WA: Colours of the desert

WA 2022 – Post 2 of 6 8 May 2022

I am writing this sitting by the Fortescue River in Millstream National Park as 3 black swans float past and I sip my blueberry gin (which has travelled with Aditi from Kangaroo Island). It is an oasis in every sense of the word. There is no other way to describe it.

The first Aboriginal story I remember reading as a child was about the rainbow serpent, so it was with fondness that I learnt that the Yindjibarndi people believe the Fortescue River was made by the rainbow serpent and the serpent now sleeps in the area of the river where I was swimming today. Fortunately I did not disturb the serpent during my swim.

We have travelled about 1300kms to get to this oasis in the WA Pilbara region. The roads have been well maintained, both sealed and unsealed, with very little roadkill and minimal traffic. In some parts we were required to get permission to travel on roads used by Rio Tinto for its mining operations as it is very much mining country out here – iron ore and liquefied natural gas.

Camping in the Pilbara means red dirt in every orifice, wrinkle and pore. Pegs are of no use as there is no soil in the campsites, only red rock. We saw dingos, rock wallabies, a python, geckos, dragons and birds of many varieties. The colours of the rocky landscape are mesmerising – red, green, white, yellow, purple, blue, orange, pink, black, silver, aqua, brown and more. The long bright blue skies reach further than you can see and with a final burst of spectacular colour at sunset, slowly sleep to reveal an endless ceiling of stars.

Karijini National Park is nothing short of amazing and as a result I found it very difficult to restrict my selection of photos for this post so there is less text and more photos this time.

Karijini is the traditional home of the Banyjima, Kurrama and Innawonga Aboriginal people who are involved in managing the National Park. There are more gorges here than you would think you ever need to see, but believe me, you do need to see them. We visited 7 during our stay, each very different, and each with at least one natural waterhole for swimming. Many are embedded in Aboriginal song lines and you can easily see how old these areas are by the density of lines carved over time along the watercourses. We swam everywhere we could, captivated by the vast difference in size and structure of each waterhole. I like to think we were having the world’s most natural mineral wellness spa with the fresh water mixing with the rich red soil all over our skin.

The amenities in the campgrounds have been very good. Gas BBQs are provided in the most remote locations, and the loos are abundant. The Rangers and tourist information folk have been tremendously friendly and helpful, and locals are quite patient with the tourists. Fuel prices are about $2.20 a litre and the cost of food is noticeably higher – I guess it has a long way to travel.

From this bush oasis, we are heading north back to the coast and up to Broome where we will be for 12 days. I need to do something about my sock tan, although I think that might be cool these days 😉