Most of the hikes are around the 10
kilometre mark. The Sika and Jabitji trail can be started from the
cafe at the dam. From the campsite Honeymoon Pool you can embark upon
the Jabitji (from the other side) or Kurliny Tjenagitj trails. We
spent the night at the newly renovated Potters Gorge campground, the
Sika trail runs through there so we decided that would be our trail
for the day!
Once we reached the most north east
part of the Sika trail, we decided to push our walk a little further
and jump over to the Kurliny Tjenagitj trail and eventually jump on
the Jabitj trail back to the dam. This made the walk significantly
longer, but definitely worth it. We were told the Kurliny Tjenagitj
is really worth checking out and with the Noongar word “Kurliny
Tjenagitj” translating to “Come and See” it's no wonder!
The descent to the base of the hill was
more narrow and and rough to walk than the rest of what we had done.
It was in no way difficult, but with the heavy storms that hit the
region over the winter, we did need to climb over a few of the large
trees that had came down.
Western Australia is well known for its
wild flowers. Spring is the time for the countryside to light up a
heap of magnificent colours. We did this walk at the beginning of
September, we found some of the flowers had opened up, but most were
lush and green, ready for their bud's to burst very shortly. The
flowers we did see were pretty and fragrant none the less.
Once we were at the base of the hill,
we met with the Collie River. Following this west takes you to
Honeymoon Pool, east to the dam. We continued east enjoying the early
spring warmth of the sun and the sound of the water running through
the rapids beside us. Ducks and other birds were also enjoying the
afternoon sun getting up to all sorts of mischief.
Steve and Dianne, the couple running
the cafe were happy to see us arrive. They were kind enough to fill
our water bottles as we sat down to enjoy an ice cream. At this point
it was almost 4:00pm so we decided to spend another night in Potters
Gorge, rather than look for another place to spend the night.
While we haven't actually stayed at
Honeymoon Pool, we have been through, noticing it is quite a nice
campground. We found Potters Gorge a great place to spend a couple of
nights. It has been closed for a couple of years due to weather
damage and renovations. When we first drove in, it was quiet and all
the campsites looked great. Clean and tidy with a picnic tablein most spots and
fire pit for every spot! The bathrooms are clean and well maintained
drop toilets. While most of the campground is complete, the boat ramp
and group sections are still under maintenance. Camping fees here are
only $10 a person and will be picked up by Steve and Dianne when they
do the rounds.
As we've written before, Wellington Dam
is well worth checking out, but if you have the time to camp and trek
around it, you cannot go wrong! You can also hire bikes from the cafe
if you would rather ride around the national park. A part of the
Munda Biddi mountain bike trail (Perth to Albany) goes through the
national park along the Kurliny Tjenagitj and Jabitj trails so be
sure to lookout for bikes when walking. Steve and Dianne also are
very passionate about the area and happy to impart on all sorts of
info and advice. They were even kind enough to drop us off some cake
after we finished our walk!
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