Just when you think you’ve seen it all – HELLO Karijini National Park

When you’ve been traveling for as long as we have you think you’ve seen it all: Mountains, valleys, beaches, escarpments, small towns and cities all now just come in varying shades.

The jaded, or perhaps just the well-traveled, perspective.

I remember the first time my seen it all facade was shattered. We drove into southern Utah via Highway 12 I think it was on our US road trip. I wasn’t expecting much because Utah was only known to me as the place that once held the Winter Olympics and was home to a lot of devout Mormons.

I was blown away!

Utah was God’s art studio, the place where the creator experimented with textures, colours, carvings and sculptures. Deep canyons, lunar landscapes, gorges, high mountains, carving rivers and a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours.

We lost ourselves in the bright orange fairy kingdom of Bryce Canyon and towering red cliff faces and green valleys of Zion National Park.

I was amazed that Utah was rarely spoken about when promoting the US as a destination. It’s currently my favourite state for natural beauty and surprises.

When we started our road trip last year, I was taken aback by the number of people who said Karijini National Park was their favourite place in Australia. I had to Google to see where this place was that was preferred over much-lauded favourites such as The Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kakadu, and the Great Ocean Road.

To save you from Googling, Karijini is in Western Australia.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” my sister told me. “It’s just so beautiful. The colours of rock are just amazing.”

Karijini became the thing that most excited me about this trip. Because it was the unknown. The surprise. The thing that would blow apart the perception that I’d already seen it all. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what treasures lay in store for us.

On our first walk through Dales Gorge, I said to Craig. “This place reminds we so much of Utah. The colours in the rocks, the towering gorge cliffs, the refreshing waterholes and challenging walks. It was God’s artist studio Down Under.”

I used to think America was so amazing because it was a country of such diverse landscapes. This trip is revealing to me that Australia is on equal footing. It’s not just all about beaches – we have it all. And Karijini is testament to how deep this ancient mysticism and beauty of our land runs.

We shut off from the outside world, intending to stay three nights. We stayed for five, exploring every gorge and waterfall and swimming hole. Tackling the easy and hard walks, scrambling over rocks, inching ourselves over rock ledges, and spider walking between gorge walls.

Each step was a journey and it was exquisite.

We shared it with friends, We made beautiful memories. It surprised and delighted me.

I am not yet ready to hang up my travel boots because I have not seen it all and there are far too many corners of the globe with surprises in store for us.

We’ve only seen a smidgen of Western Australia and we are already smitten. The Kimberley region melts my heart, Broome entraps my soul, and now Karijini re-energizes my spirit. Only a few footsteps in and I’m won over.

You have got to see this incredible state!

We’re going to share several posts on Karijini because the walks are amazing, we have too many photos that you will hopefully love and we can’t fit it into one post. And it’s awesome for kids! Our girls loved it and managed many of the “challenging” walks.

For now below is a sneak peak of some of our favourite moments.

Stay tuned as we share more posts on Karijini with you in the future – the best walks, how to enjoy it with your family and how to enjoy your camping experience.

Hamersley Gorge

Weano Gorge

Knox Gorge

Hancock Gorge

Dales Gorge

Kalamina Gorge

Have you been to Karijini National Park?

Would you love to go now?