28th September - 3rd October 2016
Then a bigger walk up the hill behind us.
A few bats just hanging around.
Climbing up and down rock terraces.
Time for another swim.
Then the climb back to the top!!!!
Cute little Dragon.
And back to the starting point.
Dezzi the fix it man.
Mt. Robinson Free Camp
160 klm from Newman towards Karajini National Park, pulled into another great free camp mid afternoon. Set back off the road, so the road trains only a dull hum. Plenty of toilets and rubbish bins. And a magnificent view of Mt. Robinson and the Hamersley Ranges.
Huge space all to ourselves. Only a couple of other campers at the far end of the area.
Pretty good view including some wild flowers in the front yard.
A short walk at the back of the parking area to a small gorge.
This is about a quarter of the way up!
Karajini National Park
Only 100 klm run to Dales Campground and all set up by 10.00 am. Just about done when we hear a cheeky voice from the camp next door yelling we better be quiet campers. Hilarious. Steve and Sheridan that we first camped next to way back at Bundy Station in the Northern Territory, then again at Barn Hill Station. This is a huge campground - what are the odds! Always so great to catch up with new friends.
This is a great campground with plenty of room in between the allocated sites.
So of course catch up time at drink o'clock. Steve and Sheridan have this brilliant game called Ladder Golf. So much fun. A frame made from poly pipe. Three ropes with a golf ball on each end. The aim is to toss the golf ball ropes at the frame, and loop them around to stay there. Top row is 3 points, second row is 2 points and bottom row is 1 point. A few other rules. First to get exactly 21 points is the winner.
The poly pipe frame.
Sheridan is first up.
Dezzi next. Pretty good start.
Steve doing well.
Not as easy as it looks.
After two rounds the results were.....Dez one, Bevy one! The next night we played again. Dez one, Sheridan one, Bevy two! I am hopeless at all sports and games, but I think I have finally found my niche!
However, the main purpose of our stay here is to go hiking again...yeah! A three hour loop - not counting two swims.
There are three sections to Dales Gorge. First up is Fern Pool.
It never ceases to amaze us how trees grow out of rock.
Down we go into the Gorge.
Fig trees cling to the rock face - amazing!
This massive fig tree was stunning.
Lovely, delicate ferns.
Fern Pool. Perfect for a swim!
Next point Fortescue Falls
The Falls.
The walk down to the bottom of Dales Gorge is by the rock terrace.
Looking from the Fortescue Falls down the Gorge.
The vegetation changes constantly as you follow the Fortescue River along the bottom of the Gorge.
Picking our way back and forth over the water.
At the end of the trail is Circular Pool. A beautiful pool dwarfed by the rock walls surrounding it.
Very refreshing!
Absolutely worth the walk. Stayed here for a while swimming and having smoko.
Beautiful, delicate flowers and ferns along the way.
Looking down from the top. You can just see some other people on the track. Tiny little dots. Man...our legs were burning!
The walk back was very leisurely, with stunning views of the upper Gorge.
Nice easy path.
The rock is fascinating in this part of the country.
Next day I left Dezzi behind to do some maintenance and headed off for a 4klm bushwalk to the Circular Pool Lookout. He was devastated of course!
Off into the bush.
Another little dragon sunning himself .
Looking down into Dales Gorge.
Looking across Dales Gorge.
Looking down into the Circular Pool. A long way down. It's hard to get a photo showing the whole drop.
Just love the Auzzie scrub. It's so harsh and yet has surprises of delicate flowers.
These little bushes are very prolific.
The flowers are like tiny, fluffy purple and white pom poms.
And acres of Spinifex. All different varieties. Yep. Love a good bush walk.
Next destination, Tom Price and Chichester-Millstream National Park.
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