The Hiker’s Paradise – Karajini National Park, Western Australia
First of all let me explain, I’m not a serious hiker. I’m not an extreme hiker or a mountaineer and I do have a little bit of a phobia if you can have a little bit of a phobia of heights.
Oh, and I’m sort of scared of bridges.
Since I reached age of 40 I’ve been determined to challenge myself every year to 5 things and I want to constantly push boundaries. Since reaching 50 and beyond I stubbornly refuse to accept that I should have any limitations although my body does sometimes grumble at me, OK quite a bit.
I’ve been to Australia before and loved it. I’ve always wanted to go and see Uluru, and yes I was in tears I found it a really spiritual place. It’s beautiful. We travelled up round the coast then down through the red centre, in a D shape really through Australia, but we didn’t get to western Australia.
So having decided that we couldn’t miss out I planned it all out I won’t go into details now. In a previous post I have explained how I do the 3,2,1 rule of planning. If that interests you drop me a DM or let me know.
OK then, planning done, bag packed, off we go!
We landed in Perth having had a stopover in gorgeous, stupidly hot, Doha which is one of my favourite cities. We’d decided to go on a tour because Australia is vast and I mean vast. It’s not a place to self drive in my opinion because it’s just too big if you’re on any sort of time limit it’s just much better to go on a tour or to fly back to places.
If you’ve got months or a whole gap year to do the country then obviously a camper-van might be a different option but even then do your research on the roads because it’s not such a beautiful country. Sorry but some places are quite boring it’s mile after mile after mile after mile of the same thing and you can spend your time doing much better things so fly or go on a tour.
In this post I’m limiting my chat to the awesome breathtaking ‘Karajini National Park.’
We headed from Yardi Creek, crossed the Tropic Of Capricorn which was a brilliant fun photo opp!
If you do this, get someone on ‘truck watch’ those things are HUGE and move FAST, oh and they don’t stop!
The joy of finding a good tour is that they fit something into short time slots. So after arriving at the camp, we dumped the heavy packs in the tents (pre set up, phew!) and went off for a walk into one of the many deep gorges. Just to give us a glimpse of where we would be heading the following day. It was great to stretch our legs, after being on a bus for hours.
Our camp site was built up off the ground and with huge dining tables, but I’m not sure about how wild camping works here, do your research if that appeals to you. The night in the tent, some slept outside in swags, was chilly.
Take layers people! I’m fairly sure I don’t need to say pack a head torch, this park gets DARK! Which is brilliant, if you’re a star watcher, wow moments!!
After a great hot coffee and group picnic breakfast, we headed out.
People die here! So PLEASE leave your detailed plans with someone trustworthy.
We trekked down 100m deep gorges, some steps were clear, some paths not so easy. Remember at the start I confessed my fear of heights! Yep! Nerve wracking, another reason I like the group dynamic. Ours was really supportive, we all trek at different paces, and everyone respected that.
One thing I bottled on was the high level walking along a gorge. Mind you I then needed to swim in cool water along the gorge, know your limits.
If you treasure your camera, take a water proof pack.
Some places were piled high with boots and socks and bags temporarily left behind whilst people ventured deep into the valleys. I understand it floods here too, so again, make sure you know the weather forecasts!
We were going to go to the night star gazing centre, but it was called off due to bad clouds, so we did a bit of unofficial photography training in the group.
Amazing! They’re so many things moving up there!
Mount Bruce is in the park, so make sure you include that in your tour, at least get distant shots. Many people climb it, we missed that out due to time constraints.
The second night was way warmer, phew!
Many of the walks had warnings signed, when those signs are alongside memorials to people who’ve perished, it really brings home the warning.
Don’t feel pressured into doing something you think is beyond your ability.
At various parts across the tour, some of us sat it out, had a break, took photos, wrote journals, had global conversations. There’s definitely no shame in sitting and admiring the view. There’s a cafe in the park with charging points, so sitting with an ice lolly and kicking back is an opportunity to check in with family, friends, or instagram!
If you swim, there are loads of gorgeous water pools and streams to swim in, I would strongly suggest you don’t do what we saw some young lads doing, which was ‘tomb-stoning’ into the water. It’s called that for a reason! I loved the challenges, and rose to more than I expected.
We spent quiet time in very important spiritual places, and indulged our passion for the outdoors. Truly breath taking.
I’d love to hear about your experiences in Karajini NP!
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