Mini Holiday

31st Aug - 2nd Sep 2015

I had been in Karratha for 3 months now and still planned to be there for a further 3 months so I thought it might be nice to get out of town for a bit. I had been planning a return to Karijini ever since I got washed out of there the first time. I invited a few people but in the end it was just me and Rob. This German had been working at the Tambrey for a couple of months now and when ever I heard him yell "Is anyvon vaiting?" I couldn't help but laugh. Everytime!

Me and Rob ready for a roadtrip

We had 2 and half days to see and do as much as possible so we had an early start to get supplies and then we hit the road. It was really nice to be in my car exploring again even if it was for only a couple of days.

Big trucks

Rob slept most of the way there but the journey wasn't without a few interesting things to see. We had to pull off the road for a few supersize trucks.

Fires

Bigger the better

After 5 hours driving we finally found the northern part of the Karijini National Park. There was only a few of hours left until sunset so we only went to a couple of lookouts.

Driving into Karijini

A gorge

As the sun was setting we went for a swim in Fern Pool which looked stunning. The blue water was very refreshing. The two waterfalls were like hot and cold taps to sit under. It was really strange that one had cold water and the other one warm. I was surprised to find any flowing water as it hadn't rained in months!

Fern Pool

We made camp and ate dinner before watching a film. It was Despicable Me 2 which I found hilarious!

Off on a walk

We had a full day in the park the next day. We made the hour journey from our campsite around to the other side of the park where I had been to last time. I think I enjoyed discovering this place more then first time around as you can't be surprised twice. I think Rob felt the same as this was also his second visit. At least this time I managed to keep the pictures that I took!

Hancock Gorge

In the gorge

The first walk we did was down Hancock Gorge. It was still as fun as last time to climb through the gorge and wade through the water. There were a few more people around then last time I was here but still not too busy.

Gonna have to get wet

Bit of climbing

Very deep gorge

Scene of the crime

We made it the pool without any incident. This was the exact spot that my phone went flying into the last time. It was very strange to witness the same thing nearly happen to someone else. He picked up his bag and his phone went flying into the stream. Luckily for him the water was not flowing any where near as much as when I did it and he was able to grab it before it went flying off the end and into the pool.

Amazing!

We didn't swim in this one as the water was horrendously cold. We took a few pictures before heading back up the gorge. The next walk we did was down to Handrail Pool.

Squeeze through

The handrail into Handrail Pool

Handrail Pool

Handrail pool was my favourite last time and it is incredible. Its hard to get the scale of this huge hole into a single picture so check out the vid at the bottom. We went for a swim in this one because it you want to get to the end of the track then you have to. The water was truly freezing. We were shivering quite a lot.

End of the track is this way

After lunch we went around to Joffre Gorge. I didn't come here last time so it was great to see something new.

Joffre Gorge

This was Robs favourite place and its easy to understand why. You walk up the stream and it opens out into a massive cathedral of red stone.

The entrance

Very high walls

Rob looking cool

We did a few ridiculous photos before leaving. The day was almost done so we went back to camp for dinner and another film. This time it was San Andreas - a truly shit film.

Its me

We left early the next day because we both had to work that night. We had to get back to Karratha and the real(ish) world. Rob slept most of the way back too!

Awesomeness

It was a really good trip and it was great to get out of Karratha, if only for a couple of days. It was a bit of a booster to get me through another 3 months at the Tambrey.