Kennedy Ranges – camping in remote outback

For the lovers of Australian outback Kennedy Range National Park is a special place.

Kennedy Ranges

Kennedy Ranges is an elevated sandstone plateau in Upper Gascoyne region, rising about 80 meters above the valley, 75km long and 25 km wide. The nearest town to Kennedy Ranges is Gascoyne Junction, 62km away with only basic necessities, including fuel, so you need to be quite prepared when going to this remote area, carrying enough fuel, water and other provisions. 

Getting to Kennedy Ranges

Driving from Carnavon to Gascoyne Junction (for 172km), we enjoyed this sealed picturesque Carnavon-Mullewa Road with lots of claypans and stock on the road.  

The unsealed Ullawarra  road from Gascoyne Junction was in a great condition, allowing us to drive around 80km/h, towing a caravan. There were a few river crossings but all were quite shallow.

Camping at Kennedy Ranges

We camped at Temple Gorge – the only official place to camp in Kennedy Ranges. It is a bush camp nestled among rugged cliffs with magnificent views all around. The only facility it offers is a single long drop toilet, which gives you an a real feeling of camping in nature. 

This place is so remote, yet we were surprised to see the campground full (with around 25 camper families there) in July. But lovely hosts managed to accommodate every arriving vehicle.

Temple Gorge bush campground

A communal fire every day from 5pm is an opportunity to get warm during chilly nights and meet new people, many of whom we met again and again during our stay at Kennedy Ranges. 

Communal fireplace at Temple Gorge

Sunrise is very beautiful at Temple Gorge. The sun was casting its rays onto the cliffs, making everything look softly orange.

The nights in Kennedy Ranges are majestic. You can see an endless beautiful sky full of stars. 

Camping in the bush often means that we go without showers for days, ocassionally using only a small amount of water for washing. Here is Brian washing hair with his portion of 250ml of water. Water is very precious and every drop counts.

At Temple Gorge bush campground

Hiking at Kennedy Range National Park

There are 6 hiking trails to suit every level of fitness and experience, each offering a unique opportunity of enjoying nature in its pristine form.

The Escarpment Trail in Kennedy Ranges is one of the longest. It is a 3.4km return hike, Class 4, which means it is rough and steep in some places. We started at Temple Gorge campground in the morning and hiked for nearly 3 hours. It was a great exercise and an enjoyment along the way.

The view from the top of of the range was definitely worth the hike.

Honeycomb Gorge is the most picturesque in Kennedy Range National Park. A mass of holes created by wind and water spray from seasonal waterfall above the cliff face makes this unique and beautiful pattern, resembling a honeycomb, which gives this gorge its name. It is easily accessible (apparently, our camp host even cycles daily from Temple Gorge to Honeycomb Gorge) and you can spend some time there marvelling at mother nature’s creation. 

One of the shortest hikes (from the car park) is Sunrise View platform, from which you can view the sunrise (as the name suggests). We got up early and drove (then hiked) there to take these pictures.

More tracks and other experiences at Kennedy Ranges

There are a couple of rough tracks in the Kennedy Ranges (we’ve only been to the eastern side of the escarpment) but there is nothing a good 4WD can’t manage.

A couple of more pictures from Kennedy Ranges, taken by our young photographer, 9 year old Ariel.

Red sand dunes, rocky cliffs, spinifex, wattle trees, lots of pink, violet and blue mulla mulla is what truly Aussie outback is all about. Bushwalking provides an excellent opportunity to fully soak the experience. This is what we thoroughly enjoy.

We loved Kennedy Ranges! 2 days we spent there wasn’t enough. Surely, we’ll be back!

Garden Rock near Cue

Garden Granite Rock near Cue

A lot smaller in size than nearby more famous Walga Rock, Garden Rock, near a small town Cue, is hardly known. Located only 18 km east of Cue, on Cue-Wondinong dirt Road (connecting Cue and Sandstone), it is easily accessible. This granite rock rises 20 meters above the sandplain and has a circumference of 1km, so it is quite an easy and pleasant walk around.

Garden Granite Rock was once the site of market gardens established in 1894 to supply gold rush population around Cue with fruits and vegetables. This is hard to imagine today, as there are no traces of the former gardens left ☹.

There is a free bush camp around the Garden Rock (unlike the Walga Rock). While we neither camped, nor saw people there, we noticed traces of people who camped before. Maybe, one of these days we’ll be back for a camp here :).

