Karijini National Park - 5 nights then on to Tom Price

31st May to 5th June 2014

Karijini is a beautiful place.  We camped in the national park where there are no services so we really slowed down.  The camp space we were allocated was spacious and surrounded by trees.  At night it is pitch black so the stars are magnificent.  The days were a pleasant 25 to 28 degrees, the nights cold, probably around 5 degrees on some nights.

Camp site at Karijini NP

We managed to explore most of the gorges over the 4 full days in the area.  The entire Pilbarra area is rich in iron ore and the protected Karijini is just a small part of it.  Rio Tinto have a huge mine at Tom Price and would like to add parts of Karijini to their holdings.  It is a shock to see the huge Marandoo mine set amongst such pristine wilderness.

Folded Rocks in Kalamina Gorge

The Pilbarra area is an elevated flat landscape with many hills rising across the plains.  The rocks were mostly formed as an ancient sea floor about 2,500 million years ago, which makes them some of the oldest rocks on earth and they pre-date all life except simple bacteria and algae.  At this time there was little oxygen in the atmosphere and the water was laden with iron and silica.  Over time the iron and silica settled on the sea floor and subsequent layers of rock built up over the sediments.  Then the water was squeezed out leaving the iron and silica in bands. Eventually the rocks were squeezed horizontally making them buckle and uplift to form dry land.  At this time vertical cracks were formed.  Subsequent erosion by water took place forming the spectacular deep gorges that can be viewed today.  Some of them drop 120 metres from the surrounding flat land to the gorge floor.

Arid landscape above Dales Gorge

Dales Gorge
This was the first gorge we explored since it was within walking distance of our campsite. The gorge always contains water so there are many plants and fish in the pools. Fig trees hug the rock walls and exquisite ferns and mosses cling the wet walls around the waterfalls.  This is in stark contrast to the plains which are very dry with spinifex grass and the occasional snappy gum.  The gorge contains 3 deep pools and we returned on our last day to this gorge where John had a swim in the prettiest one.  The water was very cold!
This gorge also contain asbestos in small quantities, it can be seen flaking out between the layers of iron ore.  Up until the 1960's, asbestos was mined in Wittenoom and Yampire gorges which are not far from here.  They are accessible but there is plenty of advise to keep away from the area.

Looking into Dales Gorge

Resident gecko

Fortescue Falls in Dales Gorge

Corellas at Fern Pool, Dales Gorge

John swimming in Fern Pool

Fig tree roots in Dales Gorge

Asbestos in Dales Gorge

Red dragonfly in Kalamina Gorge

Kalamina Gorge

This gorge was much wider and water more shallow, very pretty though.  There were butterflies and lots of red and blue dragonflies.  

Kalamina Gorge

Kalamina Gorge

Hancock Gorge

Steep climb down into this gorge.  After a short walk we had to wade through thigh deep water to reach the start of the narrow chasm leading to a spot known as Kermit's pool.  To proceed any further it was necessary to 'spider walk' the near vertical walls or wade chest deep through very cold water so we gave that a miss.

Descent into Hancock Gorge

Hancock Gorge

Hancock Gorge

Weano Gorge

Weano is quite a long gorge and at one end is a pool, known as handrail pool which it is possible to reach by wading through a shallow pool then following the water along a very narrow chasm until it drops into a spectacular circular pool.  Not sure how deep the pool is but the chasm walls were about 80 metres so it was an awesome sight.  The handrail refers to the means to descend the rock face alongside the waterfall to the pool edge -scary but well worth doing!

Weano Gorge

Weano Gorge

Chasm to Handrail pool

Handrail pool

Junction Lookout

This is the point at which 5 gorges meet.  Climbing into them is not permitted but a lookout has been placed so the dizzying 120 metre drop can be viewed.Reluctantly left Karijini on 5th and drove to Tom Price, which is the mining town of the Pilbarra.  Actually quite a nice place set in amongst the peaks.  Here we have stocked up on food supplies, replenished the water tanks and washed the red dust out of as much as possible.