My daughter Emma was working in the Pilbara and accommodated at Auski Roadhouse adjacent to Karijini NP. I had unfinished business at Karijini not having reached Hamersley Gorge or climbed Mt Meharry (WA highest point) so we hatched a plan for her to join me in hiking to the top of Mt Meharry as the trail head wasn’t that far south of the roadhouse. Getting to the trailhead also required 4WD ground clearance for approach and departure angles crossing a dry but steep creek bed (further cementing my notion of a 4WD van upgrade). We would use one of her work vehicles to do so. I would then carry on for the remainder of the trip alone.
Kennedy Range Mundatharrda was also on my wish list as well as the Shark Bay precinct. I ended up going into Mundatharrda a second time on the way back from Shark Bay as it provided exemplary hiking opportunities.
Note: WA was ostensibly Covid19 free at this stage with state borders locked down so internal travel was unrestricted.
Day 1 - 10/6/2020
Travelled 585km to Mt Magnet to stay in the caravan park. Lunch was taken in Dalwallinu.
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| Lunch stop Dalwallinu |
Day 2 - 11/6/2020
Dropped into a defunct 1890s gold mining settlement Lennonville just north of Mt Magnet then onward to Cue, yet another gold mining town. Made camp at Kumarina Road House for the night. 450km travelled.
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| Lennonville |
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| Cue hospital ruins |
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| Cue police station |
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| Kumarina RH |
Day 3 - 12/6/2020
Made a beeline to conduct a reconnaissance run as far as I could go along the access track to the Mt Meharry Wirlbiwirlbi trail head only to find a dry creek crossing which was too steep to tackle in the Vito (Vittoria) due to ground clearance limitations. I had made 25 of 32km so I headed to Auski Road House and met up with my daughter to plan the expedition for tomorrow. 400km travelled (including the Wirlbiwirlbi side track)
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| Back in The Pilbara |
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| Campsite at Auski RH |
Day 4 - 13/6/2020
Emma collected me at the Auski campground in the 4WD ute and we headed off toward the Wirlbiwirlbi trail head. The trail is a challenging 4WD track however we heeded the custodians’ wishes to not drive the 5.5km to the summit. In reality we both prefer to walk anyway.
Off we set, heading into the cloud on the ridge. The cloud began to lift soon after reaching the summit cairn to reveal an exquisite and serene landscape. Certainly reward for effort to get there. Neither of us wanted to go back down but eventually made our way back to the vehicle and returned to stay the night at Auski RH
Drove 190km
Hiked 12km return including 532m ascent
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| That way |
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| A bit overgrown |
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| Going up |
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| At the top |
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| Looking back |
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| Summit cairn |
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| Green spinifex all around |
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| Sweeping serene views |
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| Fabulous |
Hike deets
Day 5 - 14/6/2020
Bade each other farewell and I headed to the other end of Karijini to visit Hamersley Gorge. Well, tis a big call but this is my fave as it less busy, visually spectacular and offers great swimming. It’s also possible to head off the beaten track upstream along the gorge floor and climb out again. After a few short exploratory walks I headed back to Tom Price to stay overnight at the Tourist Park which is nestled at the base of Mount Nameless Jarndunmunha.
Drove 320km
Hiked total 6.5km including total 200m ascent.
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| Info board |
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| Looking into the gorge |
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| Downstream view |
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| Upstream view |
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| Amazing geological strata |
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| A wander upstream |
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| Waterhole upstream |
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| Looking back |
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| Further upstream |
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| Exit point |
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| Out again |
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| Down along my route |
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| Looking back toward the carpark |
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| A track to follow back |
Hiking deets
Day 6 - 15/6/2020
The colours of Jarndunmunha early in the morning are legendary and I was not disappointed. Next objective was Paraburdoo, yet another iron ore mining settlement. Worthy of note here is that in 1976 the haul trucks were actually running on electric motors at each rear wheel. The diesel motor was effectively a generator. EVs can’t be used to haul heavy loads…not. The fossil fool propaganda has been going for a long time.
A typical WA 24hr roadside stop provided a good location for lunch on my way to another one closer to Nanutarra Road House which is on the North West Coastal Highway. The landscape is quite striking and varied.
Drove 300km
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| Colours of Jarndunmunha |
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| Colours of Jarndunmunha |
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| Colours of Jarndunmunha |
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| Parabardoo sculpture |
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| Old Terex haul truck |
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| Lunch at Beasley River rest area. |
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| Campsite for the night at House Creek rest area |
Day 7 - 16/6/2020
I stopped along the roadside along the way to Nanutarra to wander around some interesting landscape features then headed toward Carnarvon caravan park and dropped into Bumbak’s for a famous local banana smoothy on the way. Next was a resupply at the supermarket, refuel, then back to camp.
Drove 430km
Hiked 2km including total 70m ascent.
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| Mt Murray |
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| From my random hillock |
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| Interesting structures |
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| From the top |
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| Bumbak’s goodies |
Hiking deets
Day 8 - 17/6/2020
Made my way inland to Gascoyne Junction and onward to Temple Gorge campground in Kennedy Range NP. This is one of those locations where you can walk/hike in a number of directions to places of interest without having to drive to trail heads. My sort of place for sure.
I arrived early enough to set off on a hike up to the top of the escarpment then into Draper Gorge.
