Monday 21st May 2018
Today was a driving day, we headed off from Eighty Mile Beach about 9am ready for a reasonably long drive for us. The scenery was very same old, same old, with long straight roads. 395km later, we finally made it just after lunch time to Broome.

Before heading to the camp ground we went out to Gantheaume Port and Gantheaume Point. For over a hundred years Gantheaume Point has been the site of Broome’s skeletal lighthouse, it is also famous for the National Heritage listed dinosaur footprints found in the intertidal area. Nigel Clarke is a local dinosaur footprint researcher. He says that during the Cretaceous period, Broome was a massive river delta rich with dinosaur life. At least nine species of dinosaur footprints have been identified in the 130 million year old Broome sandstone. At Gantheaume Point you can see good examples of three-toed theropod prints and enormous round sauropod prints.

We are camped at a little caravan park on a station just outside of town. Our favourite, away from the crowds. Only 10 other campers here. We had intended watching the sunset at Cable Beach but unfortunately it was too cloudy today. Hopefully we can watch it tomorrow.

Sunday 20th May 2018
Well we don’t quite know what to make of where we stayed last night. It was an unusual station. There was a gold drilling exploration which meant there were mine workers staying there plus a lot of elderly people and then a couple of campers. The owners were in there 80s and were no longer working the station, it was originally a sheep station, then they tried their hands at cattle and now it is struggling to make ends meet. It was quite old and the facilities are also old but it was OK for the night.

Before we headed off we chatted with the owners and had a cup of tea with them and decided to go and have a look at Red Rock which was on their property. It was a big red rock with more Aboriginal drawings. It isn’t mentioned in any tourist brochures, so yet another untouched Aboriginal historic site. I would love to have an Aborigine explain the drawings a bit so we could understand them a bit better.

We finally got on our way at about 11.30am. Another slow start to the day. So much for making it to Broome today. We drove along some very straight highways of similar scenery. We decided to stop early at 80 Mile Beach at about 4.30pm as the next place to stop wasn’t till about 6pm and as we head further east the sun is setting earlier. 5.30pm today. So we are trying to stop earlier. We managed a walk along 80 Mile Beach before sunset. It is a lovely Caravan Park, it has 150 powered sites and 50 unpowered, is very green with lots of trees. It is very nice. The only problem with where we are now is the big 5 – sharks, box jelly fish, irukandji, crocodiles and snakes. All this beautiful water, lovely temperature and the water is out of bounds. Oh well, we will have to find something else to do.

We really are enjoying the change of pace and the holiday is going really well. Hope you are enjoying our travels.

I forgot to mention we saw the biggest eagle on the side of the road yesterday. It would have stood almost a metre tall. Its talons were so big.

Saturday 19th May 2018
Well today was to be a big travel day with our destination being 1/2 way to Broome. Once again we failed. We got a late start to the day and decided on a swim at the Karratha Leisure Centre, an amazing setup. An eight lane 50m pool, a 25m pool, a play pool and a smaller a kids pool. We started off in the 50m pool which was about 21°C, a little cold for us, but as we like swimming the longer distance we gave it a go. We lasted the 500m warmup and our 10 x 50m before we could not do any more in the cold. We then went in to the 25m pool which was also outside but was 27°. A lot more comfortable for the last part of our swim. The facilities were awesome. Swim done we headed to the shops for a few extra things we needed to replace.

We then headed to the Yaburara Heritage Trail where we went for a walk to have a look at some more Aboriginal Rock Art. There is an amazing amount here. By this stage the day was getting on and we hadn’t even left Karratha. Off we go on our way, as you will see on the map we didn’t even make it to Port Hedland, but have managed another station stay. Indee Station this time. Cost $20 per night. We are saving up for the expensive accommodation at Broome.

Friday 18th May 2018
After another quiet night in the National Park we went for a bike ride to Clifftop Lookout. A peaceful ride along the red rock gravel path. We then headed on our way to Karratha and decided on the scenic route via Roebourne-Wittenoom Rd even though it added about an hour to our trip. It was a worthwhile extension as the views were very beautiful. Chocolate brown rocky hills soared above the yellowy-green spinifex plains.

Once at Karratha we decided to go for a drive to Dampier which is a nearby port town and home of Red Dog, then we went to investigate the ancient Aboriginal rock engravings on the Burrup Peninsula at Murujuga National Park and the picturesque beach at Hearson’s Cove which was unfortunately a little windy.

