Australia is Gorges NW Part 2

This is the continuation of the story of the Northwest trip!

Day 6: A day of driving from Coral Bay to Karijini National Park (the most amazing place I've ever seen!). We had some car trouble so we had some long pit stops at some exciting and strange road stops. We finally got to our destination after night fall and had to set up our tents with the lights front the buses. We soon discovered the red dust that covers miles and miles of this part of Australia and gets on everything and doesn't come out! We went from beds to no running water and tents, which was actually kind of cool. I felt like I was really camping when I brushed my teeth without water. We had a late dinner and greeted a Dingo (wild Australian dog) to the outskirts of our campsite. They are very friendly because some people stupidly feed them! If they are fed then they may have to be put down because they will never leave the campsites.

Day 7: KARIJINI!!! Today was FULL ON!!! We traveled through the rolling outback to our first destination. We began hike number one and were led down into a gigantic gorge made of beautiful red rock. The hike was pretty challenging and had ladders and large rock drop offs. At times we were climbing along rock faces with huge distances to fall. It was exhilirating! We got to a place called the ampitheater and left our clothes and backpacks on the flat rocks, then we got ready to do the spider walk. The spiderwalk = two rock faces with a crevasse down the middle that you can walk along with one arm and one leg on one rock and the other two on the other rock. you are suspending in the air over a small stream that turns into a large pool at the end. When we finished the spider walk we jumped into the most refreshingly cold water I have ever felt! Our tour guide told us that the water in this gorge was naturally fresh enough to drink and tastes better than a lot of tap water in Australia ( I still didn't try any though..). After returning on the spider walk we climbed back up to the top of the gorge for some lunch! Then it was time for another gorge hike! This time we got to go on the lookout before we hiked down into the gorge. It was amazing that we could hike down into so vast a gorge. The hike was a little less intense, though there were some difficult areas. When we reached the bottom of the gorge we went through a pool and found another larger pool and a waterfall. We made it through the frigied water and sat underneath the waterfall! Then we went to the other side of the gorge. Lucy and I wanted to go but it was really scary! We barely made it, the rocks were slippery and the drop off was big enough to frighten me. But we were brave and we went slowly and carefully and it was so worth it. We made it into a large river with the most beautiful river and the coolest rocks for many meters on each side of us! We swam down the river and climbed onto cliffs and jumped in again! It was so amazing! The water was cold enough that your body went numb after a while. But it was so surreal to swim in that setting, enveloped by these huge rock masses and the color of the teal water against the red rock was stunning! After this day there wasn't much to do but eat, play games, and go to bed! Right before bed we heard our tour guide, Fi screaming and then she walked into the campsite with a pillow covered in red dust....a dingo had stolen her two pillows and she had chased it down and managed to get one back! The other is left in the bush....haha

Day 8: Our last day at Karijini :( We woke up early and set out for a hike. We went down into a gorge that was equally as large, but the hike was much easier. We got to a set of naturally formed rock stairs into a pool wit a waterfall at one end and a large rock face across from them. We swam, sunbathed, and cliff jumped. Then we visited Fern pool, which is just gorgeous! It is surrounded by rock, trees, and foliage and has two waterfalls that you can go underneath and behind! The water was a beautiful temperature, it was a nice chage from the frigid waters we had been in. We could actually swim for a while without going numb! This pool was a sacred Aboriginal area so we had to be very respectful of the land and not be too loud or jump from things. It was an amazing place to see! Then we went back and did some more swimming and sunning....then back to the bus :( We rode to Newman, a mining town of Iron Ore. The town is made entirely to support the mining population, mostly single males. We popped up our tents, had dinner, and then headed to the pub called Red Sands. Here we turned the heads of many miners and had some fun meeting a group of miners from Ireland, three of whom were named Patty. They taught us some Irish drinking songs it was hilarious. Terry, our tour guide kept close watch to make sure that no miners crossed any lines with any of the females on our trip. It was good fun to see them all in their florescent orange mining outfits. We were also told that if we were too noisy at night they might come after us...we didn't try and find out if this was true.

Day 9: Drove ALLL DAY LONG!!! Our place for the night was at the coolest sheep farm I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere! There is iron and bone artwork everywhere and lots of sheep and horses. The family is super nice and there son was telling us about how he hunts for kangaroos and emus everyday and has to be homeschooled because they live so far from anyone. The showers are labeled Rams and Ewes and everything is decorated very sweetly using recycled materials. They hot water heater is a fire box outside that has to be continuously stoked to keep the water warm! We had a wonderful night with great food, spirits, laughs, a huge fire, and lots of stories! I spent a lot of the night with my new friend Lucy, she is from Kentucky and goes to school in Ohio. She is so sweet and we get a long really well:) It was really nice to have some bonding time!

Day 10: Up early, tents came down for the last time. And BACK ON THE BUS! We didn't get very far though before we got a flat tire! But Fi and Terry are monsters and had that tire changed so quick it was amazing! We drove and drove and everyone just wanted to get home and shower and sleep! We bypassed lunch and kept on driving. We got back to campus around 4:30pm. It was so sad to leave Terry and Fi, but we are already planning our reunions!!! Fi is coming back in October for a while and we are going to see Matt Gresham (the artist that we listend to all the time on the trip) together!

Soo..that is the shortest version of the trip that I can muster!! This is Me and Fi!!! There was so much packed in, but this are the main events and hopefully they give yo uan idea of just how amazing this trip was!!!! Everyone should try to get out and see WA, especially Karijini!!! Love you all miss you! More later!