Perfect place for camping

Back on the road. While approaching Cue, at the end of dirt Cue-Wondinong Road we saw an interesting sign, urging all vehicles to stop and brush off wheels. For the record, we couldn’t find the reason why needed to dust off wheels, but we followed the rule 😊.

All vehicles must stop and dust off wheels sign near Garden Granite Rock in Cue.
Check the road sign on the left

Complete wildeness at corner camp

Corner Camp

Corner Camp is a basic and facilities free campsite, off Paynes Find-Sandstone Road in Australian Outback. It is accessible to 2WD.

Getting to Corner Camp

Leaving Mount Magnet and its rock formations at around 4pm, we set off along Great Northern Hwy, travelling south for our last overnight stop for this trip. Our Captain Andrei, a very adventurous and courageous man, decided to change my plans and drove 30 km off the highway on a dirt road just to spend a night in complete wildness. We found Corner Camp or Wikicamp. It is 30 or so km off Paynes Find. It wasn’t sign posted (or, perhaps, we took a wrong turn?) and when we arrived, it was total darkness. Driving through the bushes, we navigated our way to a secluded place where we settled for the night. Potato and freshly made bread prepared in Aboriginal way in the charcoal was our meal for the night. Only the stars and warmth of the burning fire were our companions that evening.

Upon waking up in the morning and getting out of caravan (with only 6 degrees inside), I went for a little walk. It is there, among bushes, far away from civilization, I stood and listened to complete silence. Not a single sound interrupted it – neither bird, nor man, nor wind. Only Silence. It was full, indescribable and completely fulfilling. Merging into the Silence, I realised that it was worth driving 30km off the road to experience and absorb it.

Corner Camp in the morning

Leave no trace

Leaving a place in a better condition than you found it means taking rubbish with you, burning organic waste, extinguishing the fire and burying the traces. Kids learn along the way and take active part in the process.

Learning how to start a car when the battery is dead is a must when you travel in the bush on isolated roads. Being self-sufficient, relying on your own skills and knowledge coupled with Trust in Life and Creator is the key not only to survival in harsh environment. It is what turns survival into adventure and enjoyment of the process along the way.

Time to leave Corner Camp and go home…

Day 8: Beautiful sunset at Cape Le Grand

Sunset at Cape Le Grand
Sunset at Cape Le Grand

Sunsets at Cape Le Grand National park are amazing and the beach is the best place to watch them. It is our last full day at Cape Le Grand and we decided to take it easy, not go anywhere and have proper meals at the camp. Campground facilities at Cape Le Grand beach have been upgraded recently, so we enjoyed nice and clean sheltered undercover kitchen where we washed our dishes daily with hot water. Bring your rubber gloves, as water in the kitchen is really hot!

Camp kitchen at Cape Le Grand
Cape Le Grand campground facilities

We spent the day walking on the beach where the white sand squeaks under your feet, observing waves rolling and dispersing into the air when the wind was strong, and spotting seagulls and other birds fly across the sky.

Photographing flowers and insects was another past time.

The kids ran on the beach and played in the sand.

The evening meal was served inside our caravan where we could hide from the strong wind and feel cozier.

Inside our caravan

Being on the western side of Western Australia means you can see amazingly beautiful sunset at Cape Le Grand.

Sunset at Cape Le Grand with a seagull

Not only sunsets are different every day, but they are different every minute of the day as it gets to its end. The time after the sun goes down is particularly magical when the beautiful colours appear in the sky.

Sunset at Cape Le Grand  in pink colour

Loving our 9 day stay at Cape Le Grand!

Day 7: Thistle Cove

Thistle Cove is a small picturesque bay in Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance on the Southern Ocean coastline in Western Australia.

We visited Thistle Cove as part of our 9 day stay at Cape Le Grand. On day 7, nice beautiful day with sun shining and temperature in low 20s, we decided to go hiking. We drove to Thistle Cove and decided to hike from there to Lucky Bay. This proved to be one of the best places in Cape Le Grand National Park. The place is so rich in history, natural coastal beauty, diversity of plants. It is a paradise.

