we have had way too much happy hour.

We have gone to Church in Broome

We are now in Broome.  The rest areas we camped up in beforehand were chockers.  The caravan parks here are full.  The info centre has a board out the front each morning with any vacancies that may occur.  Prices start at $38 to $50 per night!!!!!!!.   We are camped up in the 7th Day Adventist Church grounds. The church, the pistol club and the police youth club are all designated "overflow" facilities when you cant get into a regular park.  You can only stay in these areas for 7 days.    We are quite happy here.  Its $35 per night, a nice big site for the bus, green grass, power, water and next to the amenities.   We initially booked for 3 nights to see how we felt, and to also check out the availability of moving into a caravan park.  Rick and I are happy to stay here, we dont want to pack up and move, not sure what our two lots of friends want to do, as they did want the pool etc. that parks offer.  But what we save here, can be spent on something "nice" like going out to dinner etc.   The Council requires the Church and all of the overflow venues to close down on Tues 23rd as they beleive it is then over the "peak".   We are considering asking to stay on till this date, which would give us 10 days here.   Havent seen much of Broome yet, a quick look at the famous Cable Beach was a must and it didnt disappoint.  Did a market yesterday while we waited for our site to become available and then another market last night (same stuff over and over again).  

Geike Gorge

This is Geike Gorge, the rock formations were beautiful and the rock colors were different as we cruised down the gorge.

Still seeing crocs.  In fact we saw heaps of little freshies on this cruise, all sunbaking in the morning sun.



These are the nests of a lovely little bird.  Lots of them flying in and out whilst we sat and watched.

Fitzroy Crossing - Derby

We have seen two caravans roll-overs since we have been on the Highway.  This is the result of one of them.  The rest of the van was strewn along the roadside, nothing left of value.   We came across another one where it seems the caravan had also taken out a backpackers van, as the caravan, tow vehicle and little van were all smashed on the side of the road.   Noone seemed to have been hurt in either of these two instances.   There wasnt a great deal to see or do in Fitzroy Crossing, just the Geike Gorge cruise.  We opted for the 8a.m. cruise which is for 1 hr.  Have to admit it was just beautiful.   (Thanks Grant).  The rock formations here were totally different again to anything we had seen before.  Highly recommend this one.  Will add pics in next blog.   Then we detoured to Derby.  Sounded like a really nice place - lots to see and do.  We were wrong.  Not much here either.   Visited the "touristy" things but nothing exciting.

This was as excited as I got.  Our neice Tantri who is of Balinese/German/Russian heritage is studying to be a hairdresser.  When I saw this Salon in her name I had to snap the pictures.

A visit to the old Derby gaol was humbling.  To read the stories of the aboriginals - around 200 of them were locked up here over the years mostly for stealing cattle.   These "natives" were chained - neck to waist to legs and often marched 24 to 48 kms each day to serve their time in the gaol.  Corrugated iron and bars - bolts in the floor that they were chained to.   No shelter from the heat or the cold.   They wouldnt have understood our language or the fact that what they were doing was wrong.   When you read how they were so badly treated it makes you feel very sad.    The boab tree is called the prison tree.  Sometimes it was used for sheltering the prisoners, or just as a rest stop on the way to the gaol. I must admit that the stories we have read of the early settlement of Australia and the treatment of the aboriginal men, women and children are truly sad.  It was done in their best interests under circumstances that we thought were right, but are so wrong in todays world.       But then on the other hand, witnessing the people today, I sometimes think - Why isnt someone intervening in these families , when you see little kids, dirty and unkempt living in parks etc. 

Pics

The local bulls/cows dont mind sharing the campgrounds with us Im sure they love having their pics taken as they happily wander around the camps and chew on the grass.   The lovely bull below, just wandered in as we were having happy hour.  We were camped up on the Ord River and he came up from the river to check us all out.

This is a park in Wyndham.  We were looking forward to visiting this town.  Had planned to stay overnight at a free camp and spend the day here.  Arrived at 10 and were out of there by 12.  No way would we leave our bus here unattended, it was dirty and disgusting, nothing to see, the tourist brochures were quite descriptive of an old historic port etc etc.  but it was a nothing less than horrid.    Bordered up/smashed/trashed houses, vehicles etc.  This park was dedicated to the Aboriginal ancestry of the town, the signs were all broken, the weeds had overtaken the "park", the billabong was dried up, the bridges and paths overtaken by weed and trash, the statues, covered in paint and there were at least 3 aboriginal families strewn over the park, obviously living in the mess.   An aboriginal lady offered me a carved Boab seed pod for $30.  She had encouraged her 12 y.o. to carve it.  He needed to earn cash to support them. Further questioning of her, she had been thrown out of her community and now lived in the park, she told me she was much happier not having a house as she beleived it was best for her kids to be bought up with nature, here in the park.!!!!!!!   What hope does these kids have?   Anyway we decided this town wasnt for us and headed off down the Highway.   Quite disgusted with the Council for allowing such vandalism.

These are all pics from our trip down the Ord River.  You can see the beauty of the rock formations that are everywhere here in this part of W.A.    We then headed down towards the Bungle Bungles.   The MUST DO of this region.  We werent keen to drive in and see them by car.   You just cant see and appreciate them from the ground. But if you wanted to see them that way, then you really need to spend 2-3 days in the Park.  Its very much a 4WD high clearance drive in and around the Nat.Park.    None of us wanted to do it.  The alternative was to do a flight over them.  It was pricey and the budget just wasnt going to keep stretching, so we will save it for another time.   A quick visit to Halls Creek was next, fuelled up, checked out the Tourist Info, decided there was nothing there to see and kept going.  Now parked up at Fitzroy Crossing.  Off to Geike Gorge tomorrow for a cruise thru the Gorge.  Should be lovely, quite possibly the end of our gorges.  We have seen so many, all of them different and almost all of them beautiful.

The road from Kununurra to here, has been extremely boring.  Very little to see, much greener than the N.T. but towns/stops are few and far between.  Need to be very mindful of your fuel etc.  The only saving grace is every now and then you come across a magnificent mountain range, mostly rock, but the colors are stunning, reds, browns, blacks,trees and tufts of bright green grass scattered thru them.  Makes the long expanses of flat highway worth it when these turn up.