Karijini NP - the rock pools

At Circular Pool (above photo) at Dales Groge, high walls of rock tower above one. As one lies on ones’s back and looks upwards, one sees a sort of circular window to the sky. The water is cold as there is very little sunshine falling on the pool.

At each gorge there is a lookout, so for those not game enough to descend into the gorges, they can enjoy the spectacular views from above. We climbed right down to the bottom of all these gorges - Dales, Kalamina, Joffre, Weano and Hancock and Andrew also did Knox. They are all very different, each offering something unique. Kalamina gorge and pool is the most accessible gorge. Hamersley Gorge presents slices of coloured layers of rocks. Oxer lookout shows where the Joffre, Hancock, Weano and Red gorges meet.

Karijini NP just takes one’s breath away. While enjoying everything and everywhere we have been to so far, Karjini has been, for me, the highlight of the trip. I keep wanting to put more and more photos on the blog but Andrew tells me I am getting carried away and becoming photographically over the top.

At both Joffre and Gorge and at Fortescue Falls (above photo) the surrounding rocks form a natural amphitheatre.

Kalamine Gorge.

Hamersley Gorge.

Karjini National Park - takes your breath away

This NP is one of the highlights of our trip. The gorges, the pools and the waterfalls are all superb and full of the rich red earth that is so typical of the Pilbara. Not only are the cliffs a deep, deep red but so is the path underfoot.

This red soil, while so beautiful to look at, is a damned nuisance in the way it stains everything it touches. My feet are permanently dusty and red, the camper floor, table, benches and blinds are full of red dust. Hands and consequently one’s clothes are always streaked with red dirt marks. We are thinly covered by a miasma of red dust. But we enjoy it all, nevertheless.

The gorges in Karijini NP have to be seen to be believed. No amount of photography can do them justice. The gorges are hidden in rolling hillsides. Then suddenly, the terrain plunges down a 100 metre chasms. The high plateau is dissected by breathtaking gorges and stony, tree lined watercourses. Some of the gorges are wider and their sides vary from sheer cliffs to merely steep slopes. In some of the narrower gorges, craggy, ochre coloured cliff faces surround one. High gorge walls cast deep shadows over the clear rock pools. Some of the gorge pools are shaded and very cold, while others, exposed to the sun are lovely places for a quick dip. The permanently cascading waterfalls keep all the rock pools filled. We sampled all the pools one by one, not deterred by the cold waters of some.

Both the first and second photos are of Red Gorge. Red Gorge is the only one of the gorges one can't actually go into only take in its beauty from above.

The photo above is at Junction lookout which shows the four big gorges: Weano, Hancock, Joffre and Red meeting.

Hamersley Gorge which has fantastic colours and tectonic rocks - layers. Bloody hard to scale!

Pilbara scenes

A view of the begining of the Hamersley Range.

The road through on the way to Karinjini NP.

The rock formation above Kalgan pool.

Another view of the same rock/cliff structure.

Kalgan Pool near Newman, WA

After the mine tour and before visiting Karijini National Park, we decided to stay at Kalgan pool which is a small permanent waterhole on the currently dry Kalgan River within the Kalgan Gorge. The land is leased by BHP and a permit to enter is required but there is no fee.

Kalgan Pool is described in the tourist brochure as Newman’s most popular waterhole but when we got here we found it almost completely to ourselves, after the one night campers left and we decided to stay a few days. The photo shows Max and Priscilla at the camp site.

This shot is taken on the cliff right above where we camped and shows the gorge.

The pool area with other campers.

After the other campers left.

Mt Whaleback iron ore mine, Newman WA

Newman is located in the heart of the Pilbara and the town was built in the late 1960s to house the workforce employed at the Mt Whaleback iron ore mine. Iron ore was discovered in the Pilbara in 1957 and mining commenced in 1968 after a Commonwealth embargo was lifted. BHP owns the mine and it is the largest open-cut iron ore mine in the world. The other iron ore mine on the edge of the Hamersley Range is at Tom Price which is owned by Rio Tinto. We decided not to go to Tom Price and to come and visit Newman instead.

We went on the mine tour of Mt Whaleback. The above photo shows a portion of the mine with the colours of the different types of ores being fed into a mixer and crusher. Brockman hematite is blue grey and Goethite limonite is ochre.

This photo is of the pit and the pit shelves. The pit length of the mine is currently 5.5kms and it produces 70m tons of iron ore per annum. The 426 km railway that takes the iron ore to Port Hedland is the longest privately owned railway in the world and it was especially constructed to take the iron ore to Port Hedland for export to Japan. The increasing demand for iron ore from developing Asian economies will keep production continuing. There is an estimated 30 years of life left at Mt Whaleback Mine.

This is a photo of us in full mine regalia which was compulsory for the tour. We are standing in front of a 200 ton Wabco iron ore truck. When fully loaded the truck weighs more than the take off weight of a 747 jumbo jet.

Nikki standing in front of a large digger at the Visitors Centre - size unknown.

Apparently the mine tours used to be more involved with seeing machinery close up but BHP has restircted it as there have been a couple of deaths at the mine last year - not visitors. they certainyl emphasise safety aspects.

Fauna and flora

A 6 month old joey being hand reared.

Andrew petting the joey.

A lizard crossing our path.

A Sturt's desert pea. The flower that is a symbol of SA but we saw it here in WA first.

Unforgettable WA landscapes

Driving through WA, the empty highways and the distances between habitable settlements , you are aware of the size of this, Australia's largest, by size, state. WA spans an area of 2.5m sq kms covering one third of the continent. It's population is just over 2m which is around one tenth of the total Australian population.

But the landscape is so variable and quite magical. The above photo is another shot of the coast of the Pilbara. The rust-red landscapes have to be seen to be believed.

This photo is of the morning mist at De Grey River, one of the delightful free rest areas of WA. It was one of the best rest areas we camped at, so much so that we stayed for two nights.

The begining of the mighty Hammersley Range.

This is another favourite free rest area, at the East Munjina Gorge Lookout.