Local history

It was named Thistle Cove by Captain Matthew Flinders who, while surveying this area in 1802, found much needed fresh water. He decided to name the place after the ship’s master John Thistle. These freshwater sources were also important to traditional Aboriginal people who camped here during seasonal journeys to and from the coast. Thistle Cove, as well as Frenchman Peak, is part of Aboriginal Dreaming Story. According to Nyungar Aboriginal People, when the wind blows amongst the rocks you may hear ancestors crying for their two children who were carried out to sea by mother walich, the eagle. She was angry that the children had stolen her eggs, disobeying their parents and elders. Every time the children tried to swim back to the shore, their mother walich picked them up and carried back to the sea. This story teaches children a very good lesson.

Whistling Rock

Another attraction there is Whistling Rock. It is an interestingly nature sculptured granite boulder that captures the sound of the wind and it actually whistles!

Whistling Rock at Thistle Cove in Cape Le Grand National Park

The walk from Thistle Cove to Lucky Bay is an easy (Class 3) 1 hour walk (one way). It offers stunning views of the bay. At some high points you can see Thistle Cove, Lucky Bay and other bays at the same time. It is a beautiful place to visit.

Day 6: Cape Arid and mistakes we’ve made/lessons we learnt

Almost everyone who has ever done some 4WDriving, got bogged at 4WD track. Our first experience of it was at Tagon Beach 4WD track in Cape Arid National Park.

With 9 nights at our leisure at Cape Le Grand, we decided to spend a day driving to Cape Arid National park, which is 120km east of Esperance.

Cape Arid National Park

It is a large national park, covering an area of nearly 3000 square kilometres. While it is accessible by road, most of the park itself is 4WD only. Cape Arid is a very pristine, hardly touched and spoilt by humans’ place. It is also beautiful with clear blue waters, white sandy beaches, rocky headlands and diverse vegetation. We only managed to see a small part of the park. After paying our entry fees to the national park, we drove to Dolphin Cove along Thomas River Road.

First, we wanted to check the campsites. There are 2 shire campsites, close to each other. Each campsite has 14 to 20 camping spots , sheltered bbq and picnic areas, as well as toilets. Both areas were full (around Christmas time) when we drove by. Quite nice camping places but perhaps not quite for us, as we would probably miss on the spot, should we decide to come to camp there. (Update: a few years later, we came back, stayed at one of those campgrounds and actually loved it! And here is a post about it.

Dolphin Cove beach being just around the corner we decided to drive there. Two roads were leading there – Tagon Beach 4WD track and an unsealed 2WD path. We thought having a 4WD was enough to undertake the first track. However, we underestimated our experience. We obviously still had a lot to learn and this was our great learning experience.

How we got bogged at Tagon Beach 4WD track

The track was quite firm and slightly gravelled at the beginning. As it continued, it started to get softer. Four 4X4 utes driven by young, seemingly carefree but experienced drivers passed by. We let them go forward and thought of following them, however, they were quickly out of sight.

About 100 meters or so away from the beach, it happened. We got bogged! The sand was too soft and imprudently we did not reduce the tyre pressure. ☹. Mistake number one. (Lesson learnt: reduce tyre pressure before driving on soft sand and engage proper 4WD gear for soft sand driving.)

We were prepared to such surprises to some extent. First, we reduced the tyres down to 15psi, then dug some sand from underneath the car and placed the recovery boards.

Brian started the engine and pressed on accelerator. Trying to push the car from behind I watched the wheels spinning. This went for a short while. The car moved forward a little and encouraged I asked the kids to help push the car again. More wheel spinning. The car stopped moving.

We lost recovery boards when we got bogged at Tagon Beach 4WD track

When Brian came out, he asked me where the recovery boards were. Naively, I thought they were just invisible but still underneath the car. We tried to look for them but it was impossible to find anything. Our Pajero was sitting with its bottom on the sand and nearly half of the wheels were buried into sand. There was no sign of our recovery boards. Mistake number two. ☹ (Lesson learnt: Tie the ropes to recovery boards to prevent losing them.)

We tried the same a couple of times more. More pressing on accelerator and more wheel spinning. No sign of recovery boards. Mistake number three. ☹ (Lesson learnt: When you persevere in your attempts to move forward on the sand and the wheels are not engaged, the vehicle gets buried into the sand even more.)

Our recovery with lucky Luck

Nearly 2 hours have passed. With no progress in sight and no more vehicles passing by, Brian went to the beach to ask for help. We were lucky that was a group of people in two 4WD on the beach (but no sign of the previous 4 utes) whom Brian approached. ”Luck” as he is known and his friend was indeed our luck! Eventually, we did get out after a few forwards and backwards to compact the sand, and following Luck’s advice to reduce the tyre pressure further down to 10psi. Brian was so horrified by the whole experience that he refused to drive to the beach alone and only wanted to go back to Cape Le Grand. So I have no picture of the beach to place here. ☹ (Update: we came back to this beach a few years later, drove the same track with success and took pictures of the beach. Here is a post about it).

