Reset search
Road TripRoad Trip
SatelliteEdit route

Road Trip

May - June 2021
Exmouth and Karajini Read more
  • 16footprints
  • 1countries
  • 18days
  • 76photos
  • 1videos
  • 2.7kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 12

    Cheela Plains

    June 6, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    It is a five and a half hour drive from Exmouth to Cheela Plains Station where we had booked into the Woongara Bush campsite for the night, enroute to Karajini National Park. It rained steadily till the last half hour the drive which worried me as I was not confident that our tent would keep out the rain. I was very much encouraged by the patches of blue sky when we checked into the reception at Cheela. Brian at reception confirmed that our Subaru Forester could get to campsite which was 55km from the reception. I forgot how big Australian stations are. It was a beautiful site, nestled amongst trees, cocooned within very characteristic colour banded Pilbara hills.

    It was a breeze setting up camp when there was no wind. Our camp neighbour was a couple from Kalbarri who decided to "head north" for an indefinite time. Not an hour after arrival at campsite, we were sitting on our camp chairs congratulating ourselves on a beautifully set up tent and admiring the view of the hills and the little water in the riverbed. Tables and cooker was set ready to cook dinner.

    "The Ranger is here, where is the camp permit?" Permit in hand, still ever so pleased that we've done well with our campsite, bedding and necessary bags already in the tent.

    "I'm sorry to inform you girls that you have to decamp and move to higher ground. We've just got word that we're expecting 5-7mm rains here, and if it rains upriver, there could be a flash flood and you girls will either be washed away, or stranded as the river will swell. I'm so sorry, but you have to move anywhere up there, NOW. Last week, 2 families were stranded for 5 days when we had 5mm rain. The river filled up and they were not able to drive across for 5 days till the water receded." Right on cue, drops started to fall. Rather big rain drops, and the sky darkened.
    *** PANIC! ***
    We have never moved so fast.
    Very quickly, we decided to sleep in the car.
    The tent came down, and pushed into its bag.
    Tables and chairs folded, in the car.
    Bedding in the car (fortunately that was not unpacked,.
    All the bags and stuff from behind the driver and passenger seat piled into the boot so we could push our seats back and recline.
    Heavier rain!
    Quick!
    What's for dinner?
    Quick. Decide.
    We skipped lunch.
    We'll just share the one plain Turkish roll and the small box of 10 mini meatballs with the packet of lettuce.
    Heavier rain
    Get dinner and Prosecco (we deserved it) into the front seat.
    Don't want to leave the car for the rain.
    Everything else shoved into the boot.
    Check. Check that we've left nothing behind.
    We need sleeping bags in case it gets cold. Rearrange.
    Quick. Quick.
    Evacuate to higher ground.
    Rain stopped.
    REALLY!!
    Rain stopped!

    Whilst we were looking for somewhere to park, a lovely guy invited us to join his campfire once we got settled. So, our small bottle of Prosecco in hand, one 200ml bottle between us of course, we headed to the campfire. It would be rude to not accept that kindly invite, and who can resist a campfire. We had a lovely commune around the campfire with the other campers. When the rain started again, we headed back to the car to watch a movie on the iPad.

    For the record, the river did NOT fill. We'd not have been washed away nor stranded. Like 10 year old Ollie from Bunbury whose family moved to Onslow said, "Better safe than sorry".    Read more

  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 13

    Karajini Dales Campsite

    June 7, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Surprisingly, sleeping in the car was very comfortable. We woke when day was breaking and that was so beautiful. Amazing sunrise. Topped it off with the appearance of a rainbow. Since we were in the Cheela Plains, we decided to take a little drive on the property to Mussel Pool, which was a tiny water hole, a tiny waterfall and The Wall which was the face of the gorge with vertical rock formation. Did all this without breakfast, thinking that we would head to the cafe at the reception for a proper cooked breakfast. We were so looking forward to it, and were devastated when informed the cafe stopped serving breakfast at 9am, and we were an hour too late. We snacked on cornthins and crackers till we got to Parabadoo, about 45 minutes away, and found a lunch bar for a quick lunch. We shared a burger and got to Karajini 2 and a half hours later, starving.
    After setting up camp, we finally cooked what we had planned to have for dinner last night.
    Had dinner, washed up and put away our dinner and dessert stuff by 5pm. Our first meal in 36hrs. Happy now.
    Then Ruby found our neighbours from Kenya and started chatting all about their travels, their migration, and family. They have a great camping set up all built, fabricated and put together in the car by the one of the 2 young man. The car was kitted out with a refrigerator, 2 batteries, drawers, pull out cooking station, roof rack and awnings, 2x20l petrol jerry cans, and all the bells and whistles that go in a zooped up camping 4WD.
    We are now sitting outside our tent, star gazing and writing our Penguin footprint.    Read more

