Are all gorges the same?

Are all gorges the same?

I know to many this may be blasphemy; how could I pose this question? Surely I could not be suggesting that if you have seen one gorge, you have seen them all! Rest assured, this is not what I am suggesting.  Each of the 8 gorges we have visited so far has proved to be a very different experience for our family and I am glad (for different reasons) that we did them all.  I can however, also see why many choose to skip a few gorges along the way (we certainly have). There is such a thing as, to quote a fellow traveller as “being all gorged out”, especially when trying to enjoy the gorges with kids in tow. 

The Phimsioztrip gorge experience started back in Queensland with the beautiful Mossman Gorge near the Daintree National Park. Next was Katherine Gorge in Northern Territory, a place Ophet and I had previously visited, but wanted to do again with the kids. Then onto the north-western parts of Western Australia where the terrain means that gorges are plentiful. We visited Emma Gorge (near Kununurra), Cathedral Gorge (near the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu National Park), Geike Gorge (near Fitzroy Crossing) and Windjana Gorge (in between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing). We are now in the spectacular (although slightly cold by our standards) Karijini National Park.  Yesterday we explored the Dales Gorge region and already this area is rating amongst our families’ favourite gorges. Today we will head a little further into the National Park to see what else Karijini has to offer.

Mossman Gorge, Queensland

Emma Gorge, East Kimberly

Walking to Cathedral Gorge, Purnululu National Park

Cathedral Gorge, Purnululu National Park 

The fresh water Crocs of Windjana Gorge, The Kimberly Region

Typically a day where we are visiting a gorge begins with an early start, and bags being packed full of water, food, swimming costumes, towels and suncream. Many gorges require lengthy walks, often over uneven surfaces and may include steep accents and descents, water crossings and climbing up and over rocks. This may be a deterrent for many, especially those with young kids or at the other extreme some of the grey nomads who have mobility issues. For us however, it seems the more challenging the walk, the more interesting we find it and the more enjoyable the experience! The other possible deterrent to seeing many of the gorges are the long, rough, corrugated dirt roads that often must be endured to get to the gorge entrance (seriously why can’t gorges just be conveniently placed right next to a town along a nicely sealed main road)! Again for some (especially 4WD enthusiasts), this may be part of the fun, however for us, after the first 5km of this type of road we often start to rethink our decision. Over the last 4 months, we have however, started to get a little more used to bumping along a little dirt track, although it is still not our preference!

So with these barriers,  why would we visit them, and why have we now done ten (including two today) of them now so far on our 4 month journey. The answer is different for everyone. For me, I enjoy the open space, the spectacular scenery, taking photos, watching the kids laugh and play as they climb over rocks, navigate their way through the different terrains, race each other and sometimes us, up hills/stairs, and I also enjoy the actual walking itself.

As I mentioned previously, today was a gorge day for us, and possible our last for this trip. After leaving the free camp and heading into Karijini National Park yesterday, we spent the afternoon exploring the Gorge near our campground Dales Gorge and the trails/water holes nearby, including Fern Pool, Fortesque Falls and Circular Pool.  The pools were fresh (I jumped in and out of the Circular Pool which felt like an ice bath), the scenery spectacular, the walks challenging (Grade 4) and interesting and we were all reasonably shattered by the end of the day. So, embarking on another gorge day was met with mixed levels of enthusiasm. We all agreed that what we had seen of Karijini so far was extremely impressive, but would another full day of gorging  add more, or just make us tired and grumpy?  Grace  had already claimed during our walk from Fortesque falls to the Circular pools in Dales Gorge, that “this is my paradise”. Dare we push our luck and try for day two and risk spoiling our very successful and positive Karijini experience. On the way home from Dales Gorge, Emma and I stated chatting to a few other travellers, who told us all about their experience of Weano’s Gorge and Handrail that day. Emma was captivated by what they were saying, and made our decision for us (don’t all 5 years olds make the family decision), we would take on this challenge.

