DESTINATION KARIJINI
Beautiful white beaches, huge salmon, red dirt and gorges more impressive than the Grand Canyon – This is the trail to Karijini National Park
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLEN BARALLON
When travelling in WA, we had always stuck fairly close to the coastline, however, this trip we decided to head inland and up to Karijini National Park – with specific aim to see the spectacular gorges. Located in the dynamic Pilbara region, Karijini is the second largest national park in WA and is ranked in the top five vanner experiences in the state. Our travelling route covered Barn Hill, 80 Mile Beach, Port Hedland and our final stop was the beautiful Karijini National Park.
BARN HILL
Leaving Sydney we travelled through Bourke, Mount Isa, Katherine and a few weeks later found ourselves in Broome, Western Australia. We stopped at Roebuck Bay for the night and visited the famous Cable Beach and took in the sunset. The following morning we made our way west towards Port Hedland with a planned stop at Barn Hill Station Caravan Park for a couple of nights. We had heard mixed stories about Barn Hill and decided to experience it for ourselves.
The 10km dirt track in was corrugated, so people with on road vans should consider another mode of transportation. The park itself consisted of two sections, a non powered area standing high above the cliffs on the right hand side as you drive in, with fantastic views over the ocean and beach below, but lacked a bit of shade. The powered site section was on the left hand side and well shaded. Water is available at the park, but visitors are advised to boil before drinking. The park generates its own power, and the use of electric kettle, air conditioning and any other appliances above 6amp triggers the safety switches. Swimming in the ocean is not encouraged due to regular sightings of large sharks – but definitely a great place for a photo opportunity.
Sunset at Barn Hill was spectacular with the ever changing shades of the red cliffs against the white sandy beaches. We spent the following day walking along the beach, and trying our luck at fishing, although uneventful, we still enjoyed the moment.
EIGHTY MILE BEACH
The next morning we made our way to Eighty Mile Beach, just over 200km away. We had good reports of people catching fish from the beach, so we decided to try our luck there. We refueled at Sand Fire Roadhouse, about 40km short of the turn off to Eighty Mile Beach.
The nine kilometre road to Eighty Mile Beach, after leaving the highway, was corrugated, but well-maintained. Driving over a ridge on entering the 80 Mile Beach Caravan Park you are greeted by a well maintained oasis of lush green grass and plenty of shade trees and an excellent view over the ocean, a contrast to the dusty, red nine kilometres we had just travelled.
Our site was grassy, shaded and cool and by midday we were all set. Talking to the couple next door, we were advised that if we wanted to catch some fish we would have to be at the beach before 1pm, he explained that there was a window of two hours – an hour before and after high tide – and today the tide was due to peak at 2pm, missing that, the water quickly recedes for several hundred metres, until the next tide.
Yes we did catch fish, but only after extending our stay for another two days, as it was on the following day that we drove up the beach for about three kilometres and started fishing as soon as the tide made its incoming move. Unfortunately I only had a 15 pound line, but I managed to haul in a couple of those big threadfin salmon.
After being the centre of attention for catching the biggest fish of the day, and making so many new friends, leaving Eighty Mile Beach was not easy, although my wife tells me that providing enough fish for our section of the park most likely helped my popularity.
PORT HEDLAND
We drove towards Port Hedland and stopped at a free camp near a river called De Greys Rest Area, the camp was fairly crowded when we arrived so we drove right down to the end towards the railway line, we were certain that we would be kept up most of the night by trains carting iron ore to Port Hedland, but to our surprise no train came through that night, the following morning we were told by other campers that the line had been decommissioned several years ago – a fantastic tip for other RVers looking to free camp in the area. We did however wake up to find a large Brahman cow that had parked herself under our awning, a man driving past in his motorhome told my wife that it was unusual for people to take their pet cows on holiday and that maybe we should think of getting a dog.
At Port Hedland we chose to stay at Black Rock Tourist Park, being on the south side was more accessible to the direction we were travelling to and also to the shopping centre, as we had to replenish our stock for the week’s stay at Karijini.
Port Hedland is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a population of 14,000, it has a natural deep anchorage harbour, and is the main fuel and container receiving point for the region. It is also the main port for shipping iron ore mined in the nearby ranges, and transported mainly by trains hauling up to 260 wagons at a time and hundreds of road trains daily carting iron ore from mines as far as 300km away.
Port and South Hedland have two large shopping centres, over five caravan parks and an overflow park at the golf club and sports ground, and a beautiful harbour well worth visiting.
