Brisbane Trip Day 24: Armidale

This was definitely the coldest night we've had on the trip so far, and a bit of a shock after such warm nights in Brisbane. We used all the blankets and it wasn't too uncomfortable. I was up early and there was a fog covering the show grounds, with the sun shining through and silhouetting all the show buildings, it was very pretty.

I had a cup of tea and breakfast and the kids joined me as they woke up. Once I'd eaten I started work on my car window - being a Sunday I figured there'd be no one around to fix it, and also I didn't want to pay someone again, I was sure I could figure it out. It took me a while to get the door panel off, there were a couple of screws I didn't find until I looked up a diagram online. With the panel off I could see what the problem was - the window had jumped the rails and was jammed between the window column and the door frame. I tried to shift it out but it wasn't budging at all. I thought I just needed more strength, so asked the guy in the camper trailer next to us if he could help. He was a young guy, and a mechanic, and happy to help out. He'd also had a similar problem with his own window. My window though was well and truly jammed and he couldn't shift it with strength. He tried a few things and eventually found a screw that loosened the window enough to move it back and out of the jam, then put it into it's rail. He put everything back together for me and the window worked perfectly. I was very grateful.

By now it was nearly 11am so we quickly got ready and headed off to explore. We drove around Armidale and I showed the kids places that I remembered. Amelie was impressed with all the churches. I wanted to show them the 3 houses I'd lived in, on the first pass I couldn't find any of them - everything looked so different. We got petrol and drove up Elm Avenue to the uni, I was pleased to show them this beautiful road that I walked up so many times. There were a few yellow leaves here and there, but it was mainly showing it's summer glory. Driving back through town I found 2 of my houses and I think the driveway of the third.

We set off along the Waterfall Way to the east. I love this countryside - with the elevation so high the sky seems to go forever and the clouds sit differently to what we are used to. The land is pretty dry, with beautiful dead trees in all the paddocks, and lots of large rocks strewn everywhere. It's pretty tough land, very beautiful. We saw 3 eagles on our drive out to Wollomombi Falls.

At the falls we wandered around the picnic area a bit, got a glimpse of Chandler Falls, looked at the gorge, used the toilets then checked the maps and decided to do the walk that goes towards the tops of the falls. The walk was quite pretty, through wooded hills with a mix of living and dead trees and interesting undergrowth. The first lookout gave us a good view of the gorge - it was deep and immense looking - lots of places where we could see that rockfalls had happened, huge slabs of rock lining the walls where there hadn't been falls, and the river way way down below. The day was hot and at one point the kids were thinking about heading back. We could see a cool looking metal bridge up ahead though so kept walking towards that. The bridge crossed the river, above (and a few hundred metres back from) the top of the falls. It was gorgeous, the river trickling between lots of big rocks, and the river banks sloping up to grass and then trees and the blue sky above. We had a play around on the rocks and saw some rock skinks (one swam across the river to get away from us). We found a spot in the shade and sat and ate some lunch (tuna, avocado, ritz and saladas). After eating we explored a bit more above and below the bridge, then kept walking to the lookout at the top of the falls. It was pretty as well, we could see several arms of the falls coming from a rock pool at the top, and had a great view right along the gorge. We couldn't see the bottom of the falls though, they were way below us. After resting a little and admiring the view, we continued on to the lookout for Chandler Falls (two rivers meet at the bottom of the gorge, and they both have massive waterfalls dropping into the gorge just before the meeting place. Wollomombi Falls are the tallest in Australia, over 200m). These falls were also impressive. Not a lot of water in them at the moment, but we could see it falling in steps all the way to the bottom. The gorge here was similar although had different things to look at - a slightly less recent rockfall, different trees, more farmland at the top. We could also see the top of the ridge between the 2 rivers.

The walk back was pretty again although we were all quite tired. The views of the gorge from the lookouts, and even the river at the bridge, looked different because the sun had moved and the shadows were very different. Back at the car we had a big drink of water and a snack and felt a bit refreshed. We drove down to look at the camping ground (which I hadn't realised was there) - it looked pretty and was quite cheap, although the sites looked pretty hard and possibly were all gravel, so it might be tricky for us to set up there.

