June 28 – July 6 Karijini National Park, Tom Price and Millstream Chichester National Park
July 8, 2018 - Reading time: 5 minutes
Drove down to Port Hedland booked into our motel ( first one for the trip) and had a quick drive around town while waiting for Martin’s plane to arrive. Hedland is basically a industrial town with the industry being based around iron ore mining and exporting of the ore through the port. Had a beer at the the beautiful local hotel and filled in time. Fortunately Martin’s plane was on time,unfortunately his luggage wasn’t on board! We had a beaut buffet , and a bottle of wine while watching the AFL.
Left Port just after 8 am (when Marts bag arrived!) and arrived at Karijini National Park just after one to find only six vacant campsites! With school holidays starting this afternoon we might have arrived just in time. Had a great walk along the cliff top of Dales Gorge where I had a very unpleasant moment. Maureen had given me a drink bottle, which had sat in the car for a day or 2, so I quickly grabbed it for the walk – took a mouthful after a km or to and it was so bad that I spat it out! I opened the bottle and there inside was a green tree frog – DEAD. I was sick!
The walk was great and geared us up for the upcoming walks of Karijini.
Over the days we did the Weano Gorge loop, the Dales Gorge loop, took in the views from Knox’, Joffre, Oxer and Junction lookouts. The highlight was certainly the walk we left to last – Hancock Gorge – including the Ampitheatre, Kermit’s Pool and Spider Walk. This area is the one most photographed, and being a Class 5, we took the descent easy, it was steep and rocky and finished with 2 steep ladders. Once on the gorge floor we followed the waterway through the Ampitheatre which saw us walking alongside and on the cliff walls, crossing creeks etc. part of it wading through thigh deep FREEZING water! The next section leading to Kermit’s pool was done by balancing and shimmying along the cliff, once that was completed we were greeted with the most amazing green/blue pool. Mart and I headed on to give the Spider Walk a try, Maurs got to the end of the first section and then we all headed back – very pleased with ourselves!
We departed Dales and drove to Tom Price to explore the huge Iron Ore mine there and Hamersley Gorge. At Hamersley we were blown away by the staggering beauty of the gorge, pool and in particular the curved rock formations.
The Chichester Millstream is about 120 kms north of Tom Price and once again we saw how. the landscape can change dramatically in a short distance. We set up camp at Miliyanha campgrounds are explored the Fortescue River and springs which dominate the landscape here, providing a micro climate in which palms flourish, along with a wide range of bird and animal life (Martin was woken by a roo feeding next to his tent). tour of the mine at Tom Price was eye opening! The pit of the original mine is now closed and photos do not do justice to it, however the mine is still operating some other pits – to the extent that there are 5 trains a car, consisting of 236 carriages, with each carriage holding 120 tonne of ore (ore price $68 us a tonne) makes each train worth just on $2million. A very impressive organisation.
Chichester Millstream is about 120 kms north of Tom Price and once again we saw how. the landscape can change dramatically in a short distance. We set up camp at Miliyanha campgrounds are explored the Fortescue River and springs which dominate the landscape here, providing a micro climate in which palms flourish, along with a wide range of bird and animal life (Martin was woken by a roo feeding next to his tent).
Upon departing Miliyanha campground we drove to the Chichester range and the superb python pool swimming hole and gorge. This drive was spectacular, as once again the landscape changed to amazing red rock hills with grass growing up the sides. Along the way there were piles of rock, leftover from the erosion process scattered across the plains.