Kennedy Ranges

Gascoyne Region of Western Australia.

Introduction.

The Kennedy Ranges are situated 60 kms North of Gascoyne Junction - a mere 1100 kilometers from Perth. Easy access is via the NorthWest Coastal Highway from Perth and travelling via Geraldton and Carnarvon.

The drive from Perth passes the turn off to Northampton and the back way to Kalbarri. The main road to Kalbarri and the Murchison Gorges leaves the main road 540 kms from Perth. This is a great place to stop en route. In the spring, the wild flowers are abundant.

After Kalbarri, the next major turn-off is towards the Peron Peninsula and Monkey Mia. it is this area where a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins have trained man to visit them. Apart from the Dolphins, you are able to see Stromatolites (right), the most primitive form of life. We recommend Nanga Station as a friendly place to stay (either camping or accommodation.)

Leaving Monkey Mia you soon arrive at Carnarvon. We usually bush camp here but backpacker and more formal accommodation are readily available. Don't miss a visit to the Fascine, the Mile long Jetty and of course the Banana plantations.

If looking for a "nice" motel, the Gateway Motel has self-catering units, these are ideal for a family.

Just outside Carnarvon, the turn to Gascoyne Junction is well signposted. The road is usually good gravel; however, a modest rainfall will see the road closed to all traffic. The penalties for ignoring this are severe. On the way out, we were lucky. We were travelling with our 2 sons and their cobbers; they were going to leave us at Carnarvon to head further North to Exmouth and the Cape Range National Park. We camped that night together.

We stopped initially at Gascoyne Junction for a coffee and a yarn with the locals (above).

We saw that the road status board indicated that several roads we wanted to use were already closed due to rain! Bummer!! The road to the Kennedy ranges was open however, so off we went. The sky was blue; the temperature was in the low 30s Celsius and the beer fridge was humming.

After a short break for lunch, (note the tarpaulin for shade), we went for another walk to the Waterfall. This was a slightly more testing walk over volcanic rock, riverbed and such. Again fossils were visible. This walk crosses and recrosses a dry riverbed and the line of greatest ease was marked with cairns. This gives reassurance to those unfamiliar in the bush.

Note the ater bottle; backpack with more water and the broad-brimmed (Akubra) hats.

On this walk, the sky started to blacken and lightning was visible to the East. We were in no position to be stranded and there was only the Gascoyne Junction road open to the bitumen. Once before we had delayed, after 1 hour, from dry, the water was across the road and over the top of our LandCruiser wheels. It was along slow drive towards a town. We, therefore, used discretion and broke camp. As we left the Ranges, the rain started with a vengeance. By the time we had driven half way to the Gascoyne Junction, the rivers (3 of them) had started to flow, we waded them and continued towards Gascoyne Junction and then Carnarvon. The road was getting wet and treacherous and by the time we were in Carnarvon, the "Road Closed" signs were going up and stayed for 2 days.

We stayed on in Carnarvon for a day before slowly returning home.

More information may be obtained by direct email from Nigel Buxton

See the WA and 4WD Destinations pages