I'd planned to keep heading east and see Ebor Falls, Dorrigo and maybe even Bellingen, but we'd spent quite a bit of time here and got started later than I'd thought we would, and we were all feeling tired. So instead we went back towards Armidale, then went out to Gara Gorge. The last several kilometres of the road were gravel, and parts of it were the most heavily corrugated I think I've driven on. I had to drive at about 10km/hr in one bit so that the car didn't feel like it was going to fall apart. It seemed to take a long time to get to the gorge, through some very pretty countryside - then suddenly we were on paved roads again as we entered the National Park. We stopped at the Blue Hole and got out to have a look. I remembered people swimming here, and while it was attractive to look at, it didn't look inviting to swim in. No one else was there and there were no obvious paths down to the water either. We found a path through the grass that led to a big rock so we stood there and watched the birds and the skinks and enjoyed the peaceful surrounds.

I'd seen people coming out along the road who had been swimming, and several cars came past from further into the park, so we went down there. There were a lot more cars at the next carpark. We walked down to the river and saw kids in the water, and people walking back up the path in wet clothes, so I popped back to the car and got the kids swimmers. The other kids had said there was a better spot to swim further down the river. Liam and Caitlin clambered over the rocks to explore, which was fun (although Liam scratched his shoulder quite badly on a tree). They came back up and the 4 of us walked down the path a way until we found another place to reach the river. The rocks rose up quite steeply either side of the water, and the valley was narrower and more full of trees than the valley we'd had lunch in. This was beautiful as well, in a darker way. The water was reflecting in shimmery patterns on the overhanging rocks, it was very cool. The kids sat on the edge of a rock with their feet in the water and the fish nibbled on their skin, and I found a beachy area where I could wade into the water. It was cold, though bearable. The kids joined me (we had to duck under a tree branch to get to the beach) and Caitlin made her way over a rock to sit on a submerged (slippery) rock. I'd walked in to about my waist and Liam came with me, then swam out to a rock in the middle of the river. Caitlin made her way out there as well, then when she came back in I went out. There were lots of big rocks under the water and while the water was clear it was in the shade and hard to see, so we didn't swim around a lot. It was lovely though, being in the water and looking up at the rocks and the trees (and the extra reflections that the ripples we were making created on the rocks). Amelie played in the water near where we came in, it sloped down quite quickly there so it was easy to get right in to the water.

We got out and talked to a couple who were making their way up the river going from rock to rock - just where we were there wasn't an easy way to get across or around so they walked through the water. I sat with my feet in the river for a while and enjoyed the fish nibbling on my dry skin. We got dressed and walked back to the car. Amelie read the history of the water flume that used to be here - there was hydro power here once. It was interesting too to look at the debris stuck in the trees and see how high the flood level is here when there's been a lot of rain.

The drive out was a lot easier - the sun was low in the sky and was highlighting the corrugations in the road so I could avoid them as much as possible. We called in at Coles when we were back in town to grab milk and eggs and a 6-pack of beer for the guy who fixed my window. We drove around a little more so the kids could see the attractive main street and the fountain in the mall.

Back to camp and we all went and had hot showers, then had egg and cabana sandwiches for dinner. We tidied up (and I did the dishes so they weren't slowing us down in the morning) and once again were all in bed between 9 and 9.30.

Half-lap Day 80: Karajini

It was great to wake up today with no set plans – we had the whole day in Karajini and had already done most of what we wanted to do, so we could take our time and just see how the day unfolded.

The kids’ friends walked over to our tent at about 9am, and the five of them played until their mum came to get them so they could do the Dales Gorge walk. Tony had made her a coffee so she stayed and chatted to us while she drank that, then they headed off. The little girls had been playing with Millie’s toys again and didn’t want to stop – the plan was for the others to come back after their walk so the girls could have a long play together in the afternoon, and that made them willing to stop playing for now.