DESTINATION KARIJINI
The following morning we continued on the Great Northern Highway and made our way to our final destination – Karijini. The highway was extremely busy; passing well over a hundred road trains on our 300km stretch.
Entry to the Karijini National Park incurs a one off cost of $12 per vehicle, or $6 for concession card holders. There are a number of accommodation options in Karijini National Park and we chose Dales Gorge Campground. Upon arrival, if it is not being manned, you take an envelope provided at the entrance, fill in your name and vehicle registration, enclose the fee, put the envelope in a locked box and keep the duplicate part of the receipt on your car vehicle dash board. However, if you intend to camp, you pay the camping fee at the camp area that is being manned by volunteers. Camping fees are $13.30 per person or $6.60 for concession per night.
We arrived at the park late on a Thursday afternoon towards the end of the month of May. The weather had been overcast and windy. At the camp entrance we were allocated a site and were assured by one of the park volunteers that the following day’s forecast was sunny and fine and staying like that for the next week or so.
Our site was perfect, the overcast weather did not affect the scenery one bit. Our breathtaking backyard was the mountain range, and although we had been suffering from the heat during our stop at Port Hedland the previous day, here we were over 600m above sea level and the night kept cool.
The following morning the sun was up promising a perfect day. My wife was awake at dawn all excited, the aroma of the coffee she was brewing adding to the ambience. As for me the scenery and the slight chill in the air made it feel good to be alive and raring to go and explore.
We drove to Dales Gorge parking area a short distance away, and were surprised by the amount of vehicles already in the parking lot. After a short stroll from the parking area, we were looking down into Dales Gorge. It had great similarity to the Grand Canyon of America, not as deep but in a way more spectacular. I was impressed and wanted to see more.
From the viewing platform, looking down over the water fall and into the clear pool directly below was amazing, people were already swimming or lounging on the rock terraces. Climbing down 200 or so steps to the top of the waterfall, we continued our walk upstream taking us firstly to the Fern Pool. The Gorge walk then takes you a couple of kilometres downstream to the Circular Pool, both these pools are sacred places to the local aboriginal people, visitors are encouraged to enter the water without making loud noises to protect their heritage and culture.
The walk into the gorge is sign posted with difficulty of one to five, and Dales Gorge walk is a class four. The scenery inside the gorge was just magnificent, and takes about three hours to complete including the descent and ascent from the other end.
At the visitor’s centre I had the opportunity to meet with Louis Stream, one of the traditional owners of Karijini National Park, he told me the story of how his ancestors hunted for food and visited people over vast areas without any maps to guide them, what they used instead was the landmarks and features of the country which had names. He also told me that evidence exists of his ancestor’s occupation dating back to 30,000 years.
“The highest hill near Tom Price was named by non-Aboriginal people as Mount Nameless”, he told me with a smirk on his face. “They didn’t ask the Aboriginal people around here if it already had a name”, he said laughing. “Its name for thousands of years had been Jarndunmunda, there is nothing nameless about that is there?” He asked.
There are many gorges to visit in Karijini National Park to mention a few are Dales, Hamersley, Knox, Joffre, Oxer, Kalamina, Hancock, Weano , all within this massive 627,441 hectare National Park, the second largest in Western Australia, the furthest gorge being Hamersley was 101km from the visitors centre.
On our fourth day we decided to make an attempt at climbing Mount Bruce which stands at 1,234m, known to the Aboriginal people as Punurunha and is Western Australia’s second highest mountain, being tipped by the nearby highest, Mount Meharry, by a mere 15m.
Our attempt went well we made it to the 1000m mark, until we had to clamber over rocky ledges and loose surfaces. The views from this height were breathtaking, being a clear day we had a great view over the nearby Marrandoo mine site that otherwise would have no public access, we managed to get some fantastic photographs of the mine and its giant trucks busily working away.
Tired and back at camp that evening we decided to extend our stay for another day and visit Tom Price where we could refuel and restock our supplies. Tom Price has a good shopping centre that includes supermarkets, a sporting store, two caravan parks, an information centre, pubs, motels, and two fuel outlets. A lookout from a nearby hill gives you a great view over the town, and at the entrance of the town on display is a giant truck used on the mine for carting mineral materials.
Experiencing Karijini was definitely the highlight of our trip. We were so pleased that we had decided to follow an inland route and experience a part of Australia, the likes of which we’d never seen before.
