western australia: karijini national park, circular pool

Circular Pool was the third walk we did with the six children. They grabbed their walking sticks and rock hopped like the confident rock climbers they are! We did have a tough time reigning some of them in though!

The walk takes you down the side of the gorge in to the valley between Fern Pool, Fortescue Falls and Circular Gorge.  Unlike the other walks most of the walk is along huge flat rock shelves. I can imagine the waters flooding over the edges and down in to the gorge during the wet season. It must be unbelievable!

The Pilbara had some rain a fortnight ago and their was still plenty of water about.

Circular Pool is surrounded by high cliffs and was a cold treat after a warm walk. The kids weren't in the water long but they explored the surrounding rock environment.

Photos courtesy of Vivid Imaging. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vivid-Imaging/151857428215142

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western australia: karijini national park, kermits gorge,

The Kermit's Gorge walk was an unforgettable trek along narrow, slippery ledges and through cold pools, and waterfalls with towering cliff faces of that orange red rock. 

We, six parents, attempted and finished the gorge walk with seven kids under seven years. I hope the kids look back on the walk with a sense of pride of their achievement. It wasn't always easy. We had to work closely to ensure the kids took each step carefully, aware of their plan ahead on the narrow paths. In the narrowest sections we could reach both sides of the gorge. 

Some of us braved a swim at the end of the gorge walk but it was chilly! 

Thanks to our friend, and photographer, Jo for these shots which capture the light, the challenges and the achievement of making it through the gorge and back with our mob of kids!

Photos courtesy of Vivid Imaging. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vivid-Imaging/151857428215142

western australia : kalbarri, z bend lookout

The oranges and pinks combined with the soft greens of this country gets us. And the clear skies and the warmth. We love it. 

You could base yourselves at Kalbarri for a week exploring the surrounding gorges and beaches. There's so much to see but you must be prepared for the flies. Swarms of them. Herds of them. This was the view from the Z Bend Lookout. We would have walked down with the kids for a swim but it was late in the afternoon and the walk up would have been impossible. 

We have the rule in our family that you can play with sticks as long as it's responsibly and away from others. B took us both on in a show-down.

The backpack weighed a few extra kilos. 

western australia : kalbarri, natures window

It's hard to get the balance right when you're on the road with the three kids. We need to factor in the needs of everyone and sleep for the baby is generally a priority. Baby A does so well transitioning from his car seat and the pram but on days when we don't have to go anywhere I like for him to have his sleeps in the caravan. What this means, too, is that B gets a good solid morning of schoolwork completed.

On one such morning (while A slept and B did schoolwork) I took P to the camp kitchen at Murchison House Station and we made fresh rice paper rolls with carrot, cucumber, lettuce, mint, spring onions and a soya chilli dressing. 

This meant that we couldn't leave until lunch time for the the second walk we wanted to do near Kalbarrii - Natures Window. We ate our rice paper rolls under a shelter in the car park with an incredible view across the gorge and along with the gazillions of flies. They were dive bombing the dressing and it was so bad that even Baby A didn't bother pulling his fly net off because he was happier with it on!

Natures Window is a very short but picturesque walk but it was so hot on the day we did it. 

And when we arrived a Malaysian couple, who live in Perth, were having their pre-wedding shots. They looked amazing. The juxtaposition of the glamorous wedding shots against the back drop of the dusty and somewhat isolated outback with the swarms of flies wasn't lost on us.