We headed inland from Carnarvon full of confidence that we would be able to enjoy a nice drive up the Gascoyne River with the ultimate aim of getting close to Mount Augustus. Why Mount Augustus? Well it is the world's largest monocline or more simply, the worlds biggest rock.
On our way inland, we paused for lunch at Rocky Pool, a beautiful natural waterhole on the Gascoyne River. It was a delightful place to explore - and if it was any warmer, I think we would have all gone in for a dip. The water looked refreshing, but with over 400km to go to Mount Augustus, we decided to push on.
Rocky Pool
Unfortunately we failed to correctly navigate the various pages of the Carnarvon and Gascoyne Shire road conditions web pages, and we found ourselves pulling into Gascoyne Junction, unable to journey any further. The rain of the previous evening had penetrated inland, and closed all the unsealed roads in the district. As all roads other than the one we had come in on were unsealed, we couldn't go on.
Road sign - Gascoyne Junction
We were faced with a choice - either retrace our steps, and perhaps stay at
Rocky Pool, or stay where we were, at the brand new Gascoyne Junction Tourist Complex.
With phone service at Gascoyne Junction, we decided to stay put, and set up in the brand new facility. A huge flood in 2010 had destroyed the old Road House, and the shire was left without any services for nearly three years. Fuel was temporarily provided by the Council, however it took much longer for the town to have any real services. Completely oblivious to all this of couse, we marvelled at the fantastic cafe / pub, camp kitchen, clean modern amenities, awesome playground and pool all at the Roadhouse.
We treated ourselves to a drink at the pub and for a moment could pretend we were real grown ups. We decided that if you wanted to spend a year travelling around eating and drinking at pubs, you would need to be working to a much larger budget than ours. Our two drinks came in at $19.00! Ouch. But then again, it was lovely to sit in a proper couch... perhaps it really was worth every penny!
We decided to stay overnight, and the following morning some roads were open, but not the ones to Mount Augustus. Not to worry, the weather was fine and the roads were drying out quickly. We decided to stay another night and catch up on some school work and laundry.
Nearby is the Kennedy Range National Park, and we decided in the afternoon to head out to check it out. The road to the Park was open, and we found ourselves approaching a massive 120 metre high plateau. Part of an ancient sea bed, the remaining sea floor rises above the surrounding countryside providing impressive contrasts. We decided to head for a couple of walks in the Park.
Kennedy Range
Our first walk was Honeycomb Gorge. A short walk led us to some amazing formations under a seasonal waterfall. It was a special place to sit in the cool shade and relax.
Honeycomb Gorge
Honeycomb Gorge
We then ventured into Drapers Gorge. A 2km walk upstream was a scramble at times, but we loved every minute. We were puzzled by some of the formations, found an ancient native fig tree, and at the head of the gorge, a beautiful deep pool.
Drapers Gorge
The deep pool making the head of the gorge
It was simply stunning, and we hadn't realised it was here! We returned to Gascoyne Junction starting to feel that our delay in town was very much a blessing in disguise.
A moments quiet contemplation
Returning to Gascoyne Junction, we came across a cobbled road. It seems crazy, but in the 1930's a work for the dole scheme funded the upgrades to the original roads that were often impassable after rain. We marvelled at the fortitude of the men who made this road, still in excellent condition some 80 years later.
Cobbled road, near the Lyons River in the middle of... nowhere.
The following morning with weather continuing to be fine and sunny, Gascoyne Shire updated its webpage and opened all roads - except the one to Kennedy Range National Park. It seemed that water was coming down the Lyons River and had cut the road at the crossing! We had timed our run the previous day perfectly. Carnarvon Shire still hadn't updated thier page (three days now) and it still showed everything closed. We decided we would suck it and see, so topped up the fuel tank and continued west to go and check out this rock.
Sunrise at Gascoyne Junction
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