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Thread: Karajini and Ruddall River National Parks WA

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    Adventurist stevemc181's Avatar
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    Karajini and Ruddall River National Parks WA

    The Missus and myself just completed a trip up to Karrijini and Ruddall River NP's in WA.
    I'll get the trip report up over the next few days.

    With the Patrol packed and ready for its first adventure, we decided to head off in the early afternoon and at least get a few hours up the road. We were on our way to Karrajini National Park for a few days then out to Ruddall River NP and attempt to get to Hanging Rock WA.



    In a typical scene on the Great Northern Highway, we were soon greeted with a couple of oversize trucks to slow our progress. We took the opportunity and pulled over and cut up some firewood from a dead roadside tree. We would be pulling over for the night at Jibberding Rocks, just North of Wubin. I should have remembered that anywhere with Rock in it’s name, is usually a difficult spot to get tent pegs in the ground. The hammer drill soon sorted that problem out and the tent was set.



    We had an early rise and were on our way North once again, nothing too exciting to report. Our second night was spent a couple of hours south of Newman at the Gascoyne river (Middle Branch) There were quite a few camped along the river bank, but we found a spot well off the highway and away from the traffic.



    We arrived at Karrajini National Park around noon on our 3rd day and made our way over to Dales Gorge campground, camp sites are $10 per night per adult + NP vehicle entry fee ($12) if you don’t have an annual parks pass.



    The camp spots don’t offer a lot of privacy, particularly as a recent fire has burnt most of the shrubbery out and it’s all pretty flat and open. No drama though as most of the time is spent exploring gorges anyway. We camped across from these 3 termite mounds and looked forward to the next days adventure.





    We set off early to explore Dales Gorge with the first stop being Fortescue falls, very picturesque, but the water was too cold for me!





    After this we decided to hike along the gorge floor up to Circular pool, when I rounded a corner and nearly stood on this King Brown (Mulga) Snake! Scared the absolute crap out of me, clad in my shorts and thongs which wasn’t exactly hiking fare, I beat a hasty retreat while trying to blurt out the word snake! I’m not sure who was the most shocked, me, the snake, or the missus who got shoved out of the way in my hasty retreat! (I have a bit of a snake phobia)
    The snake disappeared behind a rock that was right where we needed to go, so we watched and waited. He slowly stuck his head around the corner and looked at us and then decided we were no threat and he headed across the track and out of our way.







    I shudder at the thought of the outcome of being bitten by one of these so far from help. Once my heart returned to normal we carried on to circular pool:


    Then back past Fortescue falls for a look at Fern Pool:


    The round trip in Dales Gorge takes a couple of hours, allow longer if you’re going swimming, by far the easiest entry is the Fortescue falls end, as it has steps built most of the way, and then it’s an easy walk to Circular pool and back.

    The next day we headed over to the other side of the park and started with a wander along Kalamina Gorge. Nothing too spectacular here, but worth a walk. This day I decided to take the sat phone and a snake bite bandage with me, and I wore my shoes, hahahaha.





    Then it was over to Weano Gorge for another beautiful hike, before heading back to camp and a few well deserved beers and bourbons. This would be our 3rd and final night in Karrajini, before heading off in the general direction of Running waters which was around 400k away. Weano Gorge has a spot called the handrail pool, spectacular little area. We had to swim through a section to get to it and unfortunately I went arse over head and dropped the phone/camera, so no pics in this section . We did manage to dry the phone out though using some bags of desiccant from some wraps we had in the fridge.

    A word of advice if doing Weano and/or Hancock Gorge, it is advisable to take a dry bag as there are a couple of sections where you’ll be swimming to get through the gorge, the best footwear would be the reef hopper style of shoes, as some sections it is easier to walk in the water, and trust me it is as slippery as bat shit in sections.
    The below pics are from Hancock Gorge which we did on the way out of the park. This is classed as a grade 5 hike, so some level of fitness and dexterity is required. It’s really not too bad, but there is a lot of rock scrambling and one little tricky section called the spider walk. I am not fit by any means and still found it relatively easy. This was the best gorge of all and should be on the must do list for anyone visiting the park.

    We had to swim this section on the way to kermits pool at the end of Hancock Gorge.


    The below pic shows what is called the spider walk, some fitter than us types like to clamber through here using their arms and legs outstretched on the gorge walls. We just walked through the shallow water,which was far easier.





    Kermits Pool at the end is a spectacular little spot for a swim, it was a bit crowded for us though, as two large tour groups arrived about 5 minutes after we did. Bren got a quick swim in before the hoardes arrived.



    Heading out of Karrajini, we had decided to go and have a look at Hamersley Gorge which is about 100km drive as we also wanted to head past the old Abandoned asbestos mining town of Wittenoom. Despite now being classified as a ghost town, there are still three people living at Wittenoom, I think the government may be battling to remove them.

    Hamersley gorge has some spectacular rock formations, and you can see how the rock used to be molten as it flows in waves.





    The whole Wittenoom area is really quite beautiful and it’s a pity it had to be abandoned due to the dangers of asbestos inhalation. Most buildings are still standing and we could here a generator running from one, so we didn’t hang around in town for long, just a brief look and a drive out the old mine road.













