Pilbara

Its not just all about Sydney and surrounds!

So lets talk about a recent Sydney Nimble staff trip to the Karijini National Park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Why not add this onto an Austalian visit after you have spent a week in Sydney!

Getting there

Driving to Karijini National Park from Perth will take around 14 hours each way.

If you have limited time the best way to access Karijini National Park is to fly to Perth and then Paraburdoo.

Paraburdoo is a mining town so your fellow passengers may be wearing high vis clothing!

Upon landing at Paraburdoo we hired a 4WD (there aren’t any other transport options) and drove straight to Hamersley Gorge and then to the Karijini Eco Resort (KER).

Karijini Eco Resort

The staff at KER were just about all from other countries (working holidays) and it was great to interact with happy youthful staff (special thanks to Martin from Argentina and Joyce from the Netherlands).

As we drifted off to sleep at night we were ‘treated’ to eerie dingo howls. Our informative resort manager advised that the howling was due to it being the mating season for dingoes.

If your dining at KER the menu includes Aussie delicacies such as Crocodile fettucine and Kangaroo fillet!

Gorging on gorgeous gorges

Over the next few days we did a series of gorge walks.

The gorges are filled with sheer cliff faces, small pools, trees and shrubs, flat rock slabs and rocks of different proportions. The range of red, orange, crimson, purple, grey and charcoal in these gorges is stunning.

There are also many spectacular banded iron formations particularly at Hamersley Gorge (see second photo below). These formations occur in sedimentary rocks and are composed of alternating bands of chert and iron oxide.

It is interesting to note that the Pilbara has some of the oldest rocks in the world. Far older than those in Eastern Australia and although estimates vary it is possible that they were formed over 2 Billion years ago (maybe longer).

It is hard to rate the gorges against each other. Of the six gorges we visited Kalimina Gorge, Weano Gorge, Dales and Knox were our favourites. Joffre and Hamersley were a close second.

Although a number of the walks are Grade 5 the most difficult was Knox Gorge. The rock stairs require particular care when descending. On your right is a massive collection of shattered rocks that have been deposited on the steep slope for around 40 metres.

So much scree!

Kalamina Gorge is a friendlier walk and the pond at the start is both photogenic and tranquil. A very fine gorge.

Larger Dales Gorge is packed with a falls (Fortescue) and two pools, Fern Pool and Circular Pool. Of the pools we saw in the different gorges Fern Pool looked the most attractive for a swim being relatively warmer than many of the other gorges. A handful of teenagers and twenty somethings were swimming.

Due to a friend’s tip I packed a full length wetsuit and had a painless swim in the Handrail Pool at Weano Gorge.

Other swimmers looked perplexed when I repeatedly told them how warm the water was!

Newman and surrounds

After a few days at KER we drove to Newman to see more scenery, aboriginal rock art (Wanna Munna and Punda Rock) and the Whaleback mine. The tour of the BHP owned mine provides the chance to gain a first hand appreciation of the massive scale of the world’s largest open pit mine.

The mine is 5kms long and 1.5kms wide. So much excavation and the place never stops with workers doing either a twelve hour night shift (6pm to 6am) or 12 hour day shift.

A hard grind and I admire anyone who can stand up to these shifts in a dusty industrial environment.

We enjoyed the two rock art sites and Punda rock has some wonderful surrounding geography. Access to Punda Rock is obtained by driving through a valley and hovering behind the rock art site is a near perfectly formed extinct volcano.

Nature has treated it kindly and it has maintained its shape. The surrounding valley and cliffs provide a natural amphitheatre and if you yell an echo can be heard.

Crumbs left on the table

On reflection we ran out of time and one more day at least would have been useful. We still had untouched walks on our list: Mt Bruce, Mt Newman and Kermits Pool in Hancock Gorge. Next time….

Hamersley Range

One final point. The Hamersley Range is something to behold. Some of the hills, canyons and mountains are grand. The colours of which change depending upon where the position of the sun and whether it is cloudy.

As we returned to Paraburdoo for the flight home (around 8am) the direct morning sun on the mountains and hills was a reminder of just how beautiful the Pilbara is.

Karijini National Park, WA