147 kms / 4 hrs

Halfway Bridge - Tom Price (fuel & shop) - Karijini National Park

We left Halfway Bridge around 8am for the short 36km drive into Tom Price. We did a big shop in Coles then filled up with fuel (we bought enough food to give us a 40 cent discount on fuel which saved us about $40). We then continued onto Karijini National Park which is the 2nd largest park in WA and our campsite at Dales Campground (we are at Kangaroo site 47). The sites are large and spacious and we are right near the toilets and across the road from the BBQ area. We had lunch then got ready to walk our first gorge at 1:30pm. We first walked to Fortescue Falls lookout then we continued the steep descent to Fortescue Falls which were very pretty. We then continued upstream along the gorge floor to Fern Pool. This is a beautiful natural pool with very clear water and the small fish congregate around the ladder, which the kids thought were great. We all had a swim although I found it a bit cold so I quickly got out. Roger thought it was great so he had a really long swim and the kids were in the water for about 10-15 mins. Josh swam with Daddy to the waterfall and Bronte played around the ladder.

We then met a lovely young German couple (Theresa & Felix) so the 6 of us continued our walk along the gorge floor to Circular Pool. It's a large 30 metre round aqua coloured pool surrounded by sheer cliffs). It was a really pretty walk and another nice pool at the end of the walk but it was freezing cold so only Roger and Felix went swimming here. We then climbed the rock stairs to the top of the gorge and walked the rim back to the Fortescue Falls car park. We arrived back around 4:45pm.

As most of you know our kids don't walk very far but today they really impressed us. I think all up we walked nearly 4kms and Bronte probably walked about 800 metres and Josh walked about 2.5kms (he just didn't walk the rim walk back to the car). They were a class 2, 3 & 4 walk so not easy but the harder the walk Josh strived on and was leading our group (until he slipped on a rock and fell into a small waterfall!). The brochure states that the track is rough with many obstacles and very steep in sections. The track is for experienced bushwalkers and you will need to negotiate a ladder. The kids loved the ladder!

We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and the scenery was beautiful. We went back to our campsite and cooked BBQ ribs with potato and vegetables for dinner and we ate outside. Then a quick wash and bed as the kids were exhausted.