Pilbara rivers and watercourses

One of the things one does when travelling up here is skip from watercourse to watercourse, and pool to pool. The rivers rarely run except after rains, and consist of a collection of waterholes between lengths of dry riverbed. The surrounding countryside is fairly arid in comparison to the lush greenery around the water.

Just before Newman we had lunch at the south branch of the Gascoyne River. It is a pretty spot, a small still pool of water, slim paperbark trees with silky foliage and shady white trunked eucalypts following the winding course of the river. While Mark tried to photograph a whistling kite stalking the flocks of birds coming in to drink, Miske and I walked downstream to see what we would see. I came across this wonderful twisted tree branch.

Gascoyne River view, south branch

After Newman we drove out to Kalgan Pool, for which we had to get a permit from the tourist bureau in Newman to use a short section of the BHP road. Kalgan Pool is a popular spot with the locals, being so close to town. The road in is normal 4wd. There were a couple of other campers there while we were there. The main pool is at the base of a large red rockface, lined and contorted, and there are a series of other pools within easy walking distance along the watercourse. I explored a few gullies and clambered up part of the side of the gorge overlooking the pool and campsite. It was beautifully warm in the early morning sunshine, while the camp was still in deep shade and very chilly. Softer grasses grew in the gullies - lemon grass and wallaby grass while spiky spinifex grows higher up. Miske soon learnt to tread carefully once we left the gullies. The flowers of Wickham's grevillea and eucalpyts were busy with little honeyeaters.

View from side of gorge, our camp is down there

Miske beside Kalgan Pool in the morning

There were some lovely acacia's with minni ritchie bark growing in the first gully I walked up. I love it with the sun shining behind it, highlighting the curls.

Minni ritchie bark

We passed the galahs on our way in, feeding beside the railway line. The background is typical of the country surrounding the watercourses.

Pink and grey galahs