The Colour Red

Our West Coast Wander took us to the far western edge of Karijini National Park to visit Hamersley Gorge. Most of the drive was on a red, corrugated pea gravel road - slow going! The car park was overflowing but luckily we came in just as a few groups were leaving and scored a prime spot.

Hamersley Gorge has it all - interesting rock patterns, narrow gorge, waterfall and spa pool! Again there were people everywhere! We climbed up the rock slabs to the upper pool where the famous spa pool was located. Technically this walk is not advertised although the markers and a set of stairs are still there. 

We stripped off and safely slid into this cool pool making our way over to the far corner where the spa pool was hidden. People were coming in and out over a small waterfall or jumping (yikes!) in from the top.

Like most things, we took our turn to venture into this little alcove with its own waterfall, swam around before exiting. Although this body of water was refreshing rather than cold, Katy and I were keen to warm up in the sun so we left Andy and Ella to their exploring.

It was while we sunning ourselves that we glance over to see what the others were doing only to catch a glimpse of Ella, who had followed others up and was preparing to jump in! My only solace was that probably 15 people had jumped in before her and it was only a 1 metre high drop and the most dangerous part would have been the climbing around the rock ledge to get to the top.

From the upper pool, we made our way back down where the girls spied others sliding down a natural rock slippery slide! Of course they joined in on this fun!

Continuing down further we decided to swim into the narrow part of the gorge. The water here was absolutely freezing. We didn't get very far before our chattering teeth convinced us to return quickly!

Back at the car we dried off, changed and made lunch before driving again. Tonight we were staying at Miliyanha Campground, a mere 180km away via red gravel roads. 

Progress along these roads was considerably slower than on previous commutes. We were sitting on 80km/hr for most of it. The highlight was spotting tiny red flashes on the verge which we realised were Sturt Desert Peas! Only just overtaken a convoy of four caravans, we weren't keen to pull over for a photography session. 

Having ticked over a few km's and convinced the slow moving caravan convoy were not going to catch us, we kept our eye out for a flash of red which seemed to have disappeared! Slightly worried that we'd missed the opportunity, suddenly Andy hit the brakes to pull up next to a little plant that was blooming.

 I jumped out with Ella in tow both keen to take a snap of these little beauties. Unfortunately Ella's camera was not charged so it was up to me. I snapped a few unsure of how they looked as the bright sunshine obscured the screen on my phone and quickly jumped back into the car.

Of course from that point on, there were many more and better Sturt Desert Peas displays but Andy didn't want to pull over again. A short time later, we pulled up at a railway crossing flashing and dinging away. The trains here, presumably carrying iron ore, are very long so we waited several minutes while the carriages continued to flash by in front of us. On the other side of the railway crossing was sealed road which took us into Millstream Chichester National Park.

This area is sacred to the Yinjibarndi people. From 1865, pastoralists occupied this oasis in the middle of the desert for over 100 years. The Millstream Chichester National Park was established in 1967, in order to preserve the Millstream aquifer within the Fortescue River catchment. And in 1986, rangers were stationed here to help with the conversion and management of the cattle property to National Park.

Once set up at our site, Andy and I went wandering around the homestead built in 1919, now a little museum. I chuckled to myself as we rounded the building to see a carpet of Sturt Desert Peas!! They were everywhere!

The back of our campsite peered into the snappy gums with the stream gurgling in the distance. This environment provides a haven for wildlife. At sunset, which was spectacular, the birds chatted away. Our lights, a beacon in the dark attracted many bugs including large flying crickets. We were really pleased to be staying in this area as this place oozed peacefulness.