Day 53: Karijini Western Gorges

 


Sunrise view from our van


Quite a few birds were active this morning but this crested pigeon came brazenly looking for some scraps.


Today's plan concentrates on the Western side of the National Park where there are a number of gorges to visit. The furthest is around 50 km from our campsite, so we figure most of the day will be taken up. Before leaving, we packed a picnic lunch and headed out at around 9.30 am.






Above is an enlargement of the area we will be visiting, taken from the larger map below.


Our first stop was Joffre Gorge, at the end of which is a huge amphitheatre down which torrents of water fall in the wet season, unfortunately we are now far enough into the dry season, that waterfalls on this side of the park have diminished or ceased. Only pools of water remain in most of the gorges.

Nevertheless, this is an impressive gorge. All gorges offer a series of bushwalking tracks rated from easy to extreme. At Joffre Gorge, only the lookout walk was suitable for us both in time required and degree of difficulty.



The lookout viewing platform cantilevered out over the gorge

Unfortunately the falls are dry, but I did pick up a photo from another location showing what the falls looked like during a flash flooding in 2012.



Access to the gorge floor is not for the faint hearted. A series of steep steps and ladders are required to make the descent.

A view down the gorge in the other direction shows some water in the gorge.






It's a long way down (and back up) with a fair bit of rock scrambling between ladders and steps





Across to the other side of gorge we can see the Karijini Eco Retreat, a bit more upmarket campground with cabins which we will visit later. Access to the floor of the gorge is via the Eco Retreat.




Next on our list is Knox Gorge, a further 6 km drive on from Joffre Falls.


There is a nice shady picnic area near the information board


Once again the walk alternatives were easy or extreme. The extreme options are not workable for Carole's knees and not too appealing to me, so once again we opt for the lookout walk.

We continue to be impressed with the quality of the lookouts in Karijini and Knox Gorge Lookout does not disappoint.



Another great cantilevered observation deck


We had a few observers watching us as we took in the view


It is a narrower but, once again, very deep gorge with a high degree of difficulty getting to the bottom.











Digital cameras make it too attractive to capture these greart outback scenes



From here it was a short drive to the Eco Retreat which is on the other side of these gorges, to see what the alternative campground looks like, and maybe get a cup of coffee.


Karijini Eco Retreat is a lot more upmarket than Dales Campground, but I prefer where we are. However, they did serve a very good cup of coffee. 


Gorge visits continue, as we drive on to Weano and Hancock Gorges, the end of the trail on this Western Gorge tour. Weano Recreation Area is very large and there are lots of day visitors, plenty of car parking for all sorts of rigs, and ample shaded picnic areas and toilets.


It is a similar story on walking tracks, so we stick to the lookouts, of which there are several, one of which has closed as it's foundations were undermined by recent rain.


Weano Gorge


Termites with a view


There is a sad touch of reality at one of the final lookouts, where the lookout is currently closed due to unsafe erosion under the lookout structure. But even more sad is a Memorial near the lookout for a SES Volunteer who died trying to save an errant hiker in Hancock Gorge in 2004, caught in a flash flood.







Hancock Gorge



At the end of the trail is Oxer Lookout 







We headed back to the carpark for our picnic lunch before exploring a last lookout of Hancock Gorge offering access to a swimming spot called Kermit's Pool. The walk starts like this below. 


A vertical ladder down the gorge face starts the track to Kermit's Pool


Hancock Gorge and a few words of advice below


There are plenty of warning signs to advise you of the hazards



Nevertheless it is a popular track for those young and fit enough, and a few who probably should have thought about it a bit more before setting out.

On the way back to Dales Campground there was one gorge we had not looked at, Kalamina Falls. We started out on the dirt track but were soon met with signs that said the road had storm damage and proceed with caution. The person we spoke to at the visitors centre yesterday suggested we give this one a miss and it was probably good advice. After a start along the road, which was not in good shape, we decided we didn't need to see another gorge.



A final Sunset at Dales Campground




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day2: Murrurundi to Narrabri

Image
 Not only did we get to camp for free last night, but an added bonus was the excellent showers and toilets that they leave open for 24 hrs for campers. The showers were as good as you would find anywhere and better than most caravan parks. We were the last to leave this morning with only a relatively short drive today and a bit of an early morning fog meant there was no hurry. It was a bit of a bumpy old road in parts due to many temporary road repairs, and not a lot of exciting things to see along the way. As it is Sunday, most country towns are pretty dead, so even stopping for a coffee is a challenge. A comfort stop was required by the time we got to Gunnedah, where finding a place to park towing a van is a fair challenge. We eventually found one in a back street, a fair walk from the nearest public toilets. The highlight of the visit was an audio presentation of Banjo Patterson poems in the public loo. I doubt the narrator knew where his work would be played. Only the supermark...
Read more

Day 1: Off to Murrurundi

Image
 Finally loaded up after a few days effort, we left our storage paddock this morning at 10.30 am, heading of to our first destination, the country town of Murrurundi. It was a miserable 312 km drive in light rain pretty much all of the way to Singleton, where we stopped for lunch. From then on the weather started to clear and by the time we arrived in Murrurundi, it was fine. We planned to free camp at one of the 2 hotels in town, both of which offer free camping areas for RV's. We decided on the Royal Hotel and were not the first there, but managed to secure a spot at the back of the hotel. The plan is to dine at the pub tonight, but first we decide to stretch our legs and check out this historic little town. The Royal Hotel has quite a history, established in 1863, and spent some time as a Cobb & Co staging post. It has been extensively renovated and seems a very popular venue. Entrance from the carpark A bit of history and a venue for the  music entertainment The buildi...
Read more

Day 4: Full day tour of the opal fields and pubs

Image
 The cloudy outlook late yesterday did result in around 5mm of rain overnight and some rumbling thunder, but no storm. Today's adventure starts at 8.45am with the Outback Opal Tours bus picking us up at our caravan park and moving on to a few other venues to end up with 20 passengers, a big improvement on a few days ago when they weren't sure the tour would go ahead because of lack of numbers. It is a good group of mostly Aussie caravaners around our age and a younger Canadian family of four from Kelowna. Our tour guide, Stacey, is a real character and we can tell we are going to be in for a good day. Married to an opal miner she has some great tales to tell about opal m mining and the social fabric of Lightning Ridge. The locals are a pragmatic bunch, who have a healthy distrust in government. Driving into the town, the usual town population sign is filled in with a question mark. Stacey explains that is because no one fills in the census. With a full bus load we embark on a t...
Read more