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[Photo Information]
Fern Pool, Dales Gorge,
Karijini NP, WA
We both have very good memories from the last time we were at Karijini National Park (June 06). Karijini is without a doubt our favorite park in all of Australia (I know, we are a long way from having seen them all). We are back at the park and again enjoying the walks and the wonderful scenery.
What is so great about Karijini?
Well firstly, the scenery is amazing, each gorge is spectacular. Not in a massive
"Grand Canyon" sort of way, more of a delicately carved sort of beauty.
Secondly, the entire gorge system is very accessible. We think it is
fantastic that it is possible to climb down inside each gorge and walk its
length and see it up close. In some cases it is necessary to swim for 20 or
30 meters to continue the walk. This makes photography even more
challenging.
Thirdly, the park is not "over-managed". There are not dozens of park
rangers patrolling every walkway, there are no fences and barriers
stopping people from approaching cliff faces. There are not signs warning of
every slippery rock and vertical drop. At last a national park that credits
people with a little common sense! Each trail is given a class according to
the level of fitness, skill and equipment required to walk it. The trail is
clearly marked and that's it! If you fall down a rock face because you were
too stupid to understand that a class 6 walk requires ropes, abseiling gear
and the skills to use them ... too bad. Congratulations Karijini NP
management, this is a world class natural wonder, and in my humble opinion,
you are doing a fantastic job of looking after it while at the same time
allowing people to experience it.
[Photo Information]
Circular Pool, Dales Gorge, Karijini
NP, WA
Our first walk was in Dales Gorge. A nice easy walk to start on and we
really took our time. With every piece of camera gear that we own on our
backs, other walkers sped past us all day. Having all day to walk and
photograph was great and we are both very happy with the results.
I have been looking at and considering upgrading my camera to the new
Canon 5D MkII. This camera produces 21 megapixel images (almost twice what
my MkI can produce) - photographing in Dales Gorge has made me think about
it even more... still thinking about it.
We camped in the Dales camping area (at $13/night) for a couple of nights. This is a nice area, with the individual camps well spaced. Apart from pit toilets, there are no facilities (there is a water tank about 10km from the camp).
From Dales Gorge, we moved to an area (just) outside of the park - an
un-official free camp. We have made this our base for the last few days and
we have explored Weano and Hancock Gorge - both very spectacular and fairly
challenging (particularly with a pack full of camera gear).
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[Photo Information]
Evan askes Marly to apply the brakes
at the Tom Price campdraft
Man, are we gorged out! Walked every gorge in Karijini at least twice. Still, it was great to see the gorges at different times of the day and in different lights. We took hundreds of photos - some of them are even quite good.
We took a break from gorge walks to watch the Tom Price campdraft. A campdraft (for those who like me did not know) is a little like a rodeo - but it focuses more on real world cattle handling horseback skills. There is no roping and no bull riding. The point is to show your horse-rider skills in dealing with cattle.
We really enjoyed watching the events and photographing them.
I did order my Canon 5D MkII camera and I have now received it. I have not really had a lot of time to play with it, but from what I can see, it takes a really nice photo.
[Photo Information]
Wittenoom Gorge
From Karijini we headed to Wittenoom, The town of Wittenoom has an interesting history having once been a thriving outback town supplying workers to the nearby mine. Unfortunately the mines function was to extract asbestos from the gorge system. As we all know asbestos became very very unpopular once the negative health properties of dealing with the stuff became known. Wittenoom is now a ghost town - a few of the buildings remain and the population of 6 people now enjoy the solitude that only living in a contaminated town can offer.