Drove 240km
Hiked 6.1km including 182m ascent
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| Rocky Pool on the way to Gascoyne Junction |
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| Gascoyne River crossing at Gascoyne Junction |
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| Some pools of water only |
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| An old cobblestone track north of Gascoyne Junction |
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| A few mesas around |
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| Lyons River crossing. Dry atm |
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| Turn off to Mundatharrda |
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| Info sign |
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| My campsite for a few days |
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| Escarpment Trail Info board |
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| Up I go |
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| On the rim descent marker. GPS fix taken for later reference |
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| Wonderful view along the escarpment |
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| Temple Gorge campground centre of image |
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| Looking down into Draper Gorge |
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| Draper Gorge info board |
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| Let’s go |
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| End of trail at typical abrupt waterfall drop into a waterhole |
Hiking deets
Day 9 - 18/6/2020
Three hikes today. Honeycomb Gorge and Sunrise View, Temple Gorge, and The Spit (improvised off piste).
Hiked 13.2 km including 247m ascent
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| Magnificent Orb Spider |
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| Honeycomb Gorge info board |
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| Waterfall drop at the end |
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| The reason for the name |
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| Looking back toward camp from a random viewpoint |
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| Return along the road |
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| Temple Gorge info board |
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| Typical lateral waterfall |
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| Rock pool near the end |
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| The ‘Spit’ |
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| A narrow sliver |
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| The campground from The Spit |
Hiking deets
Day 10 - 19/6/2020
Off piste hike today. Very challenging and got to see a lot more of the escarpment rim. I used a makeshift route up to the rim, looped around Temple Gorge rim and descended via the escarpment trail. Locating the descent marker was made easier by the GPS position I took two days ago in preparation.
Hiked 8.4km including 197m ascent
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| Typical hard going |
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| Looking back down Temple Gorge |
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| ‘Roo runs’ are your guides |
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| Crossing over a headland to get to the descent point |
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| Escarpment descent marker |
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| Back down I go |
Hiking deets
Day 11 - 20/6/2020
Headed off toward Shark Bay to camp at Hamelin Pool caravan park. It’s an old telegraph station and wool bale storage/loading ‘port’ complete with a modest museum. An additional attraction there is ‘field’ of stromatolites in the extremely salty Shark Bay nearby.
Drove 460km
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| Sunrise at Temple Gorge campground |
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| Striking colouration |
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| Looking back. Bye bye for now |
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| Some locals |
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| The boat signifies the 1980 flood level at Gascoyne Junction |
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| A few small ponds |
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| Viewing Jetty Hamelin Pool |
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| Stromatolites |
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| Water front |
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| My site for a couple of days |
Day 12 - 21/6/2020
Visited Monkey Mia via Denham and pondered Francois Peron NP but alas no 4WD and a lack of ground clearance. Didn’t see any dolphins but plenty of emus and pelicans as well as an echidna. Dropped into Eagle Bluff and Shell Beach on the way back to Hamelin Bay for the night.
Drove 260km
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| Monkey Mia Resort |
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| Eagle Bluff |
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| Hiding! |
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| Shell Beach |
Day 13 - 22/6/2020
Spent the day wandering about the museum and caravan park environs.
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| Shanty town of the caravan park |
Day 14 - 23/6/2020
I didn’t really want to return to Perth via the main highway so I decided to go back via the Carnarvon - Mullewa Road and stay at Kennedy range again.
Drove 460km
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| Old telegraph pole repurposed |
Day 15 - 24/6/2020
Hiked up to Sunrise View as a reconnaissance run for potential off piste pathways.
Hiked 7.3km including 84m ascent
Hiking deets
Day 16 - 25/6/2020
Off piste hiking today. I was hoping to find another route up the scarp near Honeycomb Gorge but failed to find one so I headed back toward Temple Gorge. I noticed a potential route from a distance and pursued it stoically until I reached the rim. It wasn’t one I would use again as it was very steep and precarious in places. Satisfying to get to the top nonetheless. I descended at a known location near ‘The Spit’.
Hiked 11.4km including 195m ascent
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| I made it up this ‘route’ |
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| I came up via this valley |
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| Different perspective |
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| Looking back over the campground access road |
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| Heading toward The Spit |
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| From whence I came |
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| Back at The Spit, ready to descend |
Hiking deets
Day 17 - 26/6/2020
Last night brought rain with a forecast that it would increase in intensity. Here was another operational limitation of Vittoria. Expansive but dry river bed crossings can quickly become challenging floodways. I have limited underbody clearance although improved from standard so I decided to depart just in case I got stranded.
Headed back to Gascoyne Junction then onward to Bilung Pool then set up camp at Ballinyoo Bridge on the Murchison River.
Drove 435km
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| Locals bade me farewell |
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| Bilung Pool |
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| Magnificent eucalypts all over |
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| Bungarra’s road! |
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| Campsite at Ballinyoo Bridge |
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| Lovely evening |
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| Misty morning |
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| A whistling Kite searching for breakfast |
Day 18 - 27/6/2020
Back home via Mullewa where I dropped into a landmark quirky church for a look see.
Drove 600km
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Karijini and Mundatharrda are two of my favourite destinations in WA. Mundatharrda is less well known and lacks the lure of swimming but scores highly on hiking opportunities and visual splendour.
Drove 5080km
Hiked 67km
This trip pretty much cemented my desire to upgrade to a 4WD adventure rig. Vittoria had been fantastic but was quite limited by 2WD and low ground clearance. Enter a new age… La Bestia
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