I Just came back from a 3 week roadtrip up Western Australia. We hired a 4x4 camper van and pootled up the coast from Perth to Darwin, an overall distance of some 6000km. As can be expected it was an amazing trip but very tight on time. This lead to some issue photo wise as we always seemed to be in the wrong place when the light was best or having to get to the camping location before it got too dark, both of which seriously curtailed the best photo opportunities!
Normally I'd do a writeup of a long trip but as I only have a "few" photos I'll curtail it a bit this time...
First off - A very basic map showing the route we took. A mix of city and town at the start, end and a couple of points between and nothingness. The first few days travelling up the coast was very different to the second half of the trip, travelling through the much less inhabited Kimberley region. The variety of scenery was stunning, with every 100km being completely different, from desert and brush in the South, interspersed with lush green grass at intervals, to much wetter conditions in the North and even remnant rainforest in some locations.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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The Window, Kalbarri by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
Sharks Bay (World Heritage site) shot through my MF TLR. Definitely worth a visit (and one of the two reasons I chose WA).
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The ride on 80 mile beach. "Mischa" did the job. The beach is stunning, white sand, turquoise see and blue sky.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
We visited several national parks on the way up including Nambung (Pinnacles), Kalbarri and Karijini National Parks. While some were interesting some were very much one hit wonders. We knew Australia was a car nation but not quite how little they actually like walking:
Nambung was nice, with lots of limestone pinnacles set in a desert scene but the Aussies in their enlightenment had decided to build a circuit through the best part so people didn't even need to leave their cars! It is a "free" area however and you can walk to areas less spoiled by the crowds.
Others were very much one or two hit wonders. The Window at Kalbarri was nice (see above) but it was one of two things you could see in the National Park, you drove to it, walked the 400m to the view, took it in and walked back, driving to the next view. We found Karijini similar to that. It's supposedly one of the best National Parks in the country, we rated it as one of the worst we have ever been in. There are several nice gorges to walk down but again you drive directly to them, get out, walk down to them and wander along with the other 50 people. No long day hikes to see the rest of the park, just a "theme park" journey. Going off the marked paths was a big no no in those parks too, leaving VERY little to do there, in fact we left a day early.
Luckily as we went north the crowds thinned (partly due to needing 4x4's to access some of the parks - hence the hire of the vehicle we did - and partly due to the distance from civilisation increasing) and the restrictions, while still tight, did allow for longer walks and more scenic parks. One area was the Devonian Reef Parks, Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, on a side spur of the Gibbs River Road, a 600km+ unsealed track through the remote Kimberley region, a mecca for the 4x4 crew, with some stunning vehicles! The parks weren't bad either. Both one hit wonders as well but far more satisfying than the earlier parks.
Windjana Gorge is a large gorge with a 7km walk along the river between towering limestone cliffs and small freshwater crocodiles. Unfortunately I didn't get anything great in the gorge but as with many of the locations in WA the sky was stunning.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The next National Park along the spur was Tunnel Creek National Park, it's crowning glory a 750m long cave that cuts through the limestone cliff, taking you from one side of the ridge to the other. About half way along was a cavein, perfect for a quick photo.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
By far the highlight of the trip though was Purnululu national Park. A World Heritage site and only "discovered" by Europeans in the 1980s. It's home to the Bungle Bungles and one of the two things that made me want to do a Western Australia trip in the first place. It didn't disappoint.
To reach it you have to drive 100km north of the last reasonable size town, Halls Creek, along a sealed road, before turning off onto a 57km 4x4 track with multiple water crossings. This gets you to the park entrance only. From there you have a choice, travel the 30km north or the 30km south, to see the two ends of the park.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The north of the park is a "bonus" in my book, there are a couple of nice Chasms, one of which was shut when we were there due to damage. Echidna Chasm was a long walk through a tight space. A km or so of walking through a gap regularly no wider than 3ft, surrounded by 100m cliffs.
