KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK & TOM PRICE

We got to the National Park late in the afternoon and the campsite was full so the Ranger sent us to an overflow area for the night and said that campsites will be available in the morning and the overflow was free to stay.

NOTE to travellers in National Parks in WA – buy a Parks Pass from the Department of Parks and Wildlife Western Australia, we got a 4 week pass for $44, the annual is $88, because each time you go to a National Park in WA you need to pay $12 if you don’t have one.

Next morning we headed into the campsite and then headed out to do the Dale Gorge circular walk which was 6kms.  The walk started with a steep climb down the cliff wall and into the Circular Pool.  It was cool down at the pool and as the pool was completely in the shade of the cliff faces 180 degrees around, the water looked very cold.

We made our way to the other end of the gorge along the base.  There was one point where we were scaling the rock face because we had missed the turn off to cross the creek and as there was no where further to go, we headed back to the turn off – it was much easier on the other side.  Towards the end of the walk was a great section of full of scrambling over rocks upto a waterfall. 

There was another swimming hole just a little further on, so we made our way there which we thought was much better.  We all swam out to the waterfall and the water falling was so warm.  Abi described it as it was like having a shower, which was a good thing as we hadn’t had a shower for a couple of days.  In the trees around the water’s edge there was hundreds of bats hanging upside down.  It was well worth coming into Karijini National Park.

As we were getting ready to walk the 3kms back on the top of the gorge, we were chatting to another family.  Small world, turns out they lived in Eltham and their daughter Abby played netball against the twins.  We arranged to catch up later that afternoon for drinks.

Next morning we headed into Tom Price for fuel and breakfast.  Surprisingly the town was very green.  We were looking forward to having a donut for breakfast but unfortunately there was none at the shop so we had cupcakes and Big Ms instead – not a healthy breakfast.  We saw a huge truck that was located on the outskirts of town (another opportunity for a Ranger photo) which weighed 100 tonne and was able to carry 150 tonne from the mines.

HEADING SOUTH – BROOME TO KARIJINI NP

Once we filled up the fridge, car and beer fridge in Broome, we were off again.

BARN HILL STATION

We arrived at Barn Hill Station, which is a cattle station with a caravan park set up along the coastline of the property, we had some lunch and headed to the beach for a swim.  The rock formations along the coast were amazing, and then they just dropped off to a lovely sandy beach.  It was a good little stop.

We stayed unpowered and picked a spot at the end of the park which had heaps of privacy, while the powered sites were grassy, our spot was better due to the privacy we had.  Toilets and showers weren’t great but more than adequate.

Brad had read on Wikicamps that they made the best vanilla slices, so on the way out we had vanilla slices, and they were good.

80 MILE BEACH

We pulled into 80 Mile Beach caravan park and decided to just stop for a play on the beach and lunch, then keep moving.  The beach was so long and covered with white sand and thousands of shells.  The girls collected so many shells and decided they would make jewellery from them.

PARDOO STATION

We stayed the next 2 nights at another cattle station, Pardoo Station.  The caravan park area had nice green grassy sites and the facilities were great.  I was able to catch up on a bit of washing.

We drove out on the 4wd tracks to check out the beach area.  Unfortunately they weren’t as good as we had been use to.  It was all rocky and not much sand.  However we did find some awesome shells to add to the girls’ collection.  It didn’t bother them as there was a swimming pool which they had all to themselves to go crazy in.

PORT HEDLAND

We stopped in at Port Hedland for a bacon and egg breakfast, as requested by Paige, and saw some huge ships loading iron ore in the dock.  We bumped into a couple that we had met in Broome who had been to Karijini National Park and said it was well worth the trip inland for the gorges, so we stocked up again and decided to check it out rather than head down the coast.

Quandong Beach

After a very relaxing week  in Broome (civilisation) we heading out to free camp on Quandong Beach, which is about 50kms north of Broome.

 

Surprisingly it was quite busy and it took us a little while to find a suitable campsite.  We found a good spot right on the edge of the beach.

We spent the afternoon at the beach, however the girls didn’t stay in too long as they were worried about jellyfish, especially Abi as the current stings she had on her arm were still a little sore.  

Therefore most of the time on the beach was spent in the rocks looking for hermit crabs.  This also rolled into the activity for the following morning.  The girls (and Brad) were loving finding all the hermit crabs in the rock pools directly in front of our campsite.

 

The following afternoon we went for a drive to explore the area (and get away from the guy camped next to us who kept coming over for a chat – fancy being kms from anywhere and having to go for a drive to get away from someone lol). 

Brad spotted a sandy path up a very high sand dune that he just had to try to get up.  He put the tyre pressures down even further and made the fast paced launch up the sand dune.  We didn’t make it up.  Bigger run up.  We didn’t make it.  As you can imagine, Brad would not be beaten and was determined to get up.  Bigger, faster run up (my eyes close, girls loving it), we made it.

