Hello again dear readers!

Apologies for the great delay between posts ~ I got a bit busy during Fred’s last swing at work.  He went back to sea at the end of July through mid August & I stayed on in Exmouth.  Shout out to my dear sea goddess friend Nadia, who magically swindled me a volunteer position aboard one of the whale shark tour boats for the month.  I am beyond grateful to the Captain, Owner & crew for having me on board & showing me the ropes.  It was an unreal experience, helping out 3-4 days a week, learning about the magnificent creatures that are whale sharks, the Ningaloo & about the eco tourism industry surrounding them.

I was swimming with the biggest fish in the sea on a daily basis, helping out the crew & organizing punters.  They were big, tiring days, but boy oh boy did I ever count my lucky stars… Between the whale sharks, migrating humpback whales, dugongs, turtles, dolphins, sea snakes, jellies, reef fish & sharks… the stoke didn’t leave me.  I have always loved & respected the ocean, always.  But having these past few months out on the Ningaloo, in the ocean for all ours of the day, with the shear amount of sea life & learning new facts everyday from the knowledgeable crew, my respect & connection has grown.  And I must say it is such a special feeling.  (Photos above & below were taken by the boat’s professional photographer Jess Hadden, thanking you Jess!!).

Fred returned to Exmouth mid August.  We squeezed in a tour day with the whale sharks before skipping town, (I couldn’t live with myself if he didn’t get to experience what I had been experiencing all month!).  Check out our previous post of our latest video edit for a better insight into the awesome size & unparalleled beauty of whale sharks & the Ningaloo Reef. (Photos below taken by the marine biologist on board ~ sea queen Jess Smith).

 

From Exmouth we hit the road due east: on route to the middle of the Pilbara, a dusty red mining town by the name of Tom Price.  Along the drive it happened – our first flat tire, & on most likely the best-conditioned dirt road we have travelled to date!!!  This meant stopping over in Tom Price until the working week recommenced & we could get the tire repaired.

For a small town we hadn’t planned on staying more than half a day, we were given quite the surprise after we set up at the caravan park & bumped right into our old friends from Shark Bay Sharna & Byron!!  Turns out we had come to town at a good time.  The apparently prestigious (according to Sharna) Tom Price Fair was on, complete with show rides, delicious food, music & fireworks!!

Mount Nameless is the backdrop for the town.  A beautiful big, red mountain, that does actually have a name though it seems not many refer to it, it’s original Aboriginal title – Jarndunmunha.  A 2hr return hike, giving stunning views over the town, the mine & further Pilbara Ranges.  We all (including Barney boy) enjoyed getting our heart rates up to take in the views one morning.

After getting the tire repaired, hugging & kissing Barney boy goodbye at the kennel, we were off on the short one-hour drive to Karijini National Park.

Karijini blew us away.  We had heard of how wonderful it was & had seen pictures, but it still didn’t prepare us.  It’s a national park full of very deep, winding gorges.  Contrast to the scenery above of very dry, dusty rolling hills: inside the gorges are full with countless streams, waterfalls, swimming pools & greenery.  It is a significant & sacred place to the Aboriginal Australians, with it’s unique, towering beauty it isn’t hard to see why.

There are 2 main gorges at either end of the park, Weano Gorge & Dales Gorge, with all others crisscrossing between & campsites near by.  The hiking tracks at each site lead you along the top of the gorges to some jaw dropping lookouts.   They then lead down steep rocky tracks to the bottom of the gorge & along the riverbeds.  With a range of deeper swimming pools scattered along the way, or greeting you at the end of the hike ready for the much needed cool off!  We made a point of swimming in every pool, not wanting to miss out.  Fred even perfecting his Pocahontas dive at Knox Gorge, see below!

We took 2 days to walk every gorge entirely & swim in every pool.  In classic Bear & Fred style, go go go.  A big effort, considering we were walking for around 6 hrs each day, but with plenty of rest stops for catching our breath, taking photos & soaking in the special atmosphere, it was fantastic.

Most of the walks were class 4-5 (5 is as high as you go, so basically that means hard).  Though they aren’t that bad.  A little challenge is always good right?!!  The signage is very generous on average times for each walk; usually allowing for double the amount of time it actually took us (including stopping for swims, rests & photos).  It is a very popular spot too.  Each morning we made a point of getting up & at ‘em early so we could score some gorge time to ourselves (we would highly recommend doing this, most people don’t start rolling out of their little cocoons until 8.30-9am).  It is hard to say if we had a favourite gorge, they are all so spectacularly beautiful in their own way.  Our advice would be to make the time to walk, see & experience them all!

Our last day at Karijini was spent climbing Punarunnha, aka Mount Bruce ~ Western Australia’s second highest mountain at 1235m above sea level.  A 10 kilometer return hike!  I had to push this one on Fred, he wasn’t so keen.  But once we started & he realised how good the view was going to be, he soon became as excited as me to get to the summit & experience the amazing panoramic views of Karijini & the broader Pilbara.

 

And so now we are leaving Karijini & the Pilbara with slightly sore legs & wobbly knees, & most definitely with some of the most epic hiking memories so far on the trip.  As well as with about 3 hundred million photos of red cliff faces, rocks & water to sort through!!!

Stay tuned, next stop ~ Broome & The Kimberly !

Thanks again for reading, hope you have enjoyed our story time. Xo