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Echidna Chasm by Amp34, on Flickr
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
Next day was the main event, the beehives as they are called. Rounded outcrops of red sandstone looking a bit like beehives... One of the reasons it was such a stunning park is because they actually allowed you to walk. Piccaninny Creek and Gorge is a gentle wander through the stunning scenery, up a partially dried creekbed before you get to the gorge proper. You can camp overnight in the gorge and explore to your hearts content, unfortunately we had decided we were only going to do a day hike because of time constraints, just getting to the gorge entrance 8 (or 13 - depending on whether you read the National Parks maps or the sign at the beginning of the creek - contradiction and confusion about length we found fairly typical in most National Parks signage...) km up the creek before having to retrace out steps to get back before the light (and the rather ominous clouds on the horizon...).
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
Those pools were oh so refreshing, great to cool down for a bit before continuing again.
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
The joy of driving through remote country is the fact you're surrounded by stunning scenery, just jump out the car and the away you shoot (just a shame we never seemed to be able to find these spots at sunset!)
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
We headed up through Litchfield National Park on the final leg of our journey. With much more to see than many of the bigger national parks in WA it was quite nice, especially in some of the more remote (but open - many were shut due to the heavy Wet season they had this year). We did see several water Monitor lizards plying their trade in the pools however, nice to see.
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Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
Overall it was a great trip, even with the sub par photo collection. A prime example of the best photos coming from knowing the location and being there at the right time! We did find that if you're in to walking and seeing nature as it's meant to see then many of the national Parks in WA probably aren't the best place to go. That doesn't matter though as much of the most stunning scenery we saw was outside the National Parks or in parks with more freedom and less crowds (Purnululu for example). Many of the NT parks have much longer multi day hikes available, which would be great opportunities. I would love to get back to the Kimberleys again. The area was stunning and a prime location for photography, including the NPs in the region (Windjana, Tunnel Creek and Purnululu, the former two I didn't do anywhere near justice!). Another several week trip with a more hefty 4x4 is definitely on the cards!
Anyway as usual C&C welcome on all the photos.
Normally I'd do a writeup of a long trip but as I only have a "few" photos I'll curtail it a bit this time...
First off - A very basic map showing the route we took. A mix of city and town at the start, end and a couple of points between and nothingness. The first few days travelling up the coast was very different to the second half of the trip, travelling through the much less inhabited Kimberley region. The variety of scenery was stunning, with every 100km being completely different, from desert and brush in the South, interspersed with lush green grass at intervals, to much wetter conditions in the North and even remnant rainforest in some locations.
1
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
2
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
3
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
4
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
5
The Window, Kalbarri by Amp34, on Flickr
6
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
7
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
8
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
Sharks Bay (World Heritage site) shot through my MF TLR. Definitely worth a visit (and one of the two reasons I chose WA).
9
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
10
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
11
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
12
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The ride on 80 mile beach. "Mischa" did the job. The beach is stunning, white sand, turquoise see and blue sky.
13
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
We visited several national parks on the way up including Nambung (Pinnacles), Kalbarri and Karijini National Parks. While some were interesting some were very much one hit wonders. We knew Australia was a car nation but not quite how little they actually like walking:
Nambung was nice, with lots of limestone pinnacles set in a desert scene but the Aussies in their enlightenment had decided to build a circuit through the best part so people didn't even need to leave their cars! It is a "free" area however and you can walk to areas less spoiled by the crowds.
Others were very much one or two hit wonders. The Window at Kalbarri was nice (see above) but it was one of two things you could see in the National Park, you drove to it, walked the 400m to the view, took it in and walked back, driving to the next view. We found Karijini similar to that. It's supposedly one of the best National Parks in the country, we rated it as one of the worst we have ever been in. There are several nice gorges to walk down but again you drive directly to them, get out, walk down to them and wander along with the other 50 people. No long day hikes to see the rest of the park, just a "theme park" journey. Going off the marked paths was a big no no in those parks too, leaving VERY little to do there, in fact we left a day early.