The trip back to our campground was uneventful and rather long. Back at the campground while looking through the photos I found a picture of the roads conditions sign I took at the park. If only I actually checked this properly! Mistake number four ☹. (Lesson learnt: do your research before going to unknown places.)

To comfort ourselves we had sausages for dinner once we got back 😊.

Back at Cape Le Grand campground

Day 2: Esperance beaches and Stonehenge

Beaches and Stonehenge are two things you must visit when you are in Esperance.

While staying at Cape Le Grand National Park during our 9 day camping trip, we decided to visit Esperance. After filling gas and treating ourselves to local fish and chips, we had plenty of time to do sightseeing that day. First, we visited Stonehenge.

Stonehenge

Esperance Stonehenge is a full-size replica of the original UK Stonehenge and it appears as the UK version would have looked like around 1850BC.

Stonehenge replica in Esperance

It was built from 137 stones of Esperance pink granite quarried opposite the road where Stonehenge is rested.

Esperance Stonehenge was built to align with both Summer (22nd December) and Winter (21st June) Solstices in Western Australia. If you are lucky to have good weather, the owners actually open the place at 4am in summer to allow visitors experience this phenomenon.  

Esperance beaches

The beaches around Esperance are spectacular and easy to access via The Great Ocean Coastal Drive. It is a 40km coastal self-drive route encompassing a number of picturesque lookouts and parking bays.

Photo by our oldest son Ariel who discovered and taught us how to create 3×3 panoramic pictures.

You probably need a couple of days if you want to explore this area and explore all of the beaches and lookouts (plus Pink Lake and wind farm) along the route. Having only a  few hours at our disposable, we decided to visit only the most interesting places. Salmon Beach was the first of the beautiful beaches where we stopped.

Salmon Beach

Twighlight Beach is probably the most popular family beach located 10km from town centre. It is one of the safest and most beautiful beaches around Esperance.

Twighlight Beach

Twighlight Beach is equipped with picnic facilities, public toilets and also Shark Warning System!

Shark Warning System at Twightlight Beach

Ten Mile Lagoon is a fantastic swimming beach 19 km from town, particularly for young swimmers. A rocky shore separates a natural shallow and calm lagoon with much warmer waters from the breaking waves of the ocean.

Ten Mile Lagoon Beach

The lagoon is a perfect place not only for swimming, but also for snorkelling and admiring what the ocean shallow floor offers.

Ten Mile Lagoon

Going up the stairs back to the car I was admiring rugged pristine coastline…

Ten Mile Lagoon rugged coastline

Esperance is approximately 720km south east of Perth, on the Southern Ocean coastline in Western Australia.

Day 1: Frenchman Peak

Driving towards Frenchman Peak

Frenchman Peak is within Cape Le Grand National Park, which is 45 minutes drive east from Esperance, in the south east of Western Australia.

Frenchman Peak was discovered and named by surveyor Alexander Forrest in 1870 in search of a good country for pasture. The peak’s shape is quite unusual and very distinct, resembling the hats worn by French troops in the 1800s.

Cleaning the shoes before hiking to prevent spread of dieback disease

Hiking Frenchman Peak

We hiked this 262-meter mountain, which was quite an interesting experience. It started as an easy walk but quickly turned into quite a hard and challenging climb, the path consisting mainly of loose, bare rocks.

Climbing Frenchman Peak

Frenchman Peak hike is ranked Class 5.

It gets steeper as we climbed higher

Being quite a warm day, there were lots of flies, which ceased being a problem due to strong winds at the top of the mountain.

Having a break…

And now it’s time for a snack 😊.

SNACK TIME!!!

Cave

There was an interesting surprise near the summit – a large cave, which is thought to have formed by wave erosion and underwater currents some 40 million years ago when sea levels were about 300 meters above their current levels and the peaks of Cape Le Grand were submerged.

Amazing granite arch

Walking further around the cave, we discovered that there was another entrance to it.

Inside the cave

Getting closer to the walls of the cave we marvelled at the amazing rock formations.

From the cave it was only a short walk to the granite peak.

