CHARISMATIC
KARIJINI
WORDS: LINDA LEE RATHBUN
IMAGES: STEVEN DAVID MILLER/NATURAL WANDERS
It would be tragic to tour Western
Australia’s Pilbara region and not visit
Karijini. This stupendous national park,
ripped open by deep gorges and carved by
scalpels of water, is perfection itself.
While most of the highlights are accessible via
sealed roads, unsealed roads such as Banjima
Drive North are littered with rocks that have
had nothing better to do for the last several
thousand million years than to sharpen their
edges in anticipation of eating your tyres for
breakfast. Be sure to lower your tyre pressure
before driving on these roads.
Hamersley Gorge is not to be missed.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking your visit
should be quick; instead, plan to stay awhile.
Ideally, set up camp at Dales for several days
and then again at the Karijini Eco Retreat
campground for several more days.