Western Oz leaving late in the touring season
23 September 2015 - 12 January 2016
Karijini to Perth
5 - 8 Nov - Karijini Nat Park
This area is a must see and if even reasonably physically able, a must walk There a 3 main sections to the park.
The far west section has Hammersley Gorge (where we've just been) on its own. It is the most difficult to get to as it is far & the road is not always good.
The eastern section contains Dales Gorge and Fortescue Falls. The walk down to Dale is long & steep but has stairs to help. Once there the waterhole & subsequent walk along the gorge floor to Fortesque Falls is beautful following a creek. Because the gorge is much shallower at the falls end the walk out is easy. Both the waterhole & waterfall areas are beautiful swimming spots. We were amazed to have to share the waterhole with a school excursion from who knows where. The road between the eastern & western sections can be rough. It was when we were there so we chose to go the long way via bitumen.
The middle & most spectacular contains Joffre, Knox, Hancock, Weano & Red Gorges and is out of this world but only if you are willing to climb down into the gorges via the steepish access paths. The view from the top viewing platform is quite nice but not worth the long drive from the coast.
We went first to Dales Gorge & braved the steep descent in the heat to find a school excursion enjoying a swim. We joined them enthusiastically with lots of high jumps. The highest jump is over 100 metres and is fatal as proved by a drunk youngster earlier in the year. We then walked the gorge bottom to Fortesque Fals & and who should we find there - Zoe & Linc. We heard the sorry tale of our close encounter at Whittenoom while enjoying the water.
The next morning we drove the 2 hours to Knox Gorge in the middle section of the NP and spent 3 hours 'down the gorge'. Spent the night at the Ecolodge nearby - showers.
at Mary Springs. Instead of hundreds of vans like last time, there were less than 10. Lincoln had bought a frozen kangaroo tail at the shop in Halls Creek and bar-b-qued it for us. Fat, gristle & bone. We sent it hopping..
Next day we soaked in the water hole before driving to Geiki Gorge Walked along the gorge this time. The boat would be better & definitely cooler but we were too late in the day.
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| The access path to Dales gorge is the deepest & steepest | Dales gorge waterhole | The floor of Dales gorge has varied scenery |
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| Found the kids @ Fortesque falls. The splashers are Pete & Jake | The relatively easy walk out | Near the start of Knox Gorge though we've descended a fair way by now |
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| Many beautiful pools all with towering cliffs | Getting narrow | Wonderland |
Next day was huge. Started with a solid drive to Hancock Gorge. Words cannot describe this place... Amazing - much more impressive than Dales. 3 hours of wonder, exercise & fun (with swimming & jumping). The water temp was lovely but it is November - July is very different and you try not to get wet.
1.5 hours of lunch and rest saw us in Weano Gorge this time - for 2.5 hours . This gorge ends at the superb handrail pool.
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| Hancock Gorge started out beautiful ... | quickly transitioned.. | to magnificent on a grand scale |
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| Weano Gorge started slowly .. | and then - you know.. | just blew our minds |
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We were frustrated by the park authorities banning walking to the end of each of Weano, Hancock & Knox Gorges, deeming it too dangerous. From our previous visit we knew that these gorges met at Red Gorge and the banned parts were amongst the most spectacular. We hatched a cunning plan. Joffre Gorge also joins Red Gorge but it has large stretches of deep water which must be swum so no-one does. In fact it would be impossible for most of the year as the water is almost freezing - but not in November. There was probably no sign banning further progress.
The 3 kids, Pete & Steve set off armed with only cozzies and no camera. Pete took his phone with onboard camera but it fell from his pocket somewhere taking his photos to the bottom with it. Other than the fact that the swimming was much, much, much longer than anticipated the plan worked well as tnhere was no sign. They came from Red Gorge back almost to the warning signs in each gorge hence seeing the marvellous scenery in the forbidden areas. To remeber that we have to rely on our photos of our 2001 trip.
They eventually returned via handrail pool in Weano and met Robbie for the walk back to the vans. They were stonkered. However after a rest ans a very late lunch we drove off for a roadsise stop in the WA wilderness.
11 - 14 Nov - Ningaloo Reef
It took 2 days for us to drive to the coast at Exmouth as we travel slowly. We needed 2 overnight roadside stops and arrived late in the day but allowed Pete to have a fish at sunset.Zoe & Linc raced ahead.
Cape Range NP is another wonder. It's east side is the range with some beautiful gorges.
To the west is Ningaloo Reef - a fringing reef which extends 300 km along the coast and forms a huge lagoon paradise. Vast coral reefs , attols & bommies with whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins to name a few of the locals. Much of the coral is accessible via a 30 metre wade or swim from the beach & water life abounds that close to the shore.
Between the range & the ocean is a coastal strip abounding in wildlife with numerous camp sites (though nowhere near enough in peak season).
The 6 of us spent a couple of balmy days swimming, snorkelling & generally having fun in the sun.
After catching no fish yet Zoe, Robbie, Linc & Pete opted to pay for a fishing trip. A brilliant day out yielded numerous catches. We stayed at a van park that night so the fishers could shower the smell away. Emus were looking for handouts.