Casually marvelling at Fortesque Falls (not posing at all..ha ha!)

Grace claiming "this is my paradise" on the way to Circular Pool

Finding a "secret cave" on the walk

The Circular pools at Dales Gorge

We started the day, letting down the tyres again (thanks Ophet) and bumping along the badly corrugated road between the information centre and the first Gorge that we came to, Kalimina Gorge. Although only a few people had mentioned this Gorge to us, it was on our way and therefore broke up the bumpy drive, and was a relatively short trail (3km return), so we thought “why not”? This gorge, in my opinion, was probably the prettiest we have seen so far on the Phimsioztrip adventure. There was a continuous stream of water that varied markedly from a little trickle over rocks, to a decent sized waterhole which looked inviting. The smooth shale was formed in obvious layers and , similar to the layers of a rainbow cake, contrasted greatly in their colours. The terrain was challenging enough to keep the kids entertained and we were off to a great start for gorge day two.

Unfortunately we had, at this point, run out of bread or anything substantial that we could have packed for lunch. Instead all we had was fruit, crackers and beef jerky. A grazing style lunch only cuts it for 1/5 of our family and that would be me. The rest need more to stave off “hangry” for Grace, Emma and Ophet and low energy for Jai. We hit Weano Gorge at around 2:30pm, well beyond lunch and despite our best efforts of regular food, cracks were showing. Was this going to be a train wreck (akin to our not so pleasant Katherine Gorge experience)? Regardless we  pushed ahead, initially visiting the lookouts where the four Karijini Gorges meet. A rather nice lookout (!), but not exciting enough to distract from the missed lunch.

With a few grumbles we head down into Weano Gorge, making a few jokes abut its’ name to keep us entertained. Within minutes of entering the gorge, we were all completely consumed by the challenge that lay ahead and the natural beauty of the area. There were water crossings, ledges to navigate and thin rock crevices to traverse. Jai excitedly raced ahead and set the path clearly overcoming his low energy. We have been very impressed with Jai’s recent ability to “suck it up” and use positive thinking to change his attitude towards physical tasks. He is becoming a determined kid, who when presented with a challenge is able to switch his focus to achieve it. The rest of us followed closely behind, carefully watching our footing to avoid the water, or in Emma’s case so that she could get as wet and dirty as possible! As the gorge continued to get more and more narrow we knew we must have been approaching “Handrail”.  Sure enough, Jai’s call from up ahead came “here it is”.  We had so many mixed reports/opinions on whether Handrail was suitable and safe for the kids, so Ophet and I decided to take the wait and see approach. We saw, and the decision was yes, if they wanted to. And they did. Challenge accepted and accomplished, the reward being entry into a magical cave like lagoon that I can see featuring in one of Grace’s sketches or creative writing stories.

I can do it myself mum....

part of Handrail

Another successful gorge day…phew!!! So the answer to my original question, are all gorges the same? I think it is obvious that I believe not, but I wanted to see what the rest of the phimsi crew thought:

Jai:       No, because each gorge has different animals, different rocks to jump over or across and different types of  places to swim.

Grace: No, because the surrounds and scenery within each gorge is different. The walk is also           different for each gorge, some are in full sunlight, while others are cooler and shaded by plants and rocks.

Ophet: No, because each has a different purpose or destination, for example in Emma Gorge the destination was the waterfall, while in Geike Gorge the destination is the limestone formations and seeing the crocs. Different Gorges are also different scales and this will vary depending on the amount of rainfall and time of year.

Emma: No, because you can swim at some gorges like Emma Gorge and you can't at other gorges.

So, the phimsioztrip answer to the question “are all gorges the same” is a unanimous NO. Would I personally like to see any or all of these gorges again? Yes.  Depending on who you do the gorge with, what time of year you see it and the water level of the gorge, the experience I believe, will be different every time. For now, we are content with what we have seen and the gorge experiences we have had....back to the coast for us!