Tony had bought a roast in Port Hedland and we weren’t able to have campfires here, so he decided to try cooking it in the camp oven over occasional heat, kind of like slowing cooking it. He seared the meat and put lots of potatoes and liquid in the big pot, got it boiling, then we set it up in the sun, with the grill plate reflecting sunlight onto it, and black tarp on the ground around it. Throughout the day we’d put it back on the stove and get it bubbling again, then give it some more time sitting in the sun. The heavy, black, metal pot stayed pretty warm and we could see that things were cooking in there.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride to the Visitors Centre (a bit over 10km each way). They had a head wind on the way there and Caitlin found it really difficult at times (the road was quite undulating as well). They had an ice cream when they got there, looked at all the information displays and Caitlin bought a little sand filled turtle. The trip home was easier as the wind was behind them.

LiAM and Millie and I hung out at the tent while they were gone. Millie played with her animals, LiAM played with her for a while and then played on the iPad, and I mainly read my book, in between occasionally organizing a few things or keeping an eye on the meat. It was great to really relax and do not much at all for a few hours.

Tony and Caitlin returned and had a bit of lunch, then rode their bikes to the Three Ways Lookout, and walked back down to the Circular Pool to have another swim. They said it didn’t seem as cold today (it was a sunnier day as well) and they had forgotten how beautiful it was down there. I had a little nap while they were gone (possibly my first nap of the trip) and then read my book some more.

Our friends called in after their walk to say hello and drop off a water bottle they’d filled for us at the water tank. They took our techni-ice back to their freezer so we could use it in our fridge tomorrow (they had taken our freezer packs the night before) and they went back to their tent to have lunch.

We’d been surprised at how few birds we’d seen at Karajini. There was an occasional crow, a very occasional raptor flying over the gorge, and we sometimes heard the littler birds but hadn’t seen many. Today though we had a few spinifex pigeons wandering around our campsite, which the kids and I were quite happy to see.

Once Tony and Caitlin were back I went for a walk myself. I wanted to do the rim walk along the top of Dales Gorge. With it being such a warm sunny day I was also keen to swim at Fortescue Falls, the one place we didn’t swim on our walk the other day. It was great to be out walking after sitting all day so far, and I love walking on my own and setting my own pace. I had my telephoto lens with me and was able to take lots of photos that I hadn’t been able to get the other day with only my shorter lens – the ghost gums along the top of the other side of the gorge in particular, looking fantastic today with blue sky behind them and the vivid red cliffs below.

Fortescue Falls

I walked down to Fortescue Falls where there were several people swimming. After taking photos of the reflections of the cliffs in the water on the rocks, I got ready to go in the water. It was hard to get in because the rock shelf along the edge of the pool, where the water was shallow, was extremely slippery. The water was cold but not like the other pools that we had swum in, this was cold at first and then quite comfortable. The water here was flowing more than some of the other pools we’d been in and it felt different – also the first time I’d swum here with blue sky so the cliffs looked starker and it felt so spectacular. The sun had obviously been on the water earlier in the day, by now it was lower in the sky so the water was in shade, with the southern cliff face still in sunshine.

I talked briefly to a guy who was bringing his baby down to the edge to have a swim (warning him of the slipperiness) and then swam around to the falls. I sat on a rock at the base of the falls with the water running over me. It was very cool to twist around and look at the water bouncing down over these terraced rocks – each terrace is only about 10cm high and the water hit each one then bounced down to the next. The waterfall water was a bit cold, and so refreshing. I sat and soaked up all the sensations of being there for a while, then swam back, meeting the guy with the baby on the way, both of us so thrilled that we’d chosen to get in and swim to the waterfall. His wife was sitting on the edge holding the baby. When he got back we started chatting and he asked if I’d mind holding the baby so he and his wife could swim to the falls together – she wasn’t as confident in the water. I’d been wondering whether I should offer to do just that, so I was happy to help. The baby was an 8-month old boy and he sat happily in my lap, looking at the trees and the cliffs and the water. His parents went for their swim and then came back for him, and we had a good talk about travelling with kids.

I felt so happy and content by the time I left to walk up the long staircase to the top of the gorge. It seemed longer than when we did it a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t difficult. I set off on my rim walk, with the light getting redder as the sun approached the western horizon. I’d been thinking of going over to the Circular Pool lookout to watch the sunset, so the timing of my walk ended up being perfect. Along the rim I could see a lot further down the continuation of the gorge, where the walk doesn’t go (to the east of the Threes Ways Junction). It really struck me how different these gorges are to the others we’ve seen on this trip. Everywhere else we approach the gorge from the level of the bottom, then walk along the gorge or climb to the rim. Here, the land is mainly hilly, with large flat areas in between, and the gorges drop down below the flat area, deep into the earth. We approach them from the top and walk the rim, or else climb down into them. I would love to see this area from the air – I imagine it would look like there are lots of long scars cracking the earth.

