Gorgeous gorges and a remarkable reef

Still on our road trip through Australia’s southern, central, and western states, we recently left Port Hedland in Western Australia (WA), and headed to Karijini National Park, also in WA. Karijini is known for its ancient red layered cliffs above gorgeous gorges.

Knox Gorge, Karijini NP, WA

Karijini National Park’s (NP) gorges have been shaped by nature over billions of years, and we found them absolutely stunning. But the drive to Karijini was interesting too. Firstly, we travelled along a narrow highway through mining country, encountering dozens of 60-metre-long road trains that we overtook, or that swept by us creating a huge wind draft that almost rocked us off the road.

Bushfire-blackened scenery on our Port Hedland-Karijini route, WA

Then we came across some bushfire-damaged scrub and admired the black skeletal tree remains against the red sand and hills beyond, set off magnificently by a soft blue sky. A bushfire seems like a melodramatic was to achieve striking scenery, but there it was.

A look-alike fort ruin at Munjina Gorge Karijini NP, WA

Next, we saw some huge blocks of red rock along the top of a hill, reminding us of the ruins of an ancient European fort. Around the next bend, we followed signs to a lookout over these rocks and were amazed by the scale and colour of the red rocks amid the yellow hummock grass. It was Munjina Gorge; over 2.5 billion years old and part of Karijini NP.

The colours of Karijini NP, WA

Karijini is the second largest national park in Western Australia covering over 6,200 sq km (the largest is nearby Karlamilyi NP). It provides a rugged and challenging landscape with several scenic and rocky gorges, steep waterfalls, crystal-clear swimming holes, and diverse bush that was full of vibrant colours.

Dales Gorge, Karijini NP, WA

We camped in the park and there was no cellphone reception, no wifi, no electricity, no air-con, and no water to hook up to, so essentially, we were on our own. Once we settled in, the first thing we did was walk to nearby Dales Gorge. We found a lookout there that gave us a spectacular view of the gorge, with its greenery, stunning red rocks, and ancient rock layers. 

Fortescue Falls and swimming hole, Karijini NP, WA

From the lookout at Dales Gorge, we climbed down 267 metal steps to go for a dip in a spring-fed swimming hole beneath the gentle Fortescue Falls. The water was deliciously cooling in the 37-degree heat, but after our swim, we had to climb back up those 267 steps before walking back to camp.

Joffre Gorge with ladders centre right, Karijini NP, WA

Arriving back at camp, we had some shade from the hot sun, a cooling breeze, a beautiful sunset, and a stunning night sky, and loved it. The next morning, we visited the Joffre Gorge, known for its rounded amphitheatre shape and waterfall (unfortunately, dry at this time of year). It has a series of perilous ladders that reach down to a wet-season swimming hole.

Knox Gorge, Karijini NP, WA

Then we moved on to the steep and deep Knox Gorge where the afternoon sun highlighted the rugged red rocks. The Karijini National Park, we decided, was the best national park on our route to date, with its gnarly aging rocks, striking colours, and lush gorge greenery.

Desert fringe of the Hamersley Ranges, WA

Leaving Karijini, we drove through the iron mining towns of Tom Price and Paraburdoo, largely operated by Rio Tinto mines. Rio Tinto controversially destroyed some sacred Aboriginal sites in the nearby Hammersley Ranges in 2020. We drove along the desert-like lowlands of the Hammersley, one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth dating back 2.5 billion years. 

The resident emu crossing the main road in Exmouth, WA

That night, we stopped at Nanutarra Roadhouse as it was too far to drive to our next destination. It was just a place to get safely off the road as there are long distances between these isolated places. The next morning, we reached the small town of Exmouth (pop 2,500), which has a quaint town centre, a lovely marina, and a resident emu.

Cape Range National Park, Exmouth, WA

We were in Exmouth because it gave us access to Cape Range National Park. The park occupies a peninsula consisting of an unusual limestone plateau and 50 km of pristine beach along the Indian Ocean. There is no housing or other civilisation on Cape Range so we stayed in Exmouth and visited the national park during the day.

