Murph and Crowey: Tom Price/Karajini National Park 07.07.2012 to 09.07.2012

Our first big inland drive towards Tom Price to visit the Karajini National Park ends up taking us two days to get there. It appears that long drives are something of the past for us and making sure we do not overdo it, we end up in a free camp for the night, about 60km West of Parabadoo. At this camp spot we end up meeting some lovely people and soon get comfortable sharing their warm fire, as do a few other free campers. At this spot I end up meeting up with a couple of people who I knew from my Merimbula days, yes it is a small world. The nights are cold here and Crowey and I definately are happy to use our body warmth and cuddle up for the night.
The drive is very interesting with mountains right along the highway, creating an interesting and scenic drive in quite a remote part of WA. Our first stop is Parabadoo, a mining town just 80 km's west of Tom Price. I have actually been here before when I was the area manager of the Credit Union whilst living in WA. Not much to see here really, but Crowey was quite excited to see a big mining truck, one of the first used in the mines here (no bulldozers though) which, with the car and van parked next to it, shows just how massive these things are.

typical scenery along the way

more scenery

can you spot Crowey the Ant?

Heading into Tom Price we stock up the van as we will be camping in the Karajini NP and there are no supplies available, including water. The cockatoos here are not white, but pink from the red dirt, quite a sight to see while doing your shopping and having a bite to eat in the park, though they are not scared to come up to you and beg for a bit of food.

We decide to camp in a spot called Dales Campground and nestle in for a couple of days to allow some exploration of the gorges around this beautiful area. That night we hear the howling of dingoes and Crowey quite promptly gathers a big stick for the front door as they are cautioned to be quite unafraid of humans and apparently like the taste of your thongs if left outside, needless to say our shoes were not left outside that night.

Our camp spot for the next couple of nights

The next morning saw us up early, after surviving what we thought was a -2 degree night, which left us holding onto each other all night with sequential turnovers to ensure no coldness got between either of us. We have not experienced such coldness our whole trip.
Lucky the days are beautiful and warm and climbing down into Dales Gorge was absolutely wonderful with rock formations, waterfalls and natural pools to see. We didn't swim here (yes we forgot to wear swimmers) but heard that the water was quite cool with some people wearing their wetsuit!! The walk in the gorge took us about 2 1/2 hours and we loved every moment. Plenty of picture opportunites presented themselves and I certainly loved taking the opportunity to photograph some gorgeous spots presented to us along our walk. Most the time we were alone and the peaceful surrounds were taken in by us at every moment. We now understand why people told us to come here and we are so glad that we did.