Day 49 – Karijini – Travelling the Big Island

30 July 2019

Today was incredible.

Early start for Dad, Bill and I this morning as we wanted to get the Knox Gorge walk in before we had to pack up and leave camp. We piled in to the Ranger and headed to the trail head. We had the gorge all to ourselves, and it was once again, completely stunning. Instead of culminating in a pool of water, we got to a crevice that we weren’t allowed through. We climbed out and headed back to camp via the Joffre Falls lookout (on the opposite side of the gorge to yesterday’s activities). Packed up and out of camp by 10 am. Next stop was Weano Gorge. The 4 of us did most of the walks here, except for the last bit down to Handrail Pool which was pretty steep. Mum opted out and waited in the shade for us.

And next, my favourite – Hancock Gorge. Unbelievable. One of the best things I’ve seen. We got about half way in, and then had to strip down to our bathers and aqua shoes. We waded, and then swam through a narrow section called the Sheep Dip. Then it was a walk in flowing water through a narrow crevice called the Spider Walk. This opened up to a pool called Kermits Pool thanks to the green colour of the water (not actually green – just the light making off it look that way). It was incredible and so much fun. Best gorge of the trip.

After drying off, we headed to Tom Price to fuel up, get some supplies, call my brother Mark for his birthday, and to get a permit to drive on the Rio Tinto rail access road – a much smoother gravel road heading towards the coast than the public road. Then it was back to the fringe of Karijini, where we camped in a great free camp just near Hammersley Gorge. An adventure for tomorrow. As we were outside the national park, we could have a campfire, over which Chef Barry cooked steak and vegies.

One of the best days of the trip. And it’s official – the Pilbara has been my favourite part of this trip so far, and somewhere that I would love to come back to one day.