  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 14

    Karajini Dales Gorge

    June 8, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    From our campsite, it is a 2hr return hike to Dales Gorge, but we took 5hrs because we decided to walk down to the bottom of the Gorge and stop for a swim at Fortescue Pool, have a long lunch and then another hike to Fern Pool but decided not to swim there because it was by then freezing and then a hike back on the rim of the Gorge. It was very scenic and the Gorge was awash with colour and was magnificent.Read more

  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 15

    Karajini Ecoretreat Glamping

    June 9, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    It was very overcast when we woke up this morning. So after packing tent and equipment away we decided to check at the visitors centre which gorges we could visit before checking into the Ecoretreat. Unfortunately due to the forecast of rain, all the gorges were closed except maybe Joffre Gorge. So we decided to head to the Ecoretreat to get more information. When we got here at 11am, they told us Joffre Gorge is still open but will close when it starts to rain. Although check-in is normally at 2pm, our tent was already cleaned and ready. We were so happy to be able to check-in, unpack and headed for Joffre Gorge before it rained.
    It was definitely worth a visit. The gorge leads to a waterfall and a swimming water hole. It was clean, pristine, beautiful and majestic but so cold. We had to wade hip high in water for about 20 metres around a bend before the waterfall and pool could be seen.
    We did not swim because the water was numbingly cold but I slipped on the slippery mossy floor and got totally soaked. It was a cold but very enjoyable explore. We got back to within sight of our car before the drizzle started.    Read more

  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 17

    Heading Home

    June 11, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We've cancelled the last 3 nights stay at Karajini Eco Retreat and are heading home now. We've seen all the gorges we can access, and even did Joffre Gorge twice There was a fatality just before we arrived, so park rangers will declare the gorges closed on the slightest threat of rain, and there's been some unseasonal rainfall this week. Also, bad and terribly corrugated gravel roads have made other gorges inaccessible to us in our Forester. Big 4WDs like LandCruisers that are driven by experienced drivers who have traversed unsealed tracks around Australia have struggled with those roads, resulting in blown tyres, wrecked solar panels, and a vehicle even having to stay the night to wait for a tow in the morning. Certainly not for us.

    I'm looking forward to doors. I miss doors. Yes, doors. Those simple rectangular nondescript portal that leads from one room to another. The one where there's a knob or handle that I don't have to bend, just turn with a twist of the wrist , and just kick shut with a flick of the knee or foot. Simple, open door and kick shut. Never take that for granted ever ever again. When camping, there are no doors. There are zips. Big, long zips. To get into the tent, you have to unzip from top to bottom or bottom to top. No unzipping a small hole in case you break the zip squeezing your body in. Worse than the zip whilst camping is a broken zip. So, it's a long stretch and bow to unzip the tent. Quickly get the body in, and the quickly repeat in reverse, bow and stretch to zip up the tent so flies, mozzies and other uninvited guests don't get in. All that just to get into the corridor of the tent. Repeat unzip and zip to get into the bedroom or vestibule storage area. Once you've finished your tent business, it's bend and stretch again to unzip, and then stretch and bend to zip up tent. Apart from all that zipping and unzipping is finding the beeping zip! It's never in the same place. More bending and stretching, is the zip at the top or the bottom? Those possessed bleeping things move themselves once a human walks away, just for the fun of it. And glamping is not any better. It's worse. Instead of one long zip that does vertical and horizontal of the doorway, there are 2 zips! Unzip the vertical, unzip the horizontal ........ You see why I've enough of paying bowing and prostration homage to the zip gods, and just want a door to kick shut! When I get to Perth, I'm not doing zips for a long time. I'm wearing tights so I don't do zips of jeans. No more zips!!    Read more

  • TravelerRoad Trip
    Day 18

    Home

    June 12, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Ruby truly surprised me. When we talked about camping about a year ago, the issues we had were scurrying creatures, shared toilet, dirty drop toilets, not being able to wash ourselves, and having enough stuff. But now, what bugged Ruby the most was zips... Go figure.
    We camped in the car on our last night at Garden Rock in our car. We were the only ones camping over night but all locked in, it felt safe. We had instant noodles for dinner then star gazed and watched Netflix till bedtime. At midnight there was a sudden downpour, worried that there might be flooding, we moved the car nearer the road out.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English