East Pilbara

We had a short night in which we didn't sleep well at all. Corona was just too active in our brains. So after a couple of hours of restless sleep, we called it a night. Could have been a good opportunity to leave early and enjoy the cold part of the day. But we were busy discussing corona and what to do with it. We are simply very undecided on what would be the best decision here. After 2 hours in the waiting line of the Dutch consulate, we actually got someone on the line. But they didn't really have any advice apart from 'if you want to leave, book a flight, it's your decision'. We also asked Susanne's family to sign us up on the Condor website for possible flights back home organised by the government. We actually don't know if they would help Machiel as well. Currently they have no program for Australia anyways.

It was 9 and time to leave. Upon entering Karijini National Park there was Mount Bruce immediately to the right. The hike up is about 5 hours return. It was a bit too late to do this without getting a heat stroke. So we only went up a part of it. The views were nice. On one side we could see an iron ore mine in the distance. Super long trains were leaving and arriving from there to go to Karratha in the North. From there the iron ore is shipped to Europe and other areas around the world. On the other side we could get a nice view on hills and lots of bushes.

The Karijini Visitor Centre had lots of information about the park's history and flora and fauna. We cooked lunch at the parking lot and afterwards drove to a bore tap to do our dishes. Then it was time for Fortescue Falls. A long staircase down brought us to a picturesque pool surrounded by tall red cliffs. We swam for awhile and sat at the waterfall. It was a bit like one of those tropical swimming pools with a waterfall on a timer, just without the timer. The water was refreshing but not too cold. So it was very enjoyable. A decent alternative to a shower after a sweaty warm day.

Back at the car, we went to the circular pool lookout. A drop of several 10s of meters surrounded by steep red cliffs. There are a lot more trees and plants in the park than we had imagined, which created a beautiful mixture of red and green.

What we forgot to mention is the incredible night sky, which we've also already seen in the Cape Range National Park. There are sooo many more stars to see here and they just feel they are only half as far away as in Europe.Read more