The view from the top

The views from the summit are magnificent. I felt a sense of an immense expanse and wonderment standing on the top, reflecting on how we, as human beings, are only tiny grains in this vast universe and so much of it is unknown to us. The desire to know and explore is what drives us on travelling adventures.

Are you ready to follow our adventures? On to Day 2 of our 9-day stay at Cape Le Grand.

Lake Nallan

Lake Nallan was our first stop on the way to Karijini from Perth. It is 20km north of Cue, just off Great Northern Highway. It is a basic free camp site with no amenities but beautiful view of the lake. Being close to the road, it is popular too.

Lake Nallan in the evening in late September

There were around 10-12 families camping there when we arrived around 6pm or so, but it is big enough to find a secluded place for yourself. While some of the nice places with the fire pits already erected by some previous campers were occupied, we drove further and found a place for ourselves (even if it meant that we had to prepare our own fire pit 😊).

Preparing our own fire pit

There were a lot of road trains passing by in the evening and night, the sound being soothing and the lights adding nice feature to the night landscape.

Road trains on Great Norther Highway at night

We entertained ourselves with guitar songs and burning marshmallows in the fire.

In the morning the water in Lake Nallan started to turn pink which looked beautiful against the blue sky and red earth.

We have a long day ahead of us, with the first place to visit – Walga Rock! Off we go for an adventure!

Lake Nallan is located conveniently roughly half way to Karajini (if you take inland route), so it is a nice place to stop overnight. So, in April 2021 we stopped there again on the way back home from our Exmouth-Millstream-Chichester-Karijini trip. Even though it rained up north, Lake Nallan looked very dry. The lake was only half or even one third of what we saw the previous year in July).

Lake Nallan attracts a lot of birds in all seasons.

The colours of the sunset and sunrise by the lake were amazing to watch.

Sunset at Lake Nallan
Sunrise at Lake Nallan

Walga Rock near Cue

Entrance to Walga Rock site

Visiting Walga Rock was an unfinished business from our last trip to the Goldfields. This time, I decided to visit it first, so we don’t miss out. On a second day of our trip to Pilbara, after the first stop at Nallan Lake near Cue, we drove 48 km west of Cue on the Dalgaranga Road before we reached Walga Rock.

Walga Rock (also known as Wolgarna Rock or Walganna Rock in Aboriginal language, which does not have written equivalent, hence there could be many different spellings of the same name or word) is a huge monolith. Being 5 km in in diameter and 1.5 km long, it is considered the second largest monolith in Australia (after Uluru). It is a Registered Aboriginal Heritage Site, so it is fenced and you need to manually open the gate to proceed towards the actual Rock.

We spent 2 or 3 hours there, exploring and climbing the Rock, taking lots of pictures.

Climbing the Rock gave us a different perspective. Different people might have different experiences when standing on top of the rock, looking out in front at the isolated desert. For me, I felt a sense of serenity and harmony, and a revelation that there is a place for everything in nature – beautiful rocks, harsh desert, annoying flies, wild flowers trying to find their way out even in the rocks. 

View from the top of Walga Rock

Kids were having fun too, climbing and playing in the rocks, inventing their own games (although, who knows what they were?)

It is interesting to see how relatively big rocks can stack themselves on top of the slanting side of even bigger Rock, without falling down.

Walga Rock holds deep spiritual significance for Aboriginal people and it is guarded by this mysterious creature. 😊

The main attraction of the Walga Rock is the gallery of Aboriginal paintings inside the large cave within the rock. This gallery of rock hand paintings, cast in rich red ochre, is considered the largest in the Murchison (and some say, the largest in the whole of Western Australia). Although it is hard to count, but a report by the University of Western Australia indicated there were more than 988 motifs on a 100-metre-long panel of the Rock.

Walga Rock Aboriginal paintings
Walga Rock Aboriginal paintings

There are paintings representing goannas, snakes, boomerangs, kangaroos and handprints, which are estimated to be 10,000 years old.

There is even a painting of a ship, which looks like a modern addition to the ancient Aboriginal paintings.  The origin of the painting is unknown, especially considering that Walga Rock is 325 km inland from the West Australian coast. According to one theory, it was done by a Dutch sailor shipwrecked on the coast who was looked after by Aborigines.

Before leaving this place and heading to our next destination near Newman, we decided to drive around the Rock. It looked interesting in its changing patterns and shape and I kept admiring the colours and contours of the Rock as we drove by.

Walga Rock