We then drove around on the sand and Brad made me get out of the car and video him cruising on the sand.  When I got back we headed a little closer to the water when…….

We got bogged!  As Brad was a good boy scout, he was prepared for such a situation and was able to get out fairly easily, with the help of us girls (they collected all the sticks around and I helped dig).  He dropped the tyre pressures further again (10psi), dug out the wheels and placed all the sticks under the tyres for traction.  It was the first time the shovel had come off the roof in 10,000 kms.

To celebrate the good effort, we all had a quick dip in the water and they headed back to camp.  On the way out, Brad stopped to talked to 2 guys who told him they were unable to get up the dune in their Patrol.  Brad gave the Ranger a little pat lol

The wind had really picked up and the van was shaking about.  It was hard to pull in the awning when we were packing up.  Once we had packed up we headed back to Broome for supplies and start our trek south.

SARAH & PAIGE’S 9TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS – by Sarah and Paige

TODAY IS OUR BIRTHDAY!!

We woke up early and jumped on mum and dad.  It was awesome that Nanna and Pa had sent us birthday presents to the caravan park.  They sent us Quoits, Family Feud board game, Star Wars puzzle, lollies, tennis balls and sparkles in our card that almost went everywhere in Mummy and Daddy’s bed.

Dad said he would cook us anything for breakfast so we asked for bacon and eggs and pancakes with maple syrup.  It was delicious!

When we saw Lucia and Chelsea they played us a video they made for us with both families birthday messages.  It was funny.

For our presents, mum and dad took us shopping.  (Sarah) got a pretty dress, a lace top, a pair of Minnie Mouse pjs, a Pitch Perfect dvd and a hat.  (Paige) I got a colourful dress, new bather bottoms and a hat.  (Mum – and Paige got a ticket to Taylor Swift).

For lunch we had a little party at McDonalds with Lucia and Chelsea with ice-cream cake.  They gave us ticket to the outdoor movies.  Which mum said we could use the next day for Inside Out.

That afternoon we went swimming at the pool with Lucia and Chelsea and then we all played a game of Family Feud and went on the playground.

We went out for dinner and we had lots of little plates of food like meat, pork belly, oysters, squid, prawns, ribs and a chocolate brownie with a sparkler for dessert.  It was sooooo good.

We had the most fantastic and awesome birthday and it didn’t rain for once.

Love from Paige and Sarah

BROOME - 1 week - By Abi

Hi Everyone,

I'm Abi and I waiting to do the blog for our time in Broome.

 

When we were in Broome we did lots of stuff.

We got to go on a sunset camel ride.  I was on a camel by myself.  I thought the camel behind me was going to bite my foot.  So I was scared the whole time. 

We also went to the outdoor cinema and watched ‘Inside Out’.  We all thought Dad was like anger LOL.  The outdoor cinema was exciting and a fun thing to do, we sat on deck chairs under the stars.  It got a bit cold at night and I had to snuggle up to Dad to keep warm.

We spent lots of time at the beach.  We swam between the flags on Cable Beach and I got eight Jellyfish stings.  I didn’t notice them at the time, but the next morning they were itchy, so mum took me to the chemist to get some sting cream.

One day, as there is a section of Cable Beach that you can drive on, we packed the car with food and shade cloth to hang for shade so we could spend the day there.  Unfortunately, when we got there we found out it was a nudist beach.  It was gross!

From then on Sarah, Paige and I only really wanted to swim at the pool.  It was really cool because there was a like a cave under a waterfall.

For the first few days we were in Broome Lucia and Chelsea were there too, so we played with them a lot.

On the first night we went to a fancy resort called Mangroves to watch the Staircase to the Moon with Lucia and Chelsea.  The moon looked orange like a staircase to heaven.  At the Mangroves we had lemonade and pizza.

After a couple of days, dad got a phone call from the crazy Germans.  They came and pitched their tents on our site and camped with us.  I couldn’t believe how much Yoshi ate.  One day for breakfast he had 8 pieces of toast with peanut butter and salami with tomato and jam.  Yuck.

On the Saturday night we had a little picnic near the Hoodoo Gurus’ concert and played bowls with Yoshi and Ralph.  It was fun.

On the Sunday there was a market in town.  I bought a dolphin bracelet and dad got us all an ice-cream because it was so hot walking around the market.

There is also Dinosaur prints just under the water at Gantheaume Point.  There were very interesting.  You can see the shape of a large print here.  After that we went looking for things living in the rock pools. 

 

Dad was really looking forward to going to Mateso’ Brewery

We did lots of shopping and mum and dad bought me a pearl necklace and bikini and I bought myself a frangipani clip.

It was also Sarah and Paige’s birthday and we did lots of things to celebrate, but they can tell you all about it on their blog which will be next.