ilbra

Pilbara


Before leaving Broome I decided to ask at a different Cafe about vege oil, they said "sure take as much as you like", wandering out through the back door I was greeted by 800 litres of fuel ... I mean waste vege oil .... so with delight I filled my containers :-) ... all ready for our trip to Karijini

Happy to be out of Broome ... this seemed to us to be a town existing as a launch platform to see regions further afield and not much else to stir a desire to stay ...

Cape Kerauden at the southern end of Eighty Mile Beach was a welcomed surprise, we loved the scenery - rocky beaches on the north side and tidal mud flats with mangroves (and crocs) on the south side of the point. After setting up camp I wandered up on a small cliff edge on the mangrove side of the point. We head that sharks were common on this part of the coast, and within a few minutes I saw two small sharks cruising in the near-shore waters. Swimming was less tempting afterward, although crocs were also on the list of deterrents.

Port Hedland region with it's severe mining industry added to our inspiration to move onward to Karijini as quickly as possible. We meet a young French couple on the road who worked here for 3 months, they were certainly in a celebratory mood on their first night away from Port Hedland. We shouted "Freedom !!" to the winds together with huge smiles.

Karijini lived up to our expectations, rich in cultural stories and refreshing for the senses. The oldest rocks in the world are here with huge interest from the surrounding mining industry because it contains the richest source of iron-ore in the world. Signage at the National Parks suggested this pressure is likely to see the protection of cultural and conservation values to be compromised in the future. Although I am guessing the fossil fuels required to run the iron ore industry will become a competing interest first.

The gorges and waterfalls were inspiring, the iron rich rocks almost looked as if it had already been processed into steel. Apparently magnets will stick weakly to some of the rocks here. We spent an afternoon bathing at .... falls and fern pool, dipping in the cool waters and re-warming on the baking rocks. Fern pool sounded wonderful and signage requested to quietly enter the waters and refrain from making loud noises as respect for the cultural significance of the pool. They provided a ladder into the deep pool to aid in quietly entering the waters. I can only imagine how the ambience of the place would be if people choose to respect the traditional carers request. As we readied ourselves for a swim, Several people turned up drinking alcohol and shouting loudly, jumping off the landing, also high off the rocks above the waterfall dive bombing into the waters and encouraging others to join them. Access above the waterfall is prohibited by National Parks. Perhaps they did not read the request?

Back at camp we meet a couple who suggested how great Millstream National Park was and now encouraged to travel here. They had aligning views on the education systems commonly in place in Australia it did not take long to connect on many other life values in our conversations. It is refreshing to meet more people on the road who held similar ethics. We really enjoyed the way they interacted with Kaiden, really drawing out who he is rather than telling him who they think he might be. We may see them again some time on the East coast?

Circular Pool was another fantastic gorge swimming area, unfortunately being here on a busy weekend, request to respect this sacred site by quietly entering the waters and staying quiet went unheard or ignored.

Next was the Weano Gorge area, where we meet a cyclist, who had been travelling now for eight months and virtually had followed the same route we had done to get to Karijini. The last water point had a broken windmill pump, so we filled his bottles and chatted about many things. Kaiden really enjoyed his company and shared his passion for cycles. Our neighbours from the camp turned up - a retired couple, Jack and Jill (no jokes), these guys were really switched on. They had children about the same ages as ourselves. They also connected with Kaiden and Jamala in compassionate ways, really listening to them and appreciating them for who they were, it was heartening to see.

The gorges in this area were amazing, much deeper, steeper and narrower with the end sections involving abseiling and rock climbing (my equipment was all back in the storage shed .... boo hooo). None-the-less Kaiden loved climbing the ladder and being in the back pack while I climbed around some tricky traverses. Nicole was much more nervous with Jamala on her back and slippery shoes, Jamala was smiles all the way ! ... I hope the photos can kind of tell the storey about how amazing these gorges were. Both these gorges we shared the company with cyclist - Graeme, at both Kermit’s Pool and Handrail pool ... to go any further with the kids was too dangerous.

Next we went to Millstream, wow what a surprise. A great swimming hole at the door step, with a great diversity of plant and bird life. Again this is a very significant place for indigenous people.

We had the camp ground to ourselves for the first day - paradise, nestled in among Snappy gum, Millstream palms and paper bark riparian ... ahhhhhh. We will not forget this place in a hurry. The second day a few more people showed up to bath in the delights of this oasis, thankfully they did not detract from the quiet experience of the place.

Cape Range here we come ! (Gnarloo is getting closer ... better find me some wax)