Then we had a bit of housekeeping (Shopping and washing) to do.

We head off on our way to Broome tomorrow which is 835km away. We will probably not make it there for a couple of days, we will just see how we go.

Thursday 17th May, 2018
Well what a difference a day makes. We both had the most amazing sleep last night, the peace and quiet in the National Park, except for a few dingoes howling in the night, was very conducive to heavenly sleep. Yay!!

We decided to head to the Chichester side of the park and do a walk and ride. So we headed off on the 48km dirt road drive to Mount Herbert. The drive was very scenic and very different from what we have been looking at lately. The Spinifex plains with dark red rocks was very pretty.

We arrived at Mount Herbert and decided we would do the short walk to the summit first. In doing so, we realised we our muscles were still a little tired from our Mt Bruce walk 2 days ago. The view at the top was quite spectacular. Unfortunately, the photos really don’t do today justice. We then had the task of taking the bikes off and cleaning off some of the red dust, as we were leaving the bikes here for our return journey. This was a lengthy task as the bikes had been on the car for ages, they were glued up with red dust and quite squeaky.

We then drove to the start of the hike at Python Pool, a stunning spot for a swim in a cool refreshing rock pool whilst enjoying the spectacular backdrop of the imposing rugged ochre cliffs. We walked to the pool for a look then decided on an early lunch before our walk.

We were walking The Camel Trail today which starts at Python Pool and is an eight kilometres, three hour (one way) moderate walk which follows part of the old camel road. The trail winds up at the rugged sandstone escarpment of the Chichester Range, through rolling Spinifex covered hills and large termite mounds. It was very picturesque. It took us about 2.5 hours. On arrival back at Mt Herbert carpark we hopped on our squeaky bikes and rode back the 6km via the road to the Python Pool. The ride was picturesque around every corner, it was a pleasant roll down the hill except for two uphill sections. The scenery was amazing.

We then headed to the Python Pool for a well earned swim. Another beautiful swimming spot and very refreshing after our long adventure.

Then it was decision time, on to Karratha (apparently a 3 hr drive) or back to last nights camp at Miliyanha (50mins). We don’t like heading backwards but the timing and lure of peace and quiet in the National Park for one more night won this time. We so prefer the National Park to the caravan parks and as we will be in them for a while we took the opportunity of one more quiet night and ran with it.

Wednesday 16th May 2018
Well last night was one very windy night. With speed of 40-50km and wind gusts of 65km it was a very noisy night. Our camp was deserted except for a couple of cars but the wind kept me awake a lot. The tent held up amazingly and was heaps quieter than our ground tent would have been but unfortunately I didn’t sleep very well.

Once we finally got up at about 8am we headed back to Hamersley Gorge, had a walk around and I had another swim which was very cold this morning, ice cream headache cold, so needless to say DB didn’t join me. We then headed off to Millstream Chichester National Park via the Private Mine Railway Road which apparently cut of 3 hours in an 5.5 hour drive. It was a dirt road in variable states, mostly good except for a few sections of slower, rutted road. And yes it only took about 2.5 hours. We had lunch at Deep Reach and then headed to find a campsite. This would be a first as it was only about 1.30pm

As we were both totally trashed from the last weeks activity and the bad nights sleep we decided on a rest afternoon. Believe it or not DB had a sleep and I just read my book for a couple of hours. It was bliss! Then we just went for an easy walk to the Visitors Centre and a walk through the Wetlands. And now it is time for an early night. We are fed, my photos are named and the blog is almost done and it is only 8pm. So yay for us, we did it, we had 1/2 a rest day. Nighty Night.

Tuesday 15th May 2018
As expected we didn’t manage a rest day today but got started a little later than usual. We headed back in to Karijini National Park but as David would say “Rather than look through cracks in the rocks like we have for the last couple of days we are going to climb a mountain”.

So off we head to climb to the summit of Mt Bruce (Punurrunha) 1235m from 785m, so about a 450m climb over 4.5km (a 9km hike with a 6 hour time frame). Hopefully we don’t take that long.

