Tweet
Re: The Ultimate #powerTrip360: 20000 kms on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 and Ducati 1299 Panigale
Day 24 & 25 - Broome to Port Hedland & Karijini National Park
The day 24 as per our plan was supposed to be Broome to Karijini National Park in Western Australia – around 950 kms. But sometimes things don’t go as planned. Just when we were checking out from the hotel, I received a call from home, telling me that one of aunts was no more. It was a huge personal loss for me as she had loved me probably more than my own mother. And I didn’t even have time to mourn her death. But as they say the show must go on, I saved the mourning for some other day and continued to ride. But no matter how I hard I tried, I was not in best of mental state to ride 950 kms and the start was delayed as well because of these phone calls. So a decision was made to not to ride all the way to Karijini and call it a day at Port Hedland, which was good 325 kms shy of our original plan.
Port Hedland is a major port town and second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Huge industrial set up start to appear as soon as you start approaching the town but the most prominent features on the horizon are the huge mounds of unprocessed salt, some of them several stories high. We had our first and the only photo break there before we headed to our hotel and called it a day.
at a memorial for soldiers in Port Hedland
The next day, day #25, we had an early start as we headed to Auski (Munjina) Tourist Village on the edge of the Karijini National Park. We would be staying in this roadhouse for the night as there are no staying options in Karijini other than camping. So after refuelling at Karijini and taking the essential supplies, I headed alone to Karijini National Park while Sunny stayed back to work on other things. Karijini Visitor Center is good 70 kms away from Auski from where you buy the entry ticket for the park.
on the way to Karijini National Park
Karijini National Park is Australia’s second largest national park and is famous for its many water gorges, waterfalls, and water holes. These features are scattered throughout the park and most of them can be approached by only a 4x4 vehicle or on foot. Thankfully the road going towards the Dales Gorge was a sealed one and the Panigale could go there. It is around 12 kms from the visitor center but the bike could go all the way to lookouts on the edge of the gorge. To go to the pool though, you’d have to do a bit of hiking and I definitely was not interested in doing that wearing my full riding suit and riding boots. So, I had to contend with whatever views and pictures I could get from the top, which were great nonetheless.
The time I had in my hands to visit Karijini was too little to explore it. Ideally, one should come here with at least 2-3 days in hands and prepared to camp within the park itself if you really want to see what the park must offer. The sun had set and I had to head back to the Auski Roadhouse. I had done close to 100 kms by now and a miscalculation led me to believe that I probably wouldn’t be able to reach Auski with the fuel I was left with. A newfound friend in Karijini, Anna, helped me with a couple of liters of fuel and a cup of tea at her campsite before I headed back.
Day 24 & 25 - Broome to Port Hedland & Karijini National Park
The day 24 as per our plan was supposed to be Broome to Karijini National Park in Western Australia – around 950 kms. But sometimes things don’t go as planned. Just when we were checking out from the hotel, I received a call from home, telling me that one of aunts was no more. It was a huge personal loss for me as she had loved me probably more than my own mother. And I didn’t even have time to mourn her death. But as they say the show must go on, I saved the mourning for some other day and continued to ride. But no matter how I hard I tried, I was not in best of mental state to ride 950 kms and the start was delayed as well because of these phone calls. So a decision was made to not to ride all the way to Karijini and call it a day at Port Hedland, which was good 325 kms shy of our original plan.
Port Hedland is a major port town and second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Huge industrial set up start to appear as soon as you start approaching the town but the most prominent features on the horizon are the huge mounds of unprocessed salt, some of them several stories high. We had our first and the only photo break there before we headed to our hotel and called it a day.
at a memorial for soldiers in Port HedlandThe next day, day #25, we had an early start as we headed to Auski (Munjina) Tourist Village on the edge of the Karijini National Park. We would be staying in this roadhouse for the night as there are no staying options in Karijini other than camping. So after refuelling at Karijini and taking the essential supplies, I headed alone to Karijini National Park while Sunny stayed back to work on other things. Karijini Visitor Center is good 70 kms away from Auski from where you buy the entry ticket for the park.
on the way to Karijini National ParkKarijini National Park is Australia’s second largest national park and is famous for its many water gorges, waterfalls, and water holes. These features are scattered throughout the park and most of them can be approached by only a 4x4 vehicle or on foot. Thankfully the road going towards the Dales Gorge was a sealed one and the Panigale could go there. It is around 12 kms from the visitor center but the bike could go all the way to lookouts on the edge of the gorge. To go to the pool though, you’d have to do a bit of hiking and I definitely was not interested in doing that wearing my full riding suit and riding boots. So, I had to contend with whatever views and pictures I could get from the top, which were great nonetheless.
The time I had in my hands to visit Karijini was too little to explore it. Ideally, one should come here with at least 2-3 days in hands and prepared to camp within the park itself if you really want to see what the park must offer. The sun had set and I had to head back to the Auski Roadhouse. I had done close to 100 kms by now and a miscalculation led me to believe that I probably wouldn’t be able to reach Auski with the fuel I was left with. A newfound friend in Karijini, Anna, helped me with a couple of liters of fuel and a cup of tea at her campsite before I headed back.
Comment