Luckily as we went north the crowds thinned (partly due to needing 4x4's to access some of the parks - hence the hire of the vehicle we did - and partly due to the distance from civilisation increasing) and the restrictions, while still tight, did allow for longer walks and more scenic parks. One area was the Devonian Reef Parks, Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, on a side spur of the Gibbs River Road, a 600km+ unsealed track through the remote Kimberley region, a mecca for the 4x4 crew, with some stunning vehicles! The parks weren't bad either. Both one hit wonders as well but far more satisfying than the earlier parks.
Windjana Gorge is a large gorge with a 7km walk along the river between towering limestone cliffs and small freshwater crocodiles. Unfortunately I didn't get anything great in the gorge but as with many of the locations in WA the sky was stunning.
14
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
15
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
16
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The next National Park along the spur was Tunnel Creek National Park, it's crowning glory a 750m long cave that cuts through the limestone cliff, taking you from one side of the ridge to the other. About half way along was a cavein, perfect for a quick photo.
17
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
By far the highlight of the trip though was Purnululu national Park. A World Heritage site and only "discovered" by Europeans in the 1980s. It's home to the Bungle Bungles and one of the two things that made me want to do a Western Australia trip in the first place. It didn't disappoint.
To reach it you have to drive 100km north of the last reasonable size town, Halls Creek, along a sealed road, before turning off onto a 57km 4x4 track with multiple water crossings. This gets you to the park entrance only. From there you have a choice, travel the 30km north or the 30km south, to see the two ends of the park.
18
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
The north of the park is a "bonus" in my book, there are a couple of nice Chasms, one of which was shut when we were there due to damage. Echidna Chasm was a long walk through a tight space. A km or so of walking through a gap regularly no wider than 3ft, surrounded by 100m cliffs.
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Echidna Chasm by Amp34, on Flickr
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
Next day was the main event, the beehives as they are called. Rounded outcrops of red sandstone looking a bit like beehives... One of the reasons it was such a stunning park is because they actually allowed you to walk. Piccaninny Creek and Gorge is a gentle wander through the stunning scenery, up a partially dried creekbed before you get to the gorge proper. You can camp overnight in the gorge and explore to your hearts content, unfortunately we had decided we were only going to do a day hike because of time constraints, just getting to the gorge entrance 8 (or 13 - depending on whether you read the National Parks maps or the sign at the beginning of the creek - contradiction and confusion about length we found fairly typical in most National Parks signage...
) km up the creek before having to retrace out steps to get back before the light (and the rather ominous clouds on the horizon...).21
Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
22
Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr23
Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
Those pools were oh so refreshing, great to cool down for a bit before continuing again.
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Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
25
Purnululu National Park by Amp34, on Flickr
The joy of driving through remote country is the fact you're surrounded by stunning scenery, just jump out the car and the away you shoot (just a shame we never seemed to be able to find these spots at sunset!)
26
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
We headed up through Litchfield National Park on the final leg of our journey. With much more to see than many of the bigger national parks in WA it was quite nice, especially in some of the more remote (but open - many were shut due to the heavy Wet season they had this year). We did see several water Monitor lizards plying their trade in the pools however, nice to see.
27
Western Australia by Amp34, on Flickr
Overall it was a great trip, even with the sub par photo collection. A prime example of the best photos coming from knowing the location and being there at the right time!
We did find that if you're in to walking and seeing nature as it's meant to see then many of the national Parks in WA probably aren't the best place to go. That doesn't matter though as much of the most stunning scenery we saw was outside the National Parks or in parks with more freedom and less crowds (Purnululu for example). Many of the NT parks have much longer multi day hikes available, which would be great opportunities. I would love to get back to the Kimberleys again. The area was stunning and a prime location for photography, including the NPs in the region (Windjana, Tunnel Creek and Purnululu, the former two I didn't do anywhere near justice!). Another several week trip with a more hefty 4x4 is definitely on the cards!Anyway as usual C&C welcome on all the photos.
) but there are some interesting takes on other photos and''ll make me think a bit.
