Young Travel Writer: an adventure in the Pilbara

Last year, we took our Young Travel Writer competition winners, Zeke Okely and Patrick Morrison on assignment in the Pilbara. Here, Patrick Morrison shares some of that adventure. And this year, we’ll be running Young Travel Writer again — and taking the two winners on assignment to swim with whale sharks.

The water was a bit deeper than I expected. I waded up on to the beach, struggling to keep control of the rubber donut over my head, moving towards the distant sound of rushing water. The light that filtered into the tremendous tear in the earth carried a soft orange tinge - it was by far enough to light our adventure but dull enough to let us know that we were most definitely underground. We were deep in the heart of not only the Pilbara's Karijini National Park, and the history of Australia, but within touching distance of the beginnings of life on our planet.

Earlier that morning we had been greeted by Freddie Forward, one of our guides for the day. His easygoing character set us at ease, while his swift and comprehensive run-down of the tour and paperwork immediately told us we were in safe, dependable hands. From there it was a short drive to West Oz Active headquarters, where we met Brenton Boothey, our other guide. Brenton's character and appearance scream adventurer, with a knowledge of the national park to match. He gave us a description of our safety gear with the precision of someone who has done it hundreds if not thousands of times.

"These harnesses let us into the restricted parts of the park," Brenton says. He is simplifying it, of course. It is paperwork and radio contact with the park authorities that really allow us in but the part of Hancock Gorge we are going into has been closed to the public for some time. Gone are the days when thongs and an esky were all you needed for a day beneath the Earth - it's best to do it with someone who knows what they're doing.

On arriving at the gorge it was a short hike down into the part accessible to the public. We must have looked absurdly serious to other tourists roaming the gorge floor - wetsuits, climbing harnesses and our rubber donuts over our heads so as not to spike them on the needle-like spinifex.

The next minute we were throwing the very same donuts 15m to the gorge floor. "It tells you something about the spinifex, doesn't it," Freddie remarks.

We weren't even halfway to the restricted area when Freddie stopped and put his hand on the side of the gorge "This is, we are talking 2 1/2 -3 billion years old . . . there's only one fossil they've found at these depths". He went on to explain that the exposed rock was known to geologists as "banded ironstone", layers of silica interrupted by dark layers of magnetite and hematite, a remnant from when the earliest life on Earth first began to produce oxygen. It was this oxygen that allowed the first complex life forms to evolve and the same oxygen that we breathe today. Karijini is one of the only places on Earth where this rock is exposed; our day had just started and we were already face to face with the origins of life.

We continued deeper into the gorge, firstly into a pool that was at most waist-deep. Despite this, we opted for our donuts in a kind of practice run for the deeper waters up ahead.

The pool was long and narrow and, as I drifted further ahead of the group, I began to take in the silence. I tilted my head back towards the sliver of sky, the sides of the gorge seemed to erupt from the earth into the air, I had to remind myself that I instead was underground.

I rocked myself out of the donut and on to the small gravel beach. The water was still quite cold despite the wetsuit so I moved up into the patch of sunlight to wait for the others. We rounded the corner to where the first challenge of the day awaited: Spider Walk.

Although outside the restricted area it still requires concentration and co-ordination. The rocks were slippery and the walls were tight. The donuts didn't help but Freddie guided each of us through step by step - where to place our hands, where to place our feet and when to kick the donuts along. It opened up into Kermit's Pool, which I recognised from photographs I'd seen. Light seemed to peer through from over the other side.

On the other side the source of the light became clear. The gorge opened up into a colossal space and the floor plummeted another 10m over a waterfall and into the pool below.

Brenton's figure was visible at the bottom. He'd gone ahead of all of us to set up the ropes for the abseil. Before the abseil we had to climb a good 20m along the wall above the pool, the floor was getting further and further beneath us but with our harness on and Freddie guiding us through we all felt secure. We all waited in anticipation while Brenton and Freddie did final checks for the abseil, each of us taking turns to peer over the edge.

I was in front so I was the first to go down. Freddie guided me for the first half - "left, and now down, that's it, just one step at a time". I took a moment to take in the surroundings, I was staring straight up at the sky now, and I was beginning to get used to the constant sound of running water echoing through the space.

Halfway down the wall, Brenton took over. He was hanging from where he could see the rest of a small overhang. With the utmost relief I navigated the overhang and my feet touched ground. Once we were all down we stopped for a snack and continued.

Another short donut ride and a clamber over rocks brought us towards a sound of rushing water. After a short climb down I noticed a small sign on the wall. The once-white sign was tinged with rust and the faded brown letters read "Chute".

It was suddenly clear where the sound of water was coming from. One by one we prepared to descend what was a effectively a waterfall. A single rope snaked its way down towards the bottom, and while the water wasn't deep the rope disappeared beneath the white water. We were told, quite counterintuitively, to walk straight down in the water because the running water made the surface less slippery and, crazy as it sounds, it worked. My hands were aching and the cold water sprayed up into my face, it felt less of a package tour and more of a genuine adventure.

We boarded our donuts once again, before the narrow walls opened into the vast Junction Pool. Three gorges splintered off into three different directions, including Hancock Gorge from where we came. The water below was a pleasant blue, the skeleton of a tree erupting from the surface in the centre. We floated under the branches and on to the beach at the other end, where we sat among the rocks, warmed ourselves in the sun and tucked into lunch. We were truly in the heart of Karijini.

FACT FILE

• To plan an adventure at Karijini National Park, see Australia's North West tourism at australiasnorthwest.com.

• For more on West Oz Active and to book tours, go to westozactive.com.au and phone 0438 913 713.