    We didn’t feel comfortable staying near Wittenoom, so we headed back off in the general direction of Newman. We found a lookout/roadside pullover with heaps of room for camping about 15km’s East of Auski Roadhouse. This would do us for the night as it was nearly dark already.



    Stay Tuned for more updates.













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    Far out Steve mate, awesome write up, awesome pics, thank you heaps, it's made my night :-)! Stay safe mate, keep on trucking you two ;-)

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    Travelling Podologist Cuppa's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing Steve,

    Fantastic country! Really looking forward to returning there. That last pic is the Albert Tognolini rest area I believe. Great free camp with stunning views. Karijini was very special for us. In all the planning we did in the years leading up to our 'Big trip' many times folk would tell us that Karijini was a 'don't miss' place, but we decided that we should plan a surprise, so always avoided reading or listening to anything about Karijini, just knew we would go there. It blew us away when we finally got there!

    Really looking forward to hearing how you went at Rudall River as it's somewhere we are intending to visit. I've read varying accounts - some suggesting it's full on hard core 4wd'ing for experienced folk only & others saying it's quite manageable provided you have a high clearance vehicle.

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    Glad you like it so far! I am knackered now, so will get some more up tomorrow hopefully.

    Yep some stunning country out there, Karajini was really only a side trip for me, as I really wanted to get to Hanging Rock. I only found a few tidbits of information as not many have made the trek out there. The Main North/South Ruddal River Rd from Telfer is a doddle, some soft sand patches, but you'll pull the T-van through there no problem. The 18km track out to Desert queen baths is also pretty easy, just a few closed in spots. The only other real attractions are the 3 pools, (No 11 Pool, Watrara Pool and some other pool I can't rememberthe name of) These are all easily doable and in my opinion they are all far better camps than DQB. These pools are only about 20km away on the Western side of the main track. The track to Hanging Rock, when you can find a track is pretty easy, just shit to push through.

    It's really better done as a side trip to the CSR, exit at Georgia Bore, refuel at Parngurr, which is about 80km from Georgia Bore on the Talawana track and head to Ruddall river NP for a few days, then back to the CSR. Other wise it's a long way from anywhere for just a few days.

    I've edited just a short section of a Video of the track to Hanging Rock. https://youtu.be/3mvb2F0x_Ao
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    Ripper Video Steve, reckon you two should go rest now tonight mates :-)
    "Good job Lovey"
    "Yeah, had to get that f##ker out the way for us"
    "You're a Trooper Lovey"
    Absolute team effort, pisser Steve :-) !!

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    Enjoying the trips macca's Avatar
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    Had a couple of nights at some coastal spots a few years back, Kalbari and Cape Peron, always wanted to se Karajini looking forward to having a good explore there.
    Thanks for the info, look forward to your next installment.
    Cheers
    Macca

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    Travelling Podologist Cuppa's Avatar
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    Really enjoyed the video & your comments about the main tracks are encouraging. (Spinifex vehicle fire risk is something that gives me the heebie jeebies!). I had been thinking of taking the Tvan along the Gary Junction Rd, hanging a left at the CSR & following it down to Georgia Bore & turning right onto the Talawana to Parngurr. Then having a look around Rudall River NP before continuing on to the Great Northern hwy & then going across to the coast via Mt Augustus & the Kennedy Ranges NP. Not sure how it would be towing the Tvan down that section of the CSR (200kms?). An alternative would be taking the Gary Hwy down to the eastern end of the Talawana, but not sure if this would be any easier though.

    It'll probably be this time next year before we get out that way though. Am hopeful we might be able to make some connection with folk at Parngurr before we go. I think the Martu people have been organising a walk through country for 'outsiders' annually for the past couple of years as part of their efforts to protect their lands from the uranium miners.

    It's just great to hear of your experience in country I dream about. MrsTea even says she'll get out to move scrub like Brenda did!
    Last edited by Cuppa; 21st May 2017 at 01:51 PM.

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    Adventurist stevemc181's Avatar
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    I don't really think any of it will worry the T-van, we saw quite a few T-vans on the CSR last year, one had a leaking shock, but that's easily fixed if you carry a spare. We'll probably go the T-van path ourselves in the not too distant future.
    The couple running the Parngurr store and community, were out at Kunawaritjii on the CSR for a few years, I can't remember their names sorry, but we chatted for a while. Pretty laid back couple and a wealth of knowledge. The missus and I love the solitude of the desert country, although we were surprised to find a few other vehicles out at Desert Queen Baths. We weren't expecting to see anyone out there this early in the season. The missus is great and just gets in and gets it done, or at least trys to help and offers support when my blood begins to boil The spinifex is a very real issue if you are offtrack or early in the season, we checked it every time we stopped. The guy at Parngurr said there had already been a vehicle lost to a spinifex fire on the CSR this year.
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    awesome report Steve,i have been there also and loved it..we never planned it but want to go and visit a mate in kalgoolie while we were up north..loved the 3 days we spent there aslo...here's a pic of miss 5 at the time climbing out circular pool end
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    Last edited by Avo; 21st May 2017 at 05:09 PM.
    Watch this space, as there maybe a comment added soon

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    I'll be up that way later this year all going to plan its been too long since my last visit.

    Did you get chased out of Wittenoom but the one of the remaining residents? When I last called through there there was still people living there, very eerie place. Drove through the town towards the gorges and then turned around and went back to our camp site in Karijini.
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