Karijini Revisited

The drive out of Port Hedland was fairly uneventful, although when we reached the Karijini Visitor Centre it was disappointing to find that Hamersley Gorge was closed due to roadworks. We set ourselves up at the Dales Campground and headed off for Circular Pool as a way to stretch out our legs following the drive in.
Max loved the climb down to the pool and the pool itself, although we both thought the water a little on the chilly side. Max however found that sections of the waterfalls were considerably warmer as it was running down rocks that had been warmed by the sun prior to reaching the pool. This made the swimming experience much more pleasant as well as doubling as a shower.
The trip back up the gorge was tougher than the downwards journey (funny that) with Max doing a good impression of a fish out of water when we reached the top.

Why did I buy Max a swag?

The next day (which was also my fortieth birthday – terrible chore spending it surrounded by the most fantastic of National Parks with my oldest son) we revisited the entry to the gorge but turned right instead of left and made our way up to Fortescue Falls. This was also fairly chilly but a very enjoyable swim was had by both of us. By making our way up past the falls we found Fern pool which Max insisted was much warmer (by this stage I had decided I had had enough of cold water and satisfied myself with watching Max and a couple of other kids enjoying themselves in the water).
After lunch we headed back the way we had come and continued past the entry/exit to the gorge and back to Circular Pool. The evening before i had forgotten the camera and wanted to make sure I had some shots for Liz when we get home, as well as thinking the opportunity for a semi-warm shower was to good to pass up. By the time we made it home that night Max certainly knew he had been on a jaunt.
Next on the list was Weano and Hancock Gorges. We had left these to last as they contained higher category treks than Dales Gorge and I wanted to build Max’s confidence first. We started with Hancock Gorge, however I only have photo’s of the early stages as I decided to be fairly risk adverse and left the camera behind as soon as we reached water stages. Max was absolutely enthused when we reached the Spider Walk through to Junction Pool and I was impressed with how easily he navigated most parts.
The return journey was fairly uneventful except that I managed to slip in six inches of water and completely immerse myself (meaning that the decision to leave the camera and range of other bits and pieces behind was vindicated).
After a relaxed lunch at the top we set out for Weano Gorge. We had already decided to concentrate on the higher category trails as Max wasn’t interested in adding an additional 3km to do the loop.
Once again I left the camera behind at the first sign of water so we again miss out of the photo’s that we could have taken at places like handrail pool. Max thought it was the right move however as he didn’t think his Mum would leave me in one piece if I damaged her camera. This time however it was Max who slipped and drenched himself.
The gorge leading on from Handrail Pool finally became Max’s stopping point and he was adamant that it must have been a category 6 area (even though there was a category 5 trail marker a tits entrance) as he decided it was a little too scary for him to continue down. for all of this he still managed to navigate a reasonable distance before he called it quits.
The journey back was reasonably eventful as we missed the exit trail and continued another 600+ metres down the gorge. Eventually we wandered back and up the hill to the car.
At this stage Max was a bit tuckered out so we tooled along to Junction and Oxer lookouts. Max was very interested in the memorial to the SES volunteer who died in 2004 while trying to rescue an injured walker.

Random Emu family encountered on our travels

On the way back to camp we also visited the Knox and Joffre lookouts. Knox lookout kept us for about an hour just appreciating the scenery and serenity. Max also viewed the trail along the bottom of Knox Gorge as the next challenge when he is a little older and up to it, so we may have the perfect excuse for another trip up here in a few years time (if Liz and Harry missing this visit isn’t excuse enough ).
The next morning was our Karijini exit, with a stop at Mt Bruce on the way out. Sadly we missed Mt Meharry, although Max’s major reason for wanting to visit was to see if he could upset his brother when we got home by going on about how he could walk all over Harry.
First stop on the way out was Tom Price, which we ended up stopping at for quite a while as we checked emails and phone messages. While I had a very peaceful birthday, the result was a lot of messages to go through – which was nice given that Max completely forgot my birthday and then remembered the next morning and tried to tell me that he had known it was my birthday but ignored it as ‘every day should be my birthday’???
From here it was into the final stages. with Ningaloo the last major destination on the list.