Tuesday 4th September 2018 - We're on the move again and now on our way down the coast to 80 Mile Beach that will be the location for our overnight stop. The drive from Broome is long, hard and proved to be very boring; the landscape is desolate, the road as straight as an arrow and it's 39 degrees. It's not surprising really as we're getting closer to Marble Bar, the Great Sandy Desert, and the hottest place in Australia!

On arrival at 80 Mile Beach we set up camp and then went to check out the beach that stretched in either direction as far as you could see. The slate grey sand as it met the creamy then blue Timor Sea was scattered with creamy/white sea shells.

You can drive along 80 Mile Beach and that's exactly what we did. We sat on the beach with a glass of wine and some nibbles and watched the sunset before driving back to camp and dinner.

Wednesday 5th September 2018 - This morning we moved out of the beautiful and diverse Kimberley Region and crossed in to the Pilbara. Today was the same as yesterday; another long driving day.

We had a short stop at Port Hedland before deciding to continue on and finally parked up for the night at an overnight off road site. As we had parked by a fire pit we thought that it would be nice to have a campfire, so set about collecting some firewood. The fire now lit we sat down to enjoy its glow and a drink listening to the evening sounds of the desert as the sun set.

Suddenly Phil says: Snake! Jumps up and out of the corner of my eye I see the snake has reared up. Phil & I have never moved so fast. With heart pounding we watch as the snake drops to the ground and moves away in front of the fire and into the bush.

After our heart stopping encounter we decided it was safer inside. The type of snake is unknown, although King Brown and Western brown snakes are common in the Pilbara,

Thursday 6th September 2018 - It is a cool morning and we're on the way to Karijini. We finally arrive in the Karijini National Park after driving through the rolling red hills with their carpet of beige spinifex and scatterings of Ghost Gums providing the eye with a palate of colour. The other beautiful addition to add to this scenic masterpiece is the array of yellow, pink, purple and blue wildflowers.

We set up camp and then headed off for a walk at Dales Gorge.

The trail took us along the Gorge Rim that gave wonderful views of the red cliffs with their jagged cut edges that gave an impression of horizontal steps and was edged with White-barked Snappy Gum trees & Cypress.

We walked down the steep slope that descended to the bottom of the gorge that led to the fern framed Circular Pool that was too cold for s to swim in.

We continued along the bottom making our way to Fortescue Falls; a lovely setting with steep cliff faces, waterfalls and a pool.

After a dip in the cool water we climbed up the natural stone steps to walk along to Fern Pool that opened out to a sight of two waterfalls cascading off a long ledge.

Here we swam out to the waterfalls where we sat underneath the cascading warm water of the falls with fish nibbling at your feet before climbing the 236 steps back out of the Gorge.

Friday 7th September 2018 - After completing Dales Gorge, we set of early for the other side of the National Park and set up camp in a new campground before we walked to:

Upper Weano Gorge that overlooked the reds of the cliff face before winding our way down to the Lower Weano Gorge to walk along the bottom amongst the trees and various plants growing on the sides of the river. After we had negotiated the rocky path we reached a middle pool that we had to wade through to get to the other side to continue along the gorge to the Handrail Pool.

Having waded waist deep, keeping close to the cliff face and a scramble over some boulders we made it through to continue along the gorge, passing more clear pools surrounded by the narrow walls.

The next stage of our walk presented us with an interesting challenge that had us walking downstream through a very narrow chasm with running water, slippery and polished stone surfaces. Lots of concentration was needed to stay on our feet to arrive at the head of the handrail that ran vertically down into the Handrail Pool.

Just when we thought it wouldn't get any harder we were wrong. The handrail was a thick iron rail with stone cut steps on either side that followed the contour of the rock face down. Gripping tight, as we straddled the handrail, we slowly made our way down with the waterfall cascading next to us into the pool at the bottom.

We were greeted with a lovely sight of blue and green water that shimmered on the walls of the layered red gorge.

Having made our way down we had to make out. So we did everything in reverse. We scramble along more slippery polished rocks to the handrail and holding on tight using muscles we didn't know we had, we pulled ourselves up and back into the narrow chasm waded across the deep pool and climbed back out of the Gorge.

This expedition was challenging, but worth the 3hr effort needed to see this wonderful Gorge.

Not being satisfied with Weano Gorge we went on to tackle another one, Hancock Gorge that was to prove to be an even greater challenge.

