All posts tagged National Park

Flinders Bay, Augusta
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
Sunset at Skippy Rocks, Leeuwin

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

Greg went back to Sydney this morning and it all felt a bit strange. Having friends around for a few days and now I am all alone in the car again πŸ™ It was a bit hard to get back into my routine at first. But once I started to see photo opportunities; am feeling ok again.

I went as far south as I could to a town called Augusta. It was about 40km south of Margaret River. If lucky, sometimes whales can be spotted here at Flinders Bay but I didn’t today. Not far from Augusta was the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. There were many caves in this N.P. as well as beaches and a lighthouse. I found myself a spot called Skippy Rocks for some seascape shots. I have always wanted to try taking long exposure shots on water but never got around to it. Finally I have tried it today and I am rather happy with the result.

It is a bit of a slow start to my trip again but will try get back into it from tomorrow. I have a few destinations in mind and should get me going again.

John @ Augusta, W.A.


Images: 1. Flinders Bay, Augusta; 2. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse; 3. Skippy Rocks, Leeuwin
Exmouth Gulf
Vlaming Head Lighthouse
Pelican at Cape Range
Parrots Self Cleaning
Yardi Creek
Yardi Creek Gorge
Sunset Behind Vlaming Head Lighthouse

Exmouth Gulf

I had a quick look around Dampier but didn’t find any interesting things to photograph. It would be nice going to the islands but didn’t really have time. So got myself ready and left Dampier. I have to say from Port Hedland all the way to Dampier is not very photogenic or could be just ‘me’ πŸ™‚

I decided to follow the coastline down and my destination was Exmouth Gulf. I mainly wanted to visit Cape Range National Park. I tend to get drawn to more remote places. Exmouth is definitely one of those places. It is definitely not easy to get to. Either 2 hours flying from Perth or 1300km of driving. Your choice..

Besides driving through a rain storm; the drive to Exmouth was quite boring. However, things started to change when I entered the gulf itself. I started to noticed turquoise water over my right. It was quite lively here, many visitors around.

I first headed to Cape Range National Park which is about 10km from Exmouth. If you like fishing, corals, dolphins… this is the place to be. Unfortunately, all camp sites were full by the time I got here and I could understand why. It is a great place to camp for a few days or even a week, There are many different sites here so you could stay at different every night. You can snorkel and see coral and fish.

The main landscape attraction here is the Yardi Creek Gorge. It is the only gorge in this park that is with water permanently. I guess the water would be from the Indian Ocean when the tide is high.

This place gives me a feeling of Byron Bay but without the hussle and bussle. Just the bare nature and a lighthouse. πŸ™‚

I really enjoyed this place today but sadly I have to leave tomorrow πŸ™

John @ Exmouth, W.A.


Images: 1. Exmouth Gulf; 2. Vlaming Head Lighthouse; 3. Pelican at Cape Range; 4. Parrots Self Cleaning; 5. Yardi Creek; 6. Yardi Creek Gorge; 7. Sunset Behind Vlaming Head Lighthouse
Cave Walk at Tunnel Creek
Windjana Gorge National Park

Tunnel Creek & Windjana National Parks

After finished the last post this morning. It was time to decide where to go today. First I thought going to Derby or Broome but then I just wanted to see a couple more National Parks. So I decided to go to Derby or Broome through the back roads rather going on the highway. That way I could visit Tunnel Creek and Windjana National Parks. They are only about 35km from each other.

Tunnel Creek is the oldest cave system in Western Australia. You can walk into the cave and come out at the other side of the range. It is about 800m one way. The only thing is that you will need to get wet as there are a few permanent pools that you need to wade through. The cave is the only attraction in the park so it was a very brief visit.

Next, Windjana and it was only 35km away from Tunnel Creek. But about a km before Windjana, I thought the car felt a bit funny and I smelled something burning. Pulled over, got out and found that the same tyre that were punctured was now blown. Smoke were coming out from holes on it. I kinda knew it would happened sooner or later after Bungle Bungle. That trip really gave the car the full workout. So today, the extra 200km of off-roading finally done it. So pulled everything out the the boot to get the spare tyre and changed it. Now I have no spare so guess have to stay on the bitumen for awhile until I have the spare replaced.

After changing the tyre, I went to Windjana as planned and that was a short visit to as part of the walk was closed due to damages during the wet season.

John @ Broome, W.A.


Images: 1. Cave Walk at Tunnel Creek National Park; 2. Windjana National Park
Bungle Bungles Ranges
View Looking Up at Echidna Chasm
Echidna Chasm
Mini Palm Gorge
Cathedral Gorge
Track to Piccadilly Gorge

Bungle Bungle (Purnululu National Park)

It took me 3.5 hours to get to Purnululu National Park and almost half of that time was to travel on this rough dirt road for only 60km. Guess you can see how slow I was going on this road.

I have been to many places in Australia in the last few weeks that words and pictures just cannot do them any justice. This is another one of them, the Bungle Bungles. It was impossible to capture what I saw with my bare eyes. It was as spectacular as I thought it would be. It made the 60km rough off-road track worthwhile at the end.

