Day one in Karijini

We arrived this morning about 9am and it was blowing a gale and it was freezing. After setting up and unhooking we headed off exploring àbout an hour later and although it was warmer it was still quite cool. Our first stop was Fortescue Falls Lookout at Dale's Gorge. The first thing that struck us, apart from the breathtaking view, was how deep the Gorge was. It was a long way down and the falls are on the river at the bottom. Fortunately there is a man made steel stairway to the bottom, so off we went. It was a long way down but we arrived safe and sound. As good as the water looked it was not easy for a couple of old codgers to get down to so we headed off to Fern Pool only a short walk away up stream. This was a much easier place to go into the water. It has a steel deck and ladders to get into the pool, not that we did maybe tomorrow. When we arrived we were amazed at how many people were already there and with every minute more were arriving. We headed out to the desert to escape the crowds but that hasn't worked. We headed back and after reaching the bottom of the stairs and deciding the only way out was up, we set off. Helen counted the stairs and there were 293. After reaching the top, following much heavy breathing and a few rests, we headed to the 3 ways lookout and the circular pool lookout. These are at the head of the Gorge. This end is just as magical as the rest with towering walls and the river and Circular Pool at the bottom . They have closed off the walk to the pool as there was a big rock slide and they are probably scared it could happen again putting people in danger. There is a track going down to the bottom of the Gorge at this end but it's made for Mountain 🐐. The scenery at this gorge is just amazing and it is all within about a 2kms walking length. We left there and after a short stop at the visitors centre we headed off to Kalamina Gorge this was 25kms down a very corrugated gravel road. This Gorge is nowhere near as deep as Dale's Gorge but a lot more challenging to reach the bottom having only stone steps of varying heights. After quite an ordeal we reached the bottom and had a look around and it too was spectacular but different. Another small water fall and quite a large pool of water nestled amongst cliffs of layered rocks with flat slab rocks on the floor. All in all a very pretty place. Because it was getting late and we still had to climb back up we didn't walk too far but still what we saw was brilliant. After a much easier climb out we headed back to our van for a rest and we will do some more tomorrow, maybe even head back to Fern Pool for a swim.Read more