Leaving Exmouth, we headed inland to the beauty of Karijini National Park. We arrived and set up in a huge, dusty and busy campground with large shady spots and warnings to keep shoes and food indoors due to packs of dingos on the prowl (we were excited at this but didn't spot or hear a single dingo the whole time). Shortly after we arrived, our friends Bruce and Katherine and their kids pulled up to say hi. They were staying at another campground but had spent the day exploring Dales Gorge, just near where we were camping. It was great to see them and we arranged to get together for a BBQ later in the week. That evening we hiked down past a waterfall to a magic spot called Fern Pool. The water was cool but delicious with waterfalls splashing amongst ferns. Perfect for washing off the traveling dust.
Next day we began a gorge walking frenzy. We were gobsmacked by the sparkly blue rocks and red swirls of Dales Gorge and Fortescue Falls on the first day. Second day, we rock-hopped through the awesome Kalimina Gorge with more amazing colours and textures in the rock. Sash loved the orange dragonflies, and Zara just loved jumping from rock to rock over the water, then scrambling onto ledges. On the third day we drove to Weano Gorge and then Hancock Gorge. Hancock involved climbing down a ladder and then doing some very precarious rock hopping and wading through freezing water. Most sensible people with kids stopped while the going was good, but we were all pumped up and gorge-crazed so we began the level 5 (advanced) section. We soon found ourselves hanging onto the edge of cliffs and tiptoeing along tiny ledges over massive drops. It was hair raising but amazing. We gave up at the Spider Walk which involved doing a sort of spider crawl through a rock corridor whilst straddling the rock over icy water...
That night we had a great BBQ with Bruce, Katherine, Josh (12), Emily (10), Ollie (6) and Abby (4). It was total chaos but heaps of fun - for the kids who hooned around and gave each other piggybacks, and for the adults who compared notes and travel tips. We look forward to catching up with these guys in Broome if we can.
When we had arrived at Karijini, the kids were given a worksheet with instructions on how to become a Junior Ranger. Naturally they were pretty keen to earn their JR patch so they threw themselves into answering questions, doing word searches, picking up rubbish, sitting under a tree at dusk identifying flora and fauna, walking the gorges and designing a creature that would thrive in Karijini. At the end of our stay, they presented their worksheets to the ranger and nearly popped out of their skins with pride when they were each awarded an official Karajini Junior Ranger patch to be sewn on their jumpers.
The red dirt of Karajini got into everything! All four of us turned into redheads as the dust got permanently into our scalps and hair. Red dirt stained all our clothes and crept into every crease in the tent and every crack in the trailer. However despite the dust, Karajini was a magic place - one of the highlights of the trip for all of us. We stayed for 5 nights then reluctantly moved on.
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| Sashi 'helping' with the pack-up |
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