First went to the visitor centre to book myself the camp sites. They have the North and the South side. I decided to stay at the North the first night then the South the next.

I went on the walking tracks before heading to the camp site. They were the Echinda Chasm and Mini Palm Gorge tracks.

Echinda Chasm – I simply could not take photo of this place to show the ‘wow’ness of it. The only way I could describe it is that the feeling like being in the movie ‘Indiana Jones’. Truly, I felt like I was.

Mini Palm Gorge – The track to wasn’t very difficult but you do have to climb over some big boulders that were bit dangerous when you have a backpack, camera and iPhone in your hand πŸ™‚ The gorge was dried already and I have to say it wasn’t as impressive as it should have been. The walk was fun though.

Day 1 in Bugle Bungle was over and was time to head over to the camp site. Fixed myself some simply dinner and watched a movie on my iPad then went to sleep.

Wake up on day 2 with a headache and I know it was caffeine withdrawn. I have them all the time if I don’t have coffee for a couple of days. I soldiered on and did my third Bungle walk, the Cathedral Gorge walk. To get here, I had to drive another 30km from the camp site to the Southern side of the park.

Cathedral Gorge – The walk was relatively easy after the walks the previous day. It was a little bit longer so the return trip took about 2 hours for me (walking slowly and taking pictures). The walk eventually ends at gorge with this rock amphitheatre. It was absolutely amazing place thinking that nature had created it.

I didn’t really have time to do the Piccadilly Gorge and Creek walk. It was a 20km return trip. I would have walked it if I wasn’t push for time. Greg is meeting me in Perth next week. That gives me just less than a week to get to Perth. I had to skip part of my trip, the Gibb River Road. I guess will have to do it some other time.

I decided after Cathedral Gorge that I won’t stay the night. I would use the time to drive to Fitzroy Crossing. It was basically where I would have end up if I take the Gibb River Road. I was exhausted when I got in and couldn’t possibly finish this post. I parked on the side of the highway and just ‘crashed’.

Bungle Bungle Range is definitely one of those places that should be in everyone’s bucket list. Look for people in a couple of the images and you will have the sense of just how big they actually are.

John @ Fitzroy Crossing, W.A.


Images: 1. Typical Bungle Bungle Domes; 2. View Looking Up Inside Echinda Chasm; 3. Fallen Rock Stuck Between Echinda Chasm’s Cliffs; 4. Mini Palm Gorge; 5. Cathedral Gorge (can you see the people on the bottom); 6. Track to Piccadilly Gorge 
Amazing Formation in N’Dhala Gorge NP
Me at N’Dhala Gorge NP Entrance
N’Dhala Gorge National Park
Corroboree Rock
Jesse Gap

Day 27: East MacDonnell Ranges

After visited West MacDonnell Ranges yesterday; today I went to East MacDonnell Ranges. It was a completely different experience. It’s not that the scenery very different but it felt more remote and untouched. There were definitely lot fewer cars and visitors around which I appreciate.

First, I went to N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park. It is famous for it’s rock carvings. There are apparently close to 4000 of them but, of course, I’ve only seen a few. Needed to 4WD for about 11km after turning off Ross Hwy and it was very slow driving. Had to cross Ross River several times. It was kind of fun πŸ™‚

The walk here basically follow the already dried river going upstream. You walking on all these rocks and stones dating back millions of years. You can’t help but just ‘wow’ in your head. I stayed in N’Dhala for a couple of hours and heade for Corroboree Rock on the way back to Alice.

Corroboree Rock is a column of dolomite formed over 800 million years ago. It’s not a really huge rock butdoes look rather interesting. You can walk around the rock in 10 minutes.

Last stop for the day: Emily & Jesse Gaps. I just stopped at Jesse Gap. I got back to Alice Springs about 4pm and checked into a motel for a good night rest.

The MacDonnell Ranges is one amazing place to visit if you have a chance. My trip to centre of Australia is coming to an end shortly. However, I still have a couple of places I want to get to  before heading up north. I will keep where I am going as a little secret.

John @ Alice Springs, NT


Images: 1. Amazing Formations in N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park; 2. Me at N’Dhala Entrance; 3. Inside N’Dhala; 4. Corroboree Rock; 5. Jesse Gap

Day 18 (Part 2): Undara Volcanic National Park

OK, this one just going to be a quick update…

The lava tubes are lot bigger than everyone thought and it is quite spectacular. It is listed as one of the 100 things to do before you die, so I leave it up to you. This place, Undara Experience, is nestled with all these old train carriages which they have converted into cabins, bar and eating area. It is a rather interesting idea. There are also plenty of visitors with their caravans; some are pretty ‘lush’.

Just had myself a rib-eye and a cold beer. Bit of luxury for the journey πŸ™‚ Tonight’s entertainment, apparently there is going to be an open camp fire, trivia and singing along. Will be interesting and hopefully I can get some people shots which I haven’t done any this trip yet.


Image: Undara Lava Tube