DAY 11 ~ Wednesday
Funnily enough we woke up to the sound of Corellas and Galahs again! The beautiful sunrise revealed a nice campsite, dominated by red hills full of iron, pretty trees and lovely wild flowers. We got on the road about 9.00 and headed toward Karajini NP - quite a long way away still.
After a brief stop at the Visitor centre, we headed off to visit the various gorges. First stop was Oxer Lookout where 4 gorges meet. It was spectacular, very narrow, steep and deep with beautiful red sedimentary layers. Next we paid a visit to Joffre falls but there wasn't too much water in them. There were people swimming way down below in a pool. From their echoes we could tell the water was absolutely freezing!
We headed back to the Dales Gorge area to grab a campsite for the night, followed by a swim of our own, in Circular Pool. The walk down was really steep, more of a scramble.
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Circular Pool
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Then when we came to the bottom it was like a lost civilization,
something from a Tarzan movie, all these ledges with water dripping off
them, ferns, it's hard to describe. We went to the end of the gorge and
found the pool at the bottom of a cliff, it was perfect, a cold blue, with water dripping down the walls, like waterfalls. There were other people there standing under the water drips, which were, they said, surprisingly warm. Ian and I jumped in the pool, it was glacial, like ice cubes!! But very exhilarating. Then we climbed up on the ledges under the waterfalls which were indeed warm - apparently spring fed.
It was like being in a fantasy land, so exciting, especially once the others left. The rocks were rather slippery but we managed to stay upright. To get back, we again leapt into the freezing though invigorating pool. It made you all tingly. Before climbing back up, Ian found a small vein of what we imagined to be Blue Asbestos or some other strange kind of fibrous mineral. The hike back up the cliff wasn't so bad, easier than coming down. We had enjoyed this latest thrilling adventure.
However, when we got back to the campsite the cold set in, It was windy and the chill got into us. Again, it was a fairly primitive campsite and Ian discovered a Red Back spider in the loo, the first we'd ever seen. It didn't bother me when I could see it, but later it disappeared, which made you wonder where it was and what it was up to. We consoled ourselves with the thought that, like the sea snakes they are meant to be non-aggressive! It didn't stop my knees from knocking though!
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