The view was amazing all the way. We had views of Marandoo Mine on our right and incredible views in all directions with the imposing Punurrunha ahead of us the whole way. We saw a couple of trains leave the mine site with their 3 locomotives and a zillion carriages. The track was graded 5 with some very tricky bits with a long way down. As always we are very careful and have full concentration for these sections. We met a 4 groups of 2 on the way up who had taken on the challenge of the summit. One couple about our age turned around just after the chain section, one we don’t know, the young boys said they made it to the top in 80 minutes and an older couple who were at the tricky down section when we passed the said the view from the top was amazing. They were correct. We had 360° views at the top but we had to go down a little for lunch as it was very, very windy. After a very pleasant lunch at the top we went for a wander at the summit. It was picturesque from every direction.

It was then time for the trip down. We thought the steep sections would be a bit slower but the rest should be quite easy. We were surprised at how long it took to go back down. Our total moving time was 3 hrs 15 mins but our overall time including lunch and a couple of chats with the other hikers was 4 hrs 37 mins.

We reached the bottom at 3.40pm and decided to head to Hamersley Gorge (Minhthukundi) for the night. A free camp with no facilities but on the way to our next destination. Hamersley Gorge was very beautiful and as I was in need of a shower after our long walk I had a swim in another gorge. The water was very fresh but cleansing. Another great day!!

Monday 14th May 2018
Well we have had some very big days since we arrived in Karijini National Park. And today was no exception.

We headed to our first walk/swim of the day at Joffre Gorge. This was a relatively short walk but quite tricky on the way down. It was very steep with some tricky round the cliff face sections. It had a beautiful pool at the bottom and around the corner the dry waterfall was in a big natural amphitheatre. At the other end was an enormous cavern with a huge pool. I went for a swim and it was over 100m. It was also very cold. Once again DB chose the dry option.

After Joffre Gorge which we spent 1.5 hours and 3.2km of walking, climbing and swimming, we headed to Knox Gorge. This was about 4km and took us about 2 hours including our lunch break in the gorge. It is unusual of us to take time out for a long lunch and rest on a walk, usually we are rushing off to the next thing. It was a great walk through a very different gorge. At the end we came to another deadend which was roped off. The section past the rope is part of the canyoning tour and meets up with Kermits Pool from Hancock Gorge. Sounds like our sort of thing but not this time. Cost of full day Canyoning/Abseiling tour is $300 each.

We have really enjoyed our time in Karijini National Park, the different gorges definitely have had some WOW moments, a little bit of adventure, some cold swimming, wading and climbing. A few challenges along the way. A little bit of wildlife. A great few days.

Now back to Tom Price this afternoon for some housekeeping, washing, tidying up and a bit of cleaning. We are pretty shattered and may need a rest day tomorrow. We will see how we feel in the morning.

Sunday 13th May 2018
Well today we had put a tall order in for accomplishments but unfortunately yet again we FAILED!!. Surprise, surprise! We only managed to complete one section of this area near the Karijini Eco Retreat. We thought we could do it all but looks like we will stay at the Eco Retreat another night.

First cab off the rank was to hike the Weano Gorge, this involved a Lower and Upper Gorge. It had a very long time frame for a very short distance and we though t they had it wrong yet again. But alas! They had it pretty right. It was a great walk and involved a little bit of adventure as you will see in the pictures.

Then we returned to the car via Upper Weano Gorge which was relatively easy. Then after lunch we will tackle another gorge. Unfortunately I realised I had lost my thongs on the last walk so I had to go down into Weano Gorge to try to fid them for the next walk. Good Karma should have assisted here but not today. My thongs were lost. That is a terrible thing as they work so well whilst camping in red dust as I wear my socks in the scuff type thongs to keep my feet clean. Bugger, bugger, bum!

Oh well now we head off to Hancock Gorge which we have been told is better than the spectacular Weano Gorge. We are really looking forward to this one and have a little more idea of what is involved this time. Again, we are not disappointed. The gorge and pool were also spectacular. After we finished this walk we retraced our steps along the Upper Weano gorge track to try and find my shoes. Unfortunately we did not find them. A disappointing loss.

As it is now 4pm we decided we would stay at the Eco Retreat tonight to enable us to finish the last 2 walks we didn’t manage today. A fantastic adventure was had today. What an awesome holiday we are having. Can’t wait to share some of the stories with you all.

Apologies for the million pictures today but I couldn’t choose between them so you got lots more than usual. SORRY!!