Sunday 7^th September

We started out at 8.30am after some breakfast for the drive to Port Hedland and arrived about 1.30pm. We passed a small bush fire (or possibly a controlled burn) and actually had more traffic as we approached the town. The hotel is very nice and we have a good view of the sea and a complimentary plate of fruits but the internet is down. We intend to have a relaxing afternoon and get off quite early tomorrow.

Saturday 6^th September

Luckily we had already decided on a chill out day today when we will stay in camp rather than go anywhere. My ankle is still a bit sore and I certainly couldn’t walk anywhere; I think it is also lucky we have an automatic so I won’t need to use it driving, so hopefully it will soon heal completely. I am sitting here on our shady tent verandah, looking out over spinifex, lots of small trees and termite mounds to the hills in the distance and catching up on my diary entries!

Friday 5^th September

We saw our first wallaby on our way to breakfast today and we stood staring at each other for some moments before it loped away. Today we repeated our drive of yesterday but parked up at an earlier car park, by Fortescue Falls. We then walked along the rim of the gorge to where we descended yesterday and turned the opposite way at the bottom, back towards Fortescue Falls. It was a wonderful walk along the gorge, quite rocky, with occasional stepping stones to cross small creeks, often shaded by aspen trees and with lots of different grasses and flowers. We only met one other couple on our walk, which took about ninety minutes to get to the Falls. We then carried on an easier path to Fern Pool and for a while we were the only people there. It was a stunningly beautiful place with a ladder down into a deep water pool which was much warmer that the others we’ve been to. We both enjoyed a swim or two and had our picnic watching the fishes and several trees hanging with loads of small black bats, who were squeaking noisily away.

Unfortunately, having walked the gorges without a problem, on our way back to the tent after dinner I managed to trip up and sprain my ankle and graze my knee.

Thursday 4^th September

Today we drove a different way around to the Visitor’s centre, which was longer but only had 6Km on unsealed road, so was preferable. Because it is low season there were no trips operating that we could attach ourselves to, so we decided to drive to the end of the metalled road at Dales Gorge and do a short walk from there. Having had a picnic lunch we walked a short way to the Gorge Lookout point and then down a steep path of uneven steps to the bottom of the gorge. Luckily it had become a bit overcast and we had our walking poles. We walked along the bottom, scrambling over several rocky places, to reach the Circular Pool. This was a beautiful spot with high red sandstone cliffs and a very cold pool. Iain swam but I satisfied myself with soaking my shirt and putting it on wet; a very effective way to cool off! I could imagine this place being used for initiation rites – it had a very masculine type energy pervading it. We then retraced our steps and arrived back at the Eco Retreat with time to have half an hour on the internet to catch up with e-mails before dinner. The food is okay but the menu is the same every evening and I only fancy a few dishes on it... I’m getting spoilt!

Wednesday 3^rd September

As we were leaving the accommodation in Karratha we met up with an emu and her chicks. We then had our longest drive yet to Karijini NP, again with arid countryside, long, mainly straight and empty roads apart from when we were pulled over to the hard(ish) shoulder by the police to let a massively wide load go by and occasional very long road trains which consist of four to six trucks linked together. On the Great Northern Highway we were passed by a truck/road train and some stones flew off it and made three small starred chips on our windscreen. Luckily they are only small and don’t interfere with the driver’s field of vision. We then drove to the first entry point to the park, hoping to discover the best way for a 2WD to get to the Eco Retreat as many of the roads are unsealed. Unfortunately there was no-one there to ask, so we carried on and took what appeared to be the shortest route on the map. This involved 32Km on a rutted, unsealed road which was challenging to say the least! At speeds of between 15 and 40Km an hour it took a long time but we arrived without further mishap. It is a beautiful place with deep red sandstone gorges, savannah like areas of spinifex (a type of grass) and trees dotted here and there. The Eco Retreat reminds us of camps in the Serengetti and our tent looks out onto stunning countryside which we can see from our bed in the morning (we keep the flap up so we can see through the mesh awning). We have an en-suite loo, shower and wash basin that has six foot walls, open at the top with a roof awning, so you can see the stars!

We walked from our tent to the Joffre Gorge which was quite splendid.

Tuesday 2^nd September

We decided to do our own thing today and drove to Millstream Chichester NP and then drove and walked to Python Pool – we were limited by where we could go with a 2WD but it was lovely and we were the only people there for quite a while. Towering red sandstone cliffs surrounded a quiet cool pool of water. All these places are of special significance to the local aboriginal people and one could feel the power of the place.

We sampled a noodle bar takeaway tonight as the cooking facilities were poor. Also tried to contact Lizzy to wish her a happy birthday but we weren't able to connect.

Monday 1^st September

Today we had a long drive to Karratha (5-6 hours) through varied countryside of rolling savannah type plains and very red sandstone outcrops but with cruise control set at 110Km we were expecting to arrive quite early. We also saw what looked like a mini tornado whipping through the red dust a short way from the road and apparently this was a willie-willie! We were disappointed with the accommodation in Karratha, for although the reception staff were lovely, the facilities were lacking – no water jug and several utensils and cutlery missing. The pool was lovely although a bit cool! We went to a Balinese restaurant for dinner which was quite good. We tried to Skype Hilary to wish her a happy birthday but were unable to get through.

However we came across a caravan that had overturned as the car had had a blow out and skidded and spun over a few times. It was obviously a write off but luckily the driver, although injured, survived. The police and ambulance were already there but we were unable to pass for more than an hour.