Karigini National Park

After being woken at sunrise by hundreds of squawking birds, we hit the road at 7am. We travelled NE 430km to Tom Price before heading into Karigini National Park. Travelling at an average speed of 50km/hr on the rocky unsealed road, the trip took approx. 8hrs.

We travelled for 4 1/2 hours before we saw another car jacked up on the side of the road - three families had camped on the side of the road overnight as they had 7 flat tyres between them and one wheel ripped off a camper trailer after hitting a washout. They assured us they had help on their way,so we continued on our trip very cautiously!

We settled into our camp that evening at 7.30pm at Karigini Eco Retreat (Savannah Campground) which is 100% owned by the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation and located in the Pilbara Region on W.A. It was a long day travelling!!!

Finally the fun begins..... Karinigi National Park is MAGIC!
We ventured off into Hancock Gorge on our first full day trip, hiking down a steep gorge before lowering ourselves down a ladder to the floor of the gorge. We then had to climb over rocks, wade and swim through narrow canyon pools, tread carefully through a 'spider walk' before arriving at the tranquil Kermit Pool at the end,where we hung out for hours swimming in the deep pool.



This is where we met the Gallagher and Clarke families, with whom we spent most of the next week visiting gorges and picnicing beside many beautiful swimming pools with.

Daniel and Chantelle made friends with the Emma (13), Margaret (11), Rachel (10), Jeremy (6), Ben (11)and Luke (8), with whom they spent time exploring the gorges with, rock climbing, swimming and competing to jump from the highest ledges with.





The Karigini Gorges are the best playgrounds for adults and kids - we had so much fun on each daily adventure!





On one particular day Lindon and Rod had their own extreme adventure down in Joffre Gorge disappearing beyond sunset and returning in the dark to very relieved families - but you couldn't wipe the smile off Rod's face for days :)

Stephen and Sharyn Gallagher along with their sons Ben and Luke (from Perth) have also begun their trip around Australia and it was great to chat to them about their future destinations and plans - leaving us no doubt we will cross paths several times on our trip.

Ann Clarke - you will be pleased to know that we have added a nut and m&ms mix to our diet and aptly named it the "Clarke Mix".

Karigini National Park is one of our favourite destinations so far - spectacular views and tranquil gorges are amazing to experience.







Three local aboriginal tribes work in unison with National Parks to encourage conservation and tourism, providing a historical insight and future direction - with Aboriginal people running the informative visitors centre.