The rim walk was pretty easy and quite pretty. I got to Three Ways lookout and found myself less concerned with height of the drop off, without the kids there with me. I walked along to the Circular Pool lookout and enjoyed seeing the pool again, and had a bit of vertigo which didn’t worry me overly. It wasn’t quite sunset yet but the light was beautiful, and I was happy to watch it for a little while and then move on.

I got back to camp and the 5 kids were happily playing. Tony was finishing off the lamb on the stove, and the other kids’ mum was just arriving back from her campsite, after having had a few hours over there by herself, something she hasn’t had often on this trip, without another adult around. She bought a bottle of Baileys, and some steamed vegies and cheese sauce, and they joined us for a roast dinner.

It was a lovely evening – a big glass of Baileys each for the adults, and a delicious roast lamb with lots of vegies, and great conversation. The kids really enjoyed their very long play. Having now spent more time together, it was enjoyable too for the conversation to start to move beyond just trip related stories, we’re sharing stories about our lives before the trip and really getting to know each other.

Eventually the others headed back to their van and we got ready for bed and read a chapter or two.

Half-Lap Day 79: Karajini

I was awake before the sky started to lighten. I did some karate practice in the dark (I haven’t done much for a while, it always helps me feel so much more centred and I’m glad that I’ve started it up again) and then walked down to the lookout above Fortescue Falls to watch the sunrise. I took a cup of tea with me and was the only person around. I had a couple of crows for company and other than that it was still and quiet everywhere.

It was a cloudy morning and the sky to the east was soon filled with oranges and pinks. I was facing south and could see the edge of the gorge and the hills beyond, to the south and west, becoming clearer in the morning light. I didn’t know if I’d get any sunlight, then the tips of the hills started to glow yellow. The light slowly moved down the hillside and soon it was not far from the top of the gorge. As I watched the rim of the gorge lit up and then I could actually see the edge of the sunlight creeping down the cliff wall, it was amazing. Soon the sun reached the cloud cover and the shadow started to creep down the wall like it was following the edge of the light. It didn’t take long for the gorge to be all in shadow again, it was pretty cool to watch. The falls looked beautiful throughout the whole process – the sunlight didn’t reach down that far at this early hour, but I think it could get there later in the day if there were no clouds.

I walked back to camp and started to get breakfast for people. LiAM and Caitlin were up as they were hoping to go walking with our Kings Canyon friends. I packed a bag for them and made sure they were fed, then wandered over to our friends’ site to see what the plan was. She was happy to take the older 2 with her to walk down into Hancock Gorge, and Millie and Tony and I would meet them over there for lunch, then we’d walk Weano Gorge together. These other gorges are about an 80km drive away, we have to leave the National Park and drive west, then enter the park at the other side. There is a quicker road through the park, but it is 4WD only, so we’d be taking the sealed road. I asked if Millie’s friend wanted to stay with us for the morning, she wanted to go and do the walk with the others instead.

They came over once they were ready and Millie’s friend said she would stay and play with Millie, then at the last minute changed her mind and wanted to go with her mum and do the walk. Millie was pretty upset and we had a big cuddle on our double chair until she felt like playing again. Tony played with her for a while, on the iPad and with her animals, while I got the 3 of us ready for the day. Tony put up the annex in case it rained while we were out – best to have the tent door in the dry area, and have somewhere dry to put our chairs and things.

We stopped off at the rubbish trailer to dump our bags of rubbish (so glad we don’t have to take them all with us to dump at the next town) and then drove to the other end of the park. Millie played on the iPad and Tony and I listened to music from his iPod, it was great to have music playing again. I’m loving listening to the Harry Potter books, I’d forgotten how much I love listening to music when I’m in the car, especially on long drives. We listened to a bit of Radiohead then put it on shuffle and got a bit of everything.

