Yesterday we drove to Charles Knife Gorge and walked to the lookout where we looked down and across Shothole Canyon. You may recall there was a road along the floor of the canyon leading into Shothole Canyon and that is where we decided to drive today. The turnoff to Shothole Canyon is around ten kilometres from Exmouth and the gravel road into the Canyon is eleven kilometres. It took us just under an hour to drive the eleven kilometres. The road was very rutted and hadn't been graded for awhile so there were lots of sharp rocks jutting out of the ground. There was no way you could drive fast across this road. We laughed at the signpost heading into the gorge that said "4WD Only. There is a high chance that you will have to be rescued". Should have got a photo!
Surprisingly, although the road was rough, it didn't stop people travelling into the gorge. We counted at least twenty vehicles heading both directions on this road. The drive along the floor of this gorge was spectacular with the huge sandstone cliffs rising up on both sides of us. The gaping Shotholes along the cliff face make for a dramatic colourful contrast. Some of the canyon is dotted with spinifix and other parts are bare. I am in awe of any trees that manage to survive on the sides of these canyons.
It was interesting to reach the end of the road and to look up to where we were standing yesterday. We saw some people standing exactly where we were. Can you spot them at the very top of the cliff face, between the first two rocky outcrops, in this photo? Can't blame you if you can't as they look the size of an ant.....
There is a short Class 4 walk to the lookout at Shothole and it is only Class 4 because of the steps. It was a very easy walk of around 100 metres but a little scramble to get to the very top of the lookout.
It didn't take us long to look around the canyon. It was disappointing to see that the tracks that lead off from the carpark have been closed for some unknown reason, so no hiking today. We had packed a picnic lunch today as we didn't get away from Exmouth until close to eleven o'clock. I was pleased we did because I was quite hungry by the time we reached our destination.
Tomorrow is the swim with the Whale Sharks. Philip and I both commented to each other that it almost feels anti-climatic as we have had this trip booked for months. The weather is beautiful at the moment with clear sunny skies and hardly any wind. The temperature dipped down to six degrees last night but reached a high of around 23 degrees at midday. It should be very pleasant tomorrow on the boat.
Another GoPro video of our trip today.
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