By Fi & Adrian
We had hoped to go for a microlight flight on our last day at the reef, but the weather conspired against us and we used to time to head inland towards the Karijini national park. We picked a suitable station stay a short distance from the park and arrived for sunset.
The next day we topped up the fuel and tourist information at Tom Price before heading to Hamersley Gorge.
A short steep walk into the gorge was rewarded by a cool swim and a massage under the waterfall.
We returned to a free campsite next to a dry riverbed that we had scoped out in the morning. But now the road in was blocked by 2 cones. Following the mantra of always leaving the camp site as it was when you arrived, we carefully replaced the cones across the road and found our quiet spot beside the river.
The next day we set off up Mt Bruce that is well known as West Australia’s second highest mountain (hill). A four hour round trip took us to the summit and back, with a few steep sections to negotiate along the way.
The Mt Bruce walk has fantastic views all the way to the top. On one side the mountains of red rock dotted with green spinifex and on the other a large iron ore mine with mega trucks and mile long trains.
We stayed within the national park at Dales campground, ducking into the gorge for a much needed swim after the days exertions. Small fish removed any excess skin on our feet and the waterfall provided our massage.
Unusually it rained overnight with the campground waterlogged in the morning. The tent people had mostly left by the time we crawled out of the snail.
Before heading out for our gorge exploration we checked at the nearby visitor centre in case the water levels were dangerous in the gorges. It turned out that the rocks in the park are so treacherous to the unwary tourist that all gorges and even Mt Bruce were closed.
Time for a plan change…we headed north to the coast.
