Karijini National Park

Days 48- 52, Thursday 29 July to Monday 2 August

Departing Tom Price ( a nice enough looking place for a company mining town) we spent four days in Karijini National Park. The Park sits astride the lands of the Kurrama, Martijda Banyjima, Miliyuranpa Banyjima and Yinhawanka peoples. We acknowledge their traditional custodianship and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

Karijini is a big place , we spent two nights in the Western Section, staying in the Campground at the Karijini Eco Resort, followed by two nights at Dales Campground in the Eastern Section of the park.

Karijini is the land of red rocks, green/ grey spinifex and stupendous gorges. The gorges aren’t always apparent until you are on them or in them. They host waterfalls, stunning red cliffs , delightful waterholes, great vegetation and good bird life. It is also a bit cooler than the coast at between 600 and 80 metres in places . We even had a sprinkle of rain on our second night.

Highlights included the scramble and wade into Joffre , freezing morning swim below the waterfall in Joffre, Knox Gorge, all of Kalamina Gorge and the walk through Dales and swimming at Fortescue ( we were ‘swimmed out ‘ by the time we got to Fern Pool). Slight disappointment in that Mark had a touch of gastro 🤢 the afternoon we were to do Hancock Gorge , so we waved that off. And the Circular Pool is now only visible from the lookout – the walk in is closed do to the threat of falling rocks from unstable cliffs either side.

In all, a great park and a very special place. It was worrying to hear that there are mining tenements over part of the park . Given how much ore there is in the North West it beggars belief that anyone should mine in this park .