Karajini with kids?.

[Craigo72 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Craigo72]

We're looking to do a trip to Karajini and Coral bay next year Aug/Sept and are hearing conflicting stories about its suitability for kids. We'll be staying in camper trailers but my wife is a bit of a 5 star camper and only likes to stay where there are toilets and showers, no big deal (plus we'll have an 18 month old with us) so we're staying at the Eco park instead of bush camping. We'll also have a couple of seven year olds and a 5 year old with us so my question is, has anyone done Karajini with kids, we're all getting mixed stories about whether it is going to be too difficult with kids in tow. Mine will still be small enough to carry on my back so won't bother me but the others are all a bit concerned about it. Is the Eco park side of it any good for the smaller kids or are we better of going and staying at Auski and doing the other side of the park?. Any experiences or advice anyone has had would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[timmay5.7 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close timmay5.7]

I remember going through Karajini and Coral Bay, Wittenoom, Tom Price etc all as a kid (I was about 7-8) and had a ball.
I'm looking forward to doing it next year properly though - it has been almost 20 years...

[Fluffy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fluffy]

Hi Craigo, did Karijini and Coral Bay last year. Don't have kids, but saw plenty of the little tackers there. It's just a matter of being sensible and making sure they don't go running off anywhere as it can be a bit slippery in places. If you walk through Kalamina Gorge (after climbing down) wear the reef boots or reef sandals as it will stop you going bottom up in the shallows as the "fur" on the rocks can be like walking on wet glass with oiled feet. The swimming areas there are very refreshing on a hot day and there's shallow places for the little ones. Stay at the Eco park (we stayed at Dale's Gorge with no shower for 4 days but plenty of swimming at Fortescue falls, Fern pool and aforementioned Kalamina Gorge). Coral Bay is always busy and you'd better book a spot now as it's just about always booked up that time of year. If you want to see some amazing coral reef that hasn't been chopped up by the glass bottom boats and hundreds of people, go for a drive through Cape Range national park on the Exmouth peninsula. Turquoise bay is the most "touristy" but is still a lot quieter than Coral Bay. We were lucky enough to swim with a turtle beneath us. If you went around Oct/Nov you could possibly catch the turtles coming up the beach at night to lay their eggs. It's a great trip to do and you'll want to go back... This was my second time (last time was when I moved from Darwin to Perth a while ago) and I made a calendar of the trip from Perth to Pilbara and back just so I could enjoy it every month this year again!

[Daz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Daz]

When we went 2 yrs ago, my daughter was nearly 7, and with a sensible approach you can safely take them to Karijini. She is an outdoors country kid, and goes hard to keep up with older brothers, so was no problems for us, even when we climbed Mt Augustus last year.
Plan your trips to not be out in middle of day, ensure the kids know the rules about not wandering off, ensure sensible footwear, etc etc.

Some of the tracks down to Fortescue Falls, Fern Pool are very easy, but should still take same amount of care.

There are a couple of walks you may want to avoid, and the DEC guides are accurate.

Eco park is quite good, but make sure you are booked in. Gas BBQs, toilets etc, but if busy the solar showers will only last so long.

Coral Bay can be done in 1 x day from Eco park, but there are some nice camp spots if want to take it easy. As mentioned elsewhere, you need to confirm Coral Bay early. There is a 2 x year wait list during school hols at Peoples Park

[dave1972 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dave1972]

Hi Craig,

We took our kids to Karajini in the September school holidays in 2008 - they were 8 & 6 at the time and had done plenty of camper trailer camping in a 4 month trip in 2007. When we were there we camped at Dales Gorge campground for 7 nights.

After about 15 minutes in the first gorge, they were already asking if we could come back next year - they loved it and it truly is awesome - we've spent time at Uluru, Kings Canyon, East & West Macs, Litchfield, Kakadu, Mitchell Falls, El Questro and the Bungle Bungles and Karijini is right up there, if not the favourite, but........

.....i'd be very careful with the kids - they need to be quite disciplined with staying on the tracks and listening to you if you give them instructions.

Most of the walks are quite safe, but a few we wouldn't do again - either myself or with the kids and i did get a bit stressed out at times. When we were there all the walks had a difficulty grading of 1 to 4 (or was it 5??). I'd suggest start with the easy ones to see how the kids and yourself cope and work up. Take your time, be patient and be prepared to stop and have a rest to get the most out of it. It's a truly amazing place so why hurry anyway?

We met lots of families with little kids and they all loved it.

Have the kids done a bit of walking/hiking?

The Eco Park was really good.

Coral Bay is the best place in the world bar none (although a bit bigger now and we liked it when no-one went there) i don't care what anyone says!! We've been going there for 25 years and taken our kids there since they were 6 months old. They've learnt to swim, snorkel, fish, 4wd but most of all appreciate and be amazed by nature there. Accommodation is very limited though so you will need to book, or be very lucky!! September might not be as bad as Easter which is always booked 15 months in advance at Bayview.

Make sure you go to The Lagoon and Oyster Bridge while you're there.

[Craigo72 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Craigo72]

Thanks for the feedback, I think the kids will have a ball, I reckon the adults will too. We've booked at the Eco park for a 5 nights, we could probably do with more but work interrupts all the good things in life. We did Exmouth, Ningaloo station and Coral Bay in 2010 and loved it, it just wasn't long enough last tim so we'll do 10 nights there just to have a real chill out this time. A couple of nights in Kalbarri on the way home and we'll be laughn'.