Millstream Chichester National Park

We left Wittenoom just after 8am, following a very sleepless night, and were now heading to Millstream Chichester National Park. 
 
The van was constantly buffeted by strong winds rushing down through the gorge. We could have driven along part of the road we took yesterday, but we chose a different route that passed Mulga Park and Mt. Florence stations. We travelled beside the Tom Price railway for 28 km before turning onto the Pannawonica road for 18 km to reach the entrance of the national park. This section of road and the 5 km into our campsite at Stargazers campground were quite ordinary, featuring corrugations and rocky patches.

We chose this campground because it was generator-free, but later in the day, we drove to the Miliyanha campground, which we found had a much nicer lookout and newer facilities.

 

For the life of us, we cannot understand why national parks would provide better facilities so that people could run their generators. As a result, our planned four-day stay was reduced to just two days.

 

It was also interesting to discover that the towns of Karratha, Roebourne, and Dampier receive their water supply from this national park. 

 

Deep Reach Pool is located along the Fortescue River, which runs through the park. It's extensive and also very deep, making it ideal for swimming, provided you have some form of flotation device, such as a noodle. I was surprised to find that fishing was permitted, and the area adjacent to the waterhole was surrounded by gas BBQS, shade, and toilets.

We visited the Millstream Homestead, built in 1920. 

The lease on the pastoral property was established in the 1800s; at one stage, over 20,000 sheep were grazed there. A walking trail departs from the homestead and winds through groves of date palms and large paperbark trees. The entire area is adorned with clear, flowing streams and wetlands filled with water lilies. 

Our camp host, Burnie, recommended we visit Python Pool. Our original plan was to stop there on our way out of the park tomorrow. However, it was 19 km off the main road with nowhere to park the van, so his advice was very helpful.
 
The total trip was 116 km. The drive was stunning, with the sun positioned just right and the hills covered in spinifex, and some speckled clouds added a picturesque touch to our photos.

Of course, the waterfall into the pool at the base of the cliffs was not flowing this late in the dry season. However, we could only imagine how wonderful it must be to see it like this.

On our way back, we were fortunate enough to see one of the ore trains returning to Tom Price.