Karijini National Park- The Jewel of the Pilbara

The travel brochures refer to Karijina Natiional Park as the Jewel in the Pilbara, and after two days we can attest it truly is an amazing place.

Tom Price is the highest town in WA (730mtrs) and its' only caravan park is at the base of Mount Nameless (1128mtrs). Surprisingly, the park is very spacious, with green grass under foot. It is proving to be a relaxing base for the time being.

The morning of our first day was spent by taking a short 4wd trip to the top of the mountain to take in the magnificent views of the Hammersely Ranges, Tom Price and the Rio Tinto mine. As is often the case on this trip, we chatted with several other travellers at the top of hilll as we took in the views. Later that afternnoon we headed off to Karijini to explore Fortescue Falls. (see video clip).

The second day (Sunday), we again headed back to Karijini, but this time to the Eco Retreat. Our earlier attemps to ring them had proved fruitless. Apparently they were not returning calls due to the hight number of enquiries for camping. In any case, they have found a space for us next Tuesday. We then headed further into the park for canyonning at Hancock gorge. This place was wild! We climbed down a cliff face on a ladder, then clung to the canyon walls as we desended into the gorge and waded through icy water. The highlight was the Spyder Walk at the narrowest part of the gorge, which terminated at a large pool.

Plenty of young European travelllers out here! The type that drive the "Wicked" vans and spend the evening under the stars before retiring to tiny tents.

The photos attached of Karijini do not do it justice, but we also have some good GoPro video for later viewing.

Finally, this morning we took a tour of the Rio Tintos mine. Big is the word for everything !

So what's next? Tuesday night will be spent camping at the Eco Retreat. After that, we hit the dirt on the Rio Tinto private road which runs alongside the railway line used for transporting the iron ore to Dampier. To travel this road requires a permit, which we obtained this morning from the visitors office. The only requirement was that we had to watch a short safety video on the hazards of the road. Needless to say. two locomotives and 3 kilometers of carriages (approx 236 wagons), do not stop for anything, not even the King Off the Road ( LC200!)