Explore Karijini – A Guide to the Best Gorges and Waterfalls

Karijini is a natural wonder in Western Australia. In the second largest National Park in this state we make the ultimate road trip through the Australian Outback. We visit several of the gorges, cracks in the earth full of hidden treasures, such as crystal clear lakes and heavenly waterfalls.

Video Transcript

 

Welcome to this brand new episode of Wout of the World. And we’re cruising the west coast in Australia. In this episode, you see Karijini National Park.

With WA Experts, we started in Perth and for weeks now, we have been driving along the most beautiful coast in the world. I showed you Western Australia is so beautiful. Now we’re going to drive a bit into the Outback.

Welcome to the Outback guys. We drove for three to four hours already. And we’re over halfway towards Tom Price, a little town close to Karindjini National Park. And yeah, I just stepped outside and it’s like 45 degrees celsius. Susan’s making coffee, so I actually hope it’s ice coffee this time. It feels like 100 degrees out here. But this is what it looks like, the outback.

The Australian outback is characterised by the rugged nature and a lack of civilisation. So for the last time in this little mining town called Tom Price, we stock up on fuel, water and food.

Our very first outback dinner in the dark, guys. It’s pitch black. We have roasted chicken and sandwiches with cheese. Enjoy, guys.

We didn’t just leave the west coast and enter the Outback for no reason. No, we wanted to visit Karijini National Park. Which is a beautiful natural park with some gorgeous beautiful canyon landscapes, rock sculptures, lakes, and waterfalls. So we’re going to do some hiking and swimming in the waterfalls. And look at the views.

With our Park Pass, which gives access to the national parks for 60 Austrailan dollars per car for a month, we drive through the wild nature to all the highlights. Those highlights are Gorges. Big cracks in the earth filled with water. They are the oasis of the desert.

Our first stop today will be Hamersley Gorge. The Gorge here behind me, it’s a beautiful Gorge with blue water and at the end there’s a waterfall. We woke up very early to go here today because in no time it will be around 40 degrees cCelsius. It’s now still a nice 35 which is fine for me, and you have the pool here to cool off and go to swim to the waterfall.

Wow, guys, the water is so cold. Like fresh, really good. And I wouldn’t expect this because it’s 35 degrees out. But the water between the rocks is still cool in the shadows. I’m swimming towards the waterfall now. Wow.

The Hamersley Gorge is the most remote in the far northwest of Karijini. But it’s worth your while because where in the world can you do this?

Wow guys. That swim was one of the best swims I ever had. It’s so hot and the water is so cool. But unfortunately, we have to move on because there’s more to see in Karijini.

We started the day at Hamersley Gorge, which is all the way on the rim of Karijini National Park. And we now drove to the heart where all the sites are. We drove for about one hour on the dirt roads, but the views on the way are amazing. And we now stopped at Joffre Gorge.

Joffre Gorge is often referred to as a natural amphitheatre.

The water has transformed the Gorge into a work of art, and we can see that clearly with the Drone from the sky.

What a view, guys, on Joffre Gorge. Unfortunately, this is not a place we can swim because it’s too shallow. It’s turning summer and the water is almost dried out, as you can see. But we just have to move on to the next one to take a dive.

At Knox Gorge, a grand canyon like view awaits us. Unfortunately, there are no fences at this view, so we thought it was a little bit too dangerous for little Jans. Just over my feet, I look down for hundreds of metres into the depth.

Our next stop is a parking lot that gives access to two different Gorges. And one is called Hancock Gorge, but it joins another Gorge and that’s the Weano Gorge. I’m standing in Weano right now and you have some amazing views if you walk on the bottom towards some natural pools, guys. So let’s walk.

From the Weano Gorge, I walk across the bottom to the Hancock Gorge. Down here, it’s awesome to see it from the other side for a change.

But of course, I’m also curious how this will all look from the sky.

With the Drone I see how the earth has been torn open and what a bizarre piece of nature has emerged at the intersection of the two Gorges.

It’s almost time for us to leave Karijini National Park. But before we do, there’s one more spot I’d like to show you, which is Dales Gorge. We’re at the viewpoint where we’re looking down on the circular pool.

So we started in the far west of Karijini, and this beautiful round Gorge is all the way in the east.

So if I had to choose one spot in this park before we leave that I really want to recommend, it’s Hamersley Gorge, and it’s the first place we visited with the beautiful waterfall to swim in.

In Western Australia’s second largest national park, we almost ran out of fuel. So we get some gas because we still have three hours straight up to the coast in the north.

Last night after our spectacular adventure in the Outback in Karijini, we drove for about four hours and it was dark when we arrived at this camping. We’re in Port Hedland, a harbour town with not so many things to do but spectacular views over the beaches. We just chillax here for a couple of days. We need the swimming pool because it’s very hot and then we head on to Broome, the end of this spectacular road trip.

Port Hedland is the largest port in the city in all of Australia and even of the entire continent. You will also find the largest salt producer in the world here, and we see that along the way.

In the next episode, we head up to Broome, where we will conclude our route along the west coast of Australia. But not before we see dozens of turtles lay their eggs on 80 Mile Beach.

Keep traveling along with us by subscribing to our channel, because the trip around the world is far from over.

See you soon.

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Wout of the World

Online travel show in Dutch and English with World traveler and actor Wout of the World. In dozens of episodes Wout takes you out for adventure all over the world, always in the most budget-friendly way. Enjoy over 120 countries from your couch, phone or the computer.

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