A bit of organization

A week after we finished the farmwork, the road trip continued for us. Our first stop: Karijini Nationalpark.

We spent the first few days after leaving the farm in Broome. We had to do some errands there. Originally we had planned to drive north again for a week to see Tunnel Creek & Windjana Gorge Nationalpark. But since the wet season is about to begin, all the campsites there were already closed.

So we headed straight south. First we stayed a few nights at Eighty Mile Beach because we liked it so much the first time. We spent two days there only at the campsite. We got through our time there with cooking, podcasts, Lego and card games. In addition, such boring but also relaxing days were necessary after the strenuous farm work.

After the days at Eighty Mile Beach we went to Port Hedland for one night. None of us really wanted to go to Port Hedland, but the axle boots on our car had to be repaired.

When we finally got everything done, we could finally leave for Karijini Nationalpark. We had already seen so many pictures and heard so much about the Karijini Nationalpark that the anticipation was huge.

Welcome to Karijini Nationalpark

Since we were only able to leave Port Hedland in the afternoon, we arrived at the campsite after 9 p.m. We had already heard that there should be no showers at the campsites in Karijini Nationalpark. But although there was not more than a toilet on the campsite, it was still very nice. It was very quiet there, no light and a beautiful view of the starry sky. The only downside was that it was very cold there in the evening.

The next morning we drove to the visitor center to pay for two more nights at the campsite. Afterwards we drove back to the campsite. There we had to change our campsite first, because we couldn’t stay on the one from the previous night. Actually we liked the new campsite much better.

We spent the morning together at the campsite. Previously we had bought Legos from Kmart in Port Hedland, which we wanted to use to kill boredom while camping. We then built this and listened to True Crime Podcasts.

Don’t go chasing waterfalls

In the afternoon we made our way to the Fortescue Falls, which were not far from our campsite. Many had already told us that it would not be worth visiting Karijini Nationalpark in November, as it is dried up due to the rainy season. Fortunately, all of these people were wrong.

Luckily, the Fortescue Falls wasn’t as crowded as the Florence Falls, in Litchfield Nationalpark. At the Fortescue Falls we were all alone for a while, until finally a few tourists came. Then we walked on to Fern Pool, which was no more than 500 meters away from Fortescue Falls. The waterfall at the Fernpool is quite small, but I personally think that this waterfall is one of the most beautiful that we have seen in the last few weeks.

We then spent the evening back at the campsite.

A little hike through the gorge

The sky had become quite overcast overnight, so that it was cloudy the next morning. We wanted to use the cooler weather to go hiking.

At around 11 a.m. we set off towards the Fortescue Falls. There we hiked through the gorge behind the pool of the Fortescue Falls. From there we should get to the Circular Pool. However, it was closed due to falling rocks. The hike through the gorge was still very worthwhile. It was also particularly nice that we were alone there and didn’t meet any tourists.

After our hike through the gorge we went to the Fern Pool again. From there we went back to the campsite where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

Another day at Karijini Nationalpark

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to the Visitor Center. Since we didn’t have showers at the campsite, we had to drive to the visitor center for a shower.

After we finished there and extended our stay for another two days, we originally planned to see more highlights in Karijini Nationalpark. To get there, however, we would have had to drive 50 kilometers off-road. Although we have an all-wheel drive, since this is already well used, we can only drive such routes at a maximum of 20 km/h. For 50 kilometers we would have needed ages for this way. There was also a route that went around Karijini Nationalpark. But since it rained from time to time and the sky was quite cloudy, we decided to spend the day again in the camp and then use the next day for the long journey when the weather was nice.

First we drove to the Circular Pool Lookout. From there we had a great view over a gorge. We could also see the circular pool from above.

From the Circular Pool Lookout we drove back to the camp where we spent most of the afternoon. Later, when the sun slowly went down, we made our way again to the Fortescue Falls and the Fern Pool. It was already a bit dark when we also went a bit into the gorge before we finally went back to the camp.