Next will walked along a short stretch of track that led us to the edge of Hancock Gorge where the only way down into the gorge was by way of two vertical ladders. There were numerous uneven rocks along the walk until we got to a very deep pool where we either had to swim that meant not taking the camera or the alternative was, yes you've guessed it! To climb along the rock face with some very narrow ledges. We waited, watched other people use this way, then not wanting to be defeated we followed the same cliff face route.

We set off taking one step at a time holding tight to any cracks within the rock face as we didn't want to fall into the deep water below. Having completed this stage we arrived at the Amphitheatre that had another very narrow chasm called the Spider walk that led to Kermits Pool.

Once again, we reviewed the situation before us as there was a downward stream with a large boulder to be climbed over before the descent dropped onto the slippery & polished stone stream floor.

Phil found out how slippery it was by falling on his arse as he had gone before me to do a rekey. Back on his feet still worried that I won't make it, we proceeded along Spider Walk. The trail ended at Kemits Pool that was a small deep pool at the head of a waterfall that dramatically dropped into the rest of the gorge. This was as far as we were permitted to go.

Having made it we took a swim in the cool water nestled within the narrow chasm with the reds & marbling colours of the polished stone. We then prepared ourselves for the return journey knowing that we would need to tackle all of the obstacles that we negotiated on the way in.

The physical and mental challenges of our 6 hour day were definitely worth it.

Saturday 8tih September 2018 - Not satisfied with the events of yesterday we went on to walk the trails of another two more gorges before we left this beautiful part of WA. We hitched up the caravan and drove along a 6km dirt track to arrive 8am at Knox Gorge; being the only two people at this time in the morning we headed for the rim of the gorge.

This by far was the steepest trail that we have tackled. We scrambled & climbed down the richly coloured gorge walls to the gorge floor and walked along the edges of several pools. But guess what? Yes, we came across anther deep pool that had to be negotiated and again instead of swimming we skirted around the narrow ledge with the clear water glistening in the morning sun.

As we continued on we were amazed at the shape & layered colour of the stone that had been shaped over the years by the power of the water and elements. We arrived at the end of the trail to a deep sided pool that plunged over the edge of the chasm in to the range beyond.

We didn't swim in this pool as it was too difficult to get into and out off. After a stroll around the pool taking in the atmosphere & some photos before making our way back along the trail, tackling the ledge of the clear pool and climbing back up the steep sides and out of this lovely gorge.

We still hadn't finished with our adventures in Karijini as we still had one more Gorge to go: Joffre Gorge.

We had a pleasant surprise as this trail started off a bit easier that the others we had already walked along. It had a gradual walk down the first part of the rim across the head of a waterfall before we wound out way down onto the gorge floor.

However, this didn't last as the final stage of the trail turned into another hard and difficult one. More climbing, scrambling and ledge walking to get around the emerald pool to eventually arrive at the bottom. Then with a hop, skip & jump across the stream we walked through the narrow gap into a natural amphitheatre with a waterfall cascading (we had walked across the top off) into a pool.

Not wishing to sound repetitive! Ha! Ha! We did everything above in reverse to get out of the gorge and back to the rim with the last 100m starting to get exhausting as the temperature had now reached 30 degrees and the exertion of the past few days was starting to take its toll.

We then made it back to our rig after a total of 5 hours walking before we drove out of Karijini and made our way to Tom Price the highest town in WA, where the massive Rio Tinto Iron Ore mine is located and out stop for the night.

Sunday 9th September 2018 - We got up early and took a drive up to Mt Nameless that overlooks the ranges to the Pilbara coast and the Rio Tinto Mine. We stopped to take in the lovely views across the ranges on one side and the mine site on the other. It was interesting to see the various stages of the extraction of the iron ore and the massive cuts that had been made to the landscape.

We made our way back down the mountain, spotting a Painted Finch on the way and then back to camp for breakfast before packing up and heading off again.

Monday 10th to Friday 14th September 2018 - Not much to report really other than the following:

Monday night a roadside stop to escape a reprieve from the continuous head winds encountered during our drive from Tom Price. Arrived in Exmouth where we will be based for a few days to relax and prepare for the next adventure along the Ningaloo coast camping in the National Park.

Thursday 13th September 2018 - Today we went out on an Eco Tour to do some Whale watching. We saw a number of Humpback Whales; Mums with calves during the day as well as snorkelling on the Ningaloo Reef where we saw a lot of different coloured fish in various sizes, large turtles that swam past us and the different types of coral.

Note: Some of you may wonder why there haven't been many pictures with Nuts. Unfortunately, due to safety reasons Nuts was not permitted on some to the Gorge Trails.