Left Coral Bay on the 15th July headed north to Exmouth, weather not too good. Arrived in Exmouth and were told that all camp sites were full at the Cape Range National Park, which is where we needed to be if we were going to stay. This area is a continuation of the Ningaloo Reef which we had seen at Coral Bay. We drove out to the North West Cape and it started to rain so we decided to carry on to The Karijini National Park.
We stopped the night at a roadside camp.
A typical Road Train at the Nanutarra Road House.
Arrived at Tom Price Caravan Park on the evening of 16th July stayed the night and went into the Karijini National Park the next morning.
We stayed two nights at the Dales Camp Ground near Dales Gorge.
Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool In Dales Gorge
I walked along the footpath on the top of the gorge to Circular Pool.
Circular Pool at the bottom of the gorge, a popular swimming venue.
The Visitor Centre constructed from sheets of iron welded together This was donated by the Marrandoo Mine Site.
The road from the visitors centre to the Weano Gorge area that we wanted to visit the next day was very very corrugated and 33km long. We decided that it would be better to travel back on the main road and enter the park from a different place. Unfortunately this meant that we needed to return to Tom Price the next morning for more fuel as there was none available in the park.
If the gravel roads are not graded regularly they develop corrugations that get deeper as time goes on, this can make them virtually impossible to drive on unless you have an off road vehicle.
After refuelling we stopped at Mount Bruce, this is one of the highest peaks in W.A. at 1235m. The reason for stopping there was to go to the viewpoint that overlooks the Marrando Mine site.
The Marandoo Iron Ore Mine site in the Pilbara valley is a surface mine run by Rio Tinto Iron Ore. 80% of the iron produced by Australia comes from this vast mine. 15 million tonnes a year is mined here 13% of the worlds annual production.
The ore was first discovered in 1966 but not until 1994 was the site developed to the stage it is at today.
The ore is carried by trains up to 2km in length to the ports for export.
The mine runs the length of these hills.
There is a train in these pictures but difficult to see.
This path goes to the top it is quite a easy walk I am told. I just went to the first level.
Spot the camouflaged gecko.
The 40km road out to Weano Gorge was not much better than the road we were avoiding, the van had quite a shaking over these two days.
A 100m below is Junction Pool where four gorges meet.
This is is a memorial to Jimmy Regan a member of a rescue team who died as a consequence of a flash flood in this gorge during a rescue of some inexperienced climbers.
Oxer lookout overlooking Red Gorge.
A slight digression, a picture of me to show the size of the termite mound.
Joffre Gorge.
Knox Gorge.
We returned to Dales Gorge Camp Site along the Road we were trying to avoid as the alternative was just as bad.
We had two great days in Karijini I took loads of pictures but they do not do justice to this beautiful place.
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