Shopping at Tom Price

The next day, after breakfast, we drove straight to Tom Price. Tom Price is the closest shopping town to Karijini Nationalpark. There we had to refuel, fill up with water and bought some groceries for the coming days. Surprisingly, Tom Price was actually quite a beautiful city.

From Tom Price we drove back to Karijini Nationalpark. There we wanted to drive to the Weano Gorge, as we had originally planned the day before. The paved road ended shortly before our destination. It should then be another 13 kilometers to Weano Gorge. But we drove the 13 kilometers off-road anyway, even though it took us almost an hour.

At 3 pm we finally arrived at the Weano Gorge. Luckily there were only a few cars in the parking lot, so we didn’t encounter many tourists.

Visiting Weano Gorge

First we walked through the gorge of Weano Gorge. This led us directly to the handrail pool. The way through the gorge as well as the handrail pool was incredibly spectacular. I myself liked the way through this gorge even more than the gorge directly at our camp.

From Weano Gorge we then went on to Oxer’s Lookout. There we were able to observe the impressive nature again. From Oxer’s Lookout we went to Hancock Gorge.

This gorge was similar to the Weano Gorge. First, a few steps led down into the gorge. From there we continued through the gorge to a pool similar to the handrail pool. Even though the Hancock Gorge was very beautiful, I liked the Weano Gorge more.

After we had looked at everything there was to see, we made our way back in the afternoon. After we had brought almost an hour for the 13 kilometer off-road route, we made a short detour to Joffre Gorge. Since the sun was setting in the meantime, the view of nature with the sunset was very beautiful.

Finally we went back to our campsite. On the way we could still watch in the car how the sun went down over the rocks.

A relaxed day at the campground

The next day was a pretty relaxed day for us. In the morning we drove to the visitor center to take a shower there. After we were done there we drove back to the campsite where we spent the afternoon. As long you are not alone, you can spend a whole afternoon at the campsite without connection to the internet.

Day 6 in Karijini Nationalpark

On our sixth day in Karijini Nationalpark we set out again to explore it. First we drove to Tom Price to fill up our tanks and refill our drinking water. Unfortunately, the day before, our 20 liter canister with drinking water had completely leaked out. Since you cannot drink the water that you get here in Karijini Nationalpark, we already had to boil water the day before.

After we had done everything in Tom Price, we then wanted to drive to Hamersley Gorge. I had been looking forward to this for weeks. However, we were finally no longer in front of a paved road and it was still 40 kilometers to Hamersley Gorge. Driving 40 kilometers off-road in our car and the same route back later was far too risky for us. The risk that our car would break down was just too big.

So we had to turn back disappointed and stopped again at Tom Price. We sat there in the park for a while and then continued to Joffre Gorge.

Another gorge, another hike

We were at Joffre Gorge two days ago already, but since we were there late in the afternoon, we didn’t go down into the gorge. So we did it this day. We didn’t meet another person on the way. The places where we usually are, are mostly overrun by tourists. In Karijini Nationalpark this is not the case at all. No matter where we go, most of the time we don’t meet more than three groups of people.

The Joffre Gorge had already dried up quite well, which is why there was no longer a waterfall. Nevertheless, the nature there was very impressive.

From Joffre Gorge we drove to the nearby Knox Gorge Lookout. Since we were a bit sweaty from our little hike through Joffre Gorge due to the heat, we only enjoyed the view from the Lookout Point. Pretty soon we started the way back to our campsite.

Last Day at Karijini Nationalpark

We spent our last day in Katijini Nationalpark very relaxed at the campsite. In the evening we walked to the Fortescue Falls one last time.

When we got there shortly after 6 pm, there were already no more people at the waterfall. Since the sun was slowly setting, it didn’t took long until we had a perfect view of the starry sky again. Directly at the waterfall, the view was of course much better than on the campsite.

The next morning we finally left after breakfast and made our way back to Port Hedland.