Karajini National Park

Karajini is a place of spectacular deep gorges, cool permanent waterholes, corrugated red dirt roads and a fully booked campsite just 500 metres from Dales Gorge.

Thankfully, I booked my 2 night stay 3 months ago so I could stay inside the park. The only facilities were well spread out numbered campsites, volunteer camp hosts nearby and long drop loos. No showers or water, just quiet nights full of stars and dingoes that have been stealing shoes if they are left out at night.

There are 15 gorges in Karajini but only a few have roads and walking tracks, and some are down long dirt roads or require a 4wd. I did the rim and gorge walk at Dales Gorge. Beautiful.

Fortesque Falls swimming hole.

Fern Pool.

I rose before the sun to drive to Mt Bruce, WA's second highest mountain at 1234 metres.

Walking through wildflowers in the early morning shadow of the mountain.

The view back to the lower slopes after a particularly scary rock scramble/climb, wondering if I could continue.

It was a brute of a climb, but after 2 hours of rocky and steep walking along ridges and up steep slopes, I made it to the top!

Shame about the almost constant background drone of trucks and trains at the giant mine far below.

On the way back down, the sun was shining hot on the flower covered lower slopes.

It was almost lunch time when I arrived back to Polly waiting patiently in the carpark, and I was hot, so I drove to Joffre Gorge, ate some lunch and then did the short walk down into the Gorge to its 2 swimming holes.

I swam in the first waterhole.

More wildflowers.

I really enjoyed my time in Karajini.

After 2 full days and nights in Karajini, I headed back towards the coast, stopping briefly at the pleasant mining town of Tom Price to buy petrol for Polly, at almost $2.50/litre and some food for me, and staying overnight in a large free roadside campsite with around 40 other vans, caravans and tents! This is Polly nestling up to a rugged bloke in the park in Tom Price. Not a good match.