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| Pete wets a line as soon as we reach the Indian Ocean again | ||
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15 - 19 Nov - Coral Bay
In the morning we drove into the Cape Range. A few hours drive took us to Coral Bay with showers & boat trips. We had a dress up, restaurant night out with live music thrown in..
Next day we took a boat on a great adventure. At the first anchorage we dived with manta rays. As they 'flew' along nonchantly we clustered around them in our snorkelling gear & follwed for a hundred metres. Breathtaking being only 2 metres from these giants.
Subsequent dives had us diving through pristine coral gardens with countless exotic fish. One spot was a shark & turtle cleaning station. 3 metres below us they arrived and hung motionless while a myriad of small fish emerged from hiding to eat the growths off them. Magic!
Teary farewells after as Zoe & Linc left us, probably till Sydney, as they head east 250kms to work on a muster at a huge station west of Carnarvon. We will continue south but not yet.
We'd heard about a shark nursery along the beach so next morning we remnant wandered along the beautiful, a little sceptical. Well - we saw many sharks & only metres from the shore. Excellent! Gale force SW winds were forecast so we headed north along the sand coast road for an overnight beach stay behind what we hoped (from a map) was a protective headland. It was to an extent protected so we enjoyed a nice day there. Woke up at midnight to strange noises. We emerged from the van to find the ground alive with crabs.
Next morning the wind had dropped so we returned to Coral Bay for a few hours to savour its magnificent swimming beach.
A few hours took us to Carnarvon for a late lunch of prawns!
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| Robbie bar-b-qued a feast at the van park | Trip into the Cape Range | |
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| Night out at Coral Bay | Coral Bay boat trip | One of the manta rays we followed snorkelling |
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| By loved ones - we'll miss you. Great fun, great people | Some of the many young sharks we saw at the shoreline | |
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| Beach stop north of Coral Bay | Coral Bay swimming beach | Robbie taking us southwards |
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| Boys loving the Carnarvon prawns | Carnarvon waterfront |
20 - 26 Nov - Shark Bay - Kalbarri
The stromatolite site is interesting but not at all photogenic. Scientists propose this as the earliest form of life - so living fossils.
Shell Beach just down the road is a beautiful & weird place. Worth a stop. There is an old house built from shell blocks cut from deposits on site. The beach is made entirely of small white shells, so hard on the feet & hot. The water is crystal clear, warm & shallow. Because it is almost fully enclosed by spits the water is super salty. In winter it is very attractive but in our heat, not refreshing at all. There were small Leopard Sharks cruising the shore line in a foot of water.
Before Denham we stopped for hours at Eagle Bluff Lookout. This spot gives a great view down of the inner waters of Shark Bay. We saw many eagle rays jumping clear of the water. We could see many sharks prowling.
We went to Monkey Mia hoping to repeat our fabulous visit there in 2001 but it was not to be. Luckily Robbie was selected fron the vast crowd to hand feed a dolphin.
We enjoyed the comforts of the resort there overnight after going on a boat cruise to see dugongs & visit a floating pearl farm. As last tme, the only dugong visible were in the far distance and best viewed via photos taken with a zoom lens.
We dropped into Eagles Hawk bluff again on the way out & were not disappointed. It's a long drive south to Kalbarri and we were lucky enough to catch the wild flower season for part of the trip.
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| Stromatolites are not photogenic | Shell beach | Quad biking @ Kalbarri |
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| Robbie was a chosen one at Monkey Mia | Enjoying our time at MM resort. Pete won't smile for photos | Highly magnified dugong |
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| Jake photographing wild flowers | At the bottom of Z-Bend gorge | Robbie descending |
27 Nov - 3 Dec - Geraldton - Perth
The coast road south from Kalbarri is very beautiiful & not long after turning inland we drove past one of Oz's pink lakes (Hutt Lagoon).
We skipped Geraldton this time and followed the (nondescript) coast road to Cervantes for a lobster lunch. The Pinnacles in Nambung NP didn't disappoint even though our 2nd visit. It is unique and captivating though starting to get a little crowded with we tourists.
We'd heard a lot about Fremantle (Freo) so that was our first stop in Perth. Loved it. Great for the senses with excellent restaurants, bars & music venues. We will definitely return.
Robbie's dad lives in Perth with his wife, 2 daughters & their families. We rarely see this side of the family so we loved the reunion & their hospitality. We spent a day with her sisters, Joanne & Felicity, in Freo and drove to the north of Perth to see her cousin Michelle and her baby daughter Carlotte.
Very sadly we farewelled Jake & Pete as they flew back to Sydney. Zoe & Linc are staying longer in Perth to visit Linc's relatives and are driving fast from there back to work in Sydney so that's a goddbye as well.
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| The needles are like multiple Stonehenges in the desert | Outdoor restaurants in Freo | |
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| So many good places to eat | Admiring Zoe's & Linc's van | Zoe & Jake reunion |
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| Zoe & Linc after a 5 day muster. Tough & dirty | ... and another | Cousin Michelle & Cherlotte |
Go forward to Bunbury to Sydney
Go back to Sydney to Mataranka
Go back to Katherine Gorge to Wittenoom
