The hike around the Murchison River Gorge in Kalbarri National Park is 8 kilometres long. It winds across steep cliff tops, before descending into the valley, weaving alongside the river then ascending up again. There is next to no shade, lots of scrambling, and great chunks of trail that appear too steep/ slippery/ dodgy/ dangerous were it not the for marker up ahead signalling “yes, this IS the right way”. For reasons that still elude us, we embarked on the walk rather casually, packing minimal food, avoiding any pep talk preamble and fully expecting to knock it off in a few hours and head back for an afternoon of canoeing.
Lessons. Lessons. Lessons.
The important thing is, we completed it. It took its pound of flesh and will henceforth be the benchmark for any future hikes – overtaking our previous best, Bluff Knoll. Needless to say, canoeing did not get a look see that afternoon.
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| The gang, gung ho, about to set off. |
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| Peering into the Gorge through "Nature's Window". |
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| Deep in the Gorge. Four Biharys and an impressive anthill. |
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| Alongside the Murchison River. We're about 3km into the hike and its only a short time later that Benji waves the white flag and climbs aboard Budge's shoulders, where he remains for the subsequent 5km. |