Space surveillance dishes, Exmouth, WA

On one of our drives around Cape Range, we passed some interesting-looking upside-down mushrooms which it seems are part of a space surveillance centre. It turns out that Exmouth is home to several major satellite related facilities, including these.

Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, Cape Range NP, WA

We also visited the historic Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. It was built in 1912 and could be seen up to 41 km, taking lots of kerosene and two lighthouse keepers to keep it alight. It was deactivated in 1969 and is now a tourist attraction that gives a spectacular view over Ningaloo Reef.

Ningaloo Reef and coastline, UNESCO, Cape Range NP, WA

Ningaloo Reef is a coral reef that extends south from here for 260 km, making it one of the largest fringe reefs in the world. The reef supports a huge diversity of coral and other marine life, and is on a migration path for whales, whale sharks, and turtles. For this reason, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Marg at Turquoise Bay, Cape Range NP, WA

One of the best ways to see the reef is to snorkel it, as it isn’t far offshore. So we hired some snorkelling gear and visited a few of the beautiful beaches along the Cape Range coast for a swim and snorkel. The first was Turquoise Bay where the water was warm, clear, and very turquoise. It was a great snorkel.

Oyster Stack Beach, Cape Range NP, WA

Leaving Turquoise Bay, we travelled further south to check out some of the other beaches. A favourite was Oyster Stacks where you could walk across the rocks and straight onto the reef and see lots of tiny fish. We also stopped at the Cape Range visitor centre and the Turtle Sanctuary.

Leigh getting ready to snorkel, Ningaloo Reef (UNESCO), WA

The next morning, we went on a boat trip to snorkel the reef in deeper water, and it was fabulous. We were on a small boat with only six other people and we enjoyed a commentary about the reef and marine life that it supports, and had two snorkel swims. 

Dolphin swimming about our boat, Ningaloo Reef (UNESCO), WA

We saw two turtles, lots of colourful reef fish, and some huge corals. On the return trip, the captain spotted some friendly dolphins so he sailed in slow circles as the dolphins frolicked around us. In the end, instead of having a two-hour trip, it was closer to three. It was a wonderful day.

Muralist in Exmouth, WA

On our last night in Exmouth, we went to a local country music themed restaurant. The music was ok, the clientele interesting, and the pizzas fantastic. But we were fascinated by a local artist painting a mural of Cape Range on the restaurant wall. Our stay in Exmouth had been fabulous and we stayed longer than planned.

Beautiful Coral Bay beach, WA

Then we drove along part of the Coral Coast, the Indian Ocean coastline in WA that extends from Exmouth to the south for 1,100 km. We soon reached Coral Bay and stayed for a couple of nights. Coral Bay is a tiny fishing town of 245 people. The beaches are stunning, the sea is various shades of blue, and the water is warm. It was a great little spot.

Juvenile sharks in shallows, Coral Bay, WA

While in Coral Bay, we walked a few kilometres along the beach to a shark nursery. The Nyinggulu Ganyarrjarri people who own the Ningaloo coast, call this place the nhuga malinmeyi (shark birthing place), and there were dozens of small reef and lemon sharks there. The females give birth here and the juveniles use this shallow area until they are strong enough to go out into the ocean. 

Spangled emperor fish (not our legs), Coral Bay, WA

The next afternoon, we waded into the sea especially to see some Ningaloo Reef fish being fed, with special permission of the WA national parks people. They were spangled emperors, known for their silvery scales. They seemed big at 35 to 45 cm, and have one big tooth that can give a painful bite. We cautiously hid our toes in the sand as the fish swam around our feet and legs.

Turtle in shallows, Cape Range NP, WA

Then we heard that the turtles were gathering at Cape Range, which is a significant nesting site for green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles. We arrived there on a horrendously windy day, and saw half a dozen. They were hard to spot, but some were mating and you could see a lot of heads bobbing and flippers flipping. Others were swimming south. After a while, the wind drove us to shelter, so we moved on to Monkey Mia, but that’s in the next blog.

This post is the ninth in a series about our travels through Australia’s south, centre and west. The first post was about Adelaide and can be found here.