wildlife watching.) Down below, however, birds inundate the sheltered
watercourses like hoodie-wearing youths at a shopping mall.
As you descend the steep marble-strewn tracks and stairs, and leave
the tropical semi-desert boiler room behind, the temperature regulates
immediately. Spinifex and tenacious desert flowers, such as the ultra
violet (when in season) mulla mulla, share the hard ground with unlikely
deep green grasses, ferns and, in some places, even fig trees.
From below, Santorini-white snappy gum trunks, which grip doggedly
onto canyon ledges, contrast fabulously with the oxidised cliffs and
undying cumulus-splashed outback blue sky: a ready-made Benetton
ad campaign, if ever there was one.
Each gorge has a distinguishing trademark (or two or three), from
the Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls around Dales Gorge; to Kermit’s
Pool (take a guess) and the Spider Walk (you have to use both hands
and feet to navigate, like Spider-Man) of the magnetic Hancock Gorge.
For anyone with a passing interest in geology, Karijini feels like
2500 million years’ worth of Christmases have all come at once; the
exposed banded rock is some of the oldest in the world. Fascinatingly,
no actual animal fossils have been found in the older formations here
because the layers apparently predate complex animal life.
If you know what to look for, however, you may stumble upon
the odd stromatolite in the lower echelons of this former sea floor.
The complex dome-shaped algae collection from another aeon is a
snapshot of the world’s first recorded life forms. Living examples can
still be found at Shark Bay, on WA’s coast.
Once in the gorge netherworld, the conundrum for the truly
adventurous is just how far to explore; you always want to stick your
neck around just one more bend, and the one after, even when signs
tell you not to be so stupid. Three words: Don’t. Do. It.
Rescue times in Karijini are measured in hours not minutes. And
there are precedents of thrill seekers having their last thrill here – the
spectacular Regan’s Pool is named after an SES volunteer who drowned
attempting to rescue someone back in the noughties.
Fret not, adventurers; there is an authorised option to take you
deeper. Much deeper. Strap on a helmet, stretch yourself into that
wetsuit (lubricant optional), because it’s time to harrumph at the ‘do
not enter’ signs with people who know well not only the perils but also
the enigmas of these gorges: the crackerjack canyoners of Pete West’s
West Oz Active Adventure Tours.
Past the signs, a tricky shuffle through Knox Gorge’s deep V
underlines why this place is a giant mousetrap for the unprepared
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT: Evenings above ground in
Karijini; Don’t get lost – rescue times
are measured in hours, not minutes;
Your home for the night at the
Karijini Eco Retreat; Fern Pool,
a special spot for swimming, just up
from Fortescue Falls. OPPOSITE:
Climbing up out of Red Gorge
during a canyoning adventure.1