Thursday June 24
We got up before the crack of dawn and departed at 6:30am to drive from Exmouth to Karijini National Park. The drive went really well - we made it in 7 hours even though Google maps estimated 8+ hours - however you can easily do 140 k’s per hour with a good road and no traffic to speak of.
We got to the Karijini Eco Resort around 2pm and were able to check in to our “luxury” tent right away. The tent was quite typical of the APT camps we stayed at the Kimberley's - the bathroom was very basic with the walls not extending all the way to the roof, making it very cold and breezy after about 4pm.
We did a bit of a walk around to the Joffrey Gorge lookout then sat on our deck for sundowners - the resort provides an esky but ice is $10 per bag. We had dinner at the resort restaurant which is pretty good considering the location but expensive. It was off to bed very early as it was pretty cold (10C or less overnight) and there is really nothing much to do once you finish dinner.
Friday June 25
We were up early and had a continental breakfast (which was included - a cooked brekkie is ++$11). The coffee was instant only - yuk!! You can get barista coffee for an additional $7 per mug - possibly another world record.
As we returned from breakfast we noticed that our Prado 4WD had a flat tire. This turned into an all-day ordeal. The camp / resort staff are not allowed to assist due to liability issues (quite a new limitation due to a recent issue). Firstly Dieter could not even find the jack - then he could not find the key to unlock the spare tire, then after he found the key, he could not get the lock off (as it was so corroded with dirt etc.) All the while a few other guests tried to assist. Finally with some WD40 and a wrench the lock/tire was removed.
In the mean time I was on the phone several times with Road Side Assist - in the end they sent a service person/truck from Tom Price arriving around 11:30am. He changed the tire - then we had to drive to Tom Price - 1+ hours away to get the tire repaired. We finally arrived back at our tent at 3pm - too late to do much as all the gorges are many k’s away on dirt roads.
So it was a bit of walking around, sundowners, dinner then early to bed.
Saturday June 26
Dales gorge - major 3 hour walk - a class 4 out of 5.
Sunday June 27
Kalamina gorge - we did it in 1h45m - class 4.
Knox gorge - class 5 walk - we did it in 1h45m
Weano gorge walk - 30m
Monday June 28
We drove back from Karijini to Exmouth - checking into the Mantarays Resort for 5 nights.