As we drove and I was looking at the large hills to the south, I was once again wondering which one was Mt Bruce. We drove around a slight bend and Tony said ‘I’m guessing it’s that one…’ and there was a much larger, stand alone mountain that was obviously the tallest in the region. We could see the mine behind it as well. I’d vaguely considered climbing Mt Bruce (a 6 hour walk) – looking at it I could see that the vegetation was pretty low and sparse, so there’d be no shade for most of the walk, not really worth it on this trip I think!

Heading back into the National Park the road was good (and still sealed) for a while, although had a few areas that had recently been damaged by floods. There was rain as we drove into the park and we thought we might not be able to walk in any of the gorges – but it cleared as we headed further in and we were fine. We reached the unsealed part and it was pretty good too until after the Eco Resort, then it became more corrugated. There was 13km of dirt and we drove it very very slowly otherwise everything in the car rattled and bounced and it hurt our heads. Most of the time there wasn’t any part of the road that was easier to drive on. It was quite exhausting, even for me as the passenger. Tony really didn’t enjoy it.

There was a car behind us and we soon realised it was the others, so we arrived at the lookout at the same time. We got out and had lunch, and we could see gorges all around us (on 3 sides). The kids had loved the walk into Joffre Gorge, had done it in half the advertised time, and had a cold swim at the bottom as well as walking or swimming around to Joffre Falls and standing under them. LiAM’s camera seemed to be suffering a bit from having been in the very cold water – it can go underwater but was having condensation problems from the changes in temperature, so he was a bit worried about that.

As we put our stuff back in the fridge after lunch Tony discovered that the fuse in the cord had blown again. We didn’t have a spare as the parts place where we bought the replacement only had that one in stock. We tossed up what to do and decided to buy some ice at the Eco Retreat on the way home, freeze our freezer packs in our friend’s fridge overnight, and just use the fridge as an esky for the 2 days until we go through Tom Price on our way west.

We walked out to the lookouts, stopping at Junction Pool lookout first. Nearby there was a cross, a memorial to an SES worker called Jimmy Regan, who had drowned in a flash flood trying to rescue some walkers. The kids were fascinated to see my surname on the memorial and wanted to know if he was a relative (not as far as I know). The gorge dropped away very suddenly and was 100m deep. I approached the lookout very cautiously, there were 3 gorges branching off from underneath the lookout and the vertigo started a fair way back from the edge. It got worse the closer I got, as I still couldn’t see the bottom! Eventually I did make it to the railing and the view was magnificent. There was a pool directly down below the lookout, with a large column of rocks rising from it that was only attached to the gorge wall for about half way up, the top was leaning way from the edge. At the base of the column the gap between walls was very narrow, and there was another pool on the other side of the gap. The water was flowing through the gap and continuing on past the pool down one of the gorges. The opposite gorge wall was reflected in the pool beyond the column, and at first glance that seemed to be where the bottom of the column was as well – but that was only halfway to the base of those rocks, it was a long way down from there to the narrow gap. It was a weird illusion and messed with all our heads a bit. I had to keep looking up to the horizon from time to time to stop from feeling dizzy, but I was able to stay out there for a while, soaking in the incredible sight of all these gorges, carved out of 2,500 million year old stone. This is the oldest stone we’ve seen and the whole scene was awe inspiring.

We all walked around to the Oxer lookout and could see another 2 gorges as well as the 3 we’d already been looking at. Again the view was incredible (and a little scary). The boys pointed out to me that the lookout we’d been standing on was suspended beyond the edge of the cliff wall – I’m glad I didn’t know that when I was first there, but it didn’t bother me in retrospect. I was even able to go back out there later and not worry about it. The younger girls were playing in the middle of the look out and it amused and impressed me that in the midst of this amazing panorama they’d just settled in to being together and playing their games like they wanted to. I love how they live so completely in the moment and don’t worry about what they ‘should’ be doing base on anyone else’s standards.

From there we drove up to the day use area and used the toilets, then the 9 of us set off to walk down into Weano Gorge. Millie had forgotten her runners so Tony went back to the car to get them, and the others went ahead. We walked down fairly steep but easy rock steps to reach the bottom of the gorge, then followed the water along the gorge floor. We soon caught up to the others. Twice we reached points where we had to either hold on to the rock face and walk sideways around the protruding rock (not too hard because of the flat, terraced rocks again) or take our shoes off and walk through the water. Most of us did a combination of the two, and walked barefoot for most of the rest of the track so weren’t constantly taking our shoes on and off. Other water crossings had stepping stones so our feet didn’t get wet.

Edging around the rocks and walking through the water

We reached a point where the gorge narrowed considerably – the trail changed here from a Class 4 to a Class 5. Talking to people who were coming back the other way, we decided to leave our bags here, and change into our swimmers if we were considering swimming. The kids and the other adults went barefoot, I decided to put my shoes back on as I’m really not confident on slippery rock. I left my camera behind too, I wanted to be carrying nothing so I could concentrate on balance. Tony and the others had gone ahead, and LiAM and I followed last.

The trail here followed the creek down between the gorge walls, which were now only about 1.5m apart. There was room on the edge of the water to put our feet so that they didn’t get wet, if we were careful. It wasn’t too hard but required concentration. LiAM was ahead of me and rounding a slight bend said ‘ooh Mummy, I don’t think you’re going to like this…’ I followed him around and saw what he meant (although I’d been expecting it so wasn’t too freaked out) – there was a handrail attached to the wall for the last part of the narrow chasm, and then the water and the ground dropped away and we couldn’t see what was below it. I asked LiAM to go slowly so I could still see him, and we gradually made our way to the handrail and then could see beyond. There was a very tricky corner to navigate as the gorge walls opened up again and ground dropped away into a waterfall. Once I could see it I told LiAM to go ahead and I’d take my own time. It was slippery but there were places to stand, and the handrail made it steady and safe enough. Once around the corner there were stones jutting out of the wall so that we could climb down the almost sheer wall, holding on to the handrail. I was pretty scared coming around the corner, but made it easily, then going down the wall was hard but not too scary.

Path to Handrail Pool

At the bottom was a beautiful round pool, with the cliff walls rising all around it, the waterfall splashing into it at the end we’d entered, and another narrow chasm leading off from the other side. Along one edge there were terraced rocks so we could walk around that side quite safely and reach the water’s edge. Caitlin had been in by the time I arrived, and I joined her. It was cold and it took me a while to become completely submerged – colder than the Circular pool I think, although a fantastic place to swim. I got straight out and felt rather warm, then decided to go for a bit more of a swim. Caitlin and I swam across the pool to a beachy sort of area (shallow water with small stones slowly sloping down on the far side of the pool) where the others were wading. It felt great to be swimming around in here and really experiencing the location. The boys and Tony came in as well.

The little girls wanted to climb back up the handrail and back down because it was fun – they climbed up and our friend took some photos of all the kids on the handrail – they wanted to go back around the corner but I said no, not just for fun, we could do it on the way out. A couple who we’d seen at Fern Pool yesterday were there as well – they’d been down into the further chasm, all the way to the end of the allowed trail. Caitlin wanted to go but they said it got very narrow and dark and cold and they had to swim most of the way. Tony went a little way down and said that the kids could join him there so LiAM and Caitlin went on. I stayed standing in the water in case they needed help getting out – it was cold staying still so I tried to move around a bit, then found a rock to sit on which was more comfortable. The kids headed back after a while and Tony went all the way to the stop sign, he said it wasn’t too hard and a bit exciting. He saw the top of a waterfall and it looked like it would be scary beyond that.

LiAM had had a couple of slips on the rocks and was feeling scared coming back so I swam into the chasm to help him. I saw something that looked like a twisted rope on a ledge in the rocks then realised it was probably a snake (checked it out later and it was most likely a python). I pointed it out to LiAM and he panicked a bit and fell into the water again. I swam out with him hanging on to my back, and we clambered over the rocks at the chasm entrance then quickly out of the water. Our friend and all the kids started heading back up as they wanted to do one more walk, Millie and I waited for Tony and we left not far behind the others. I was a bit scared about getting back around the top corner but I took my time and did it without incident.

We got dry and changed – I was shivering pretty hard – and headed back along the gorge, LiAM and behind the others and he soon ran ahead to catch up. I trudged along at my own pace – my hamstrings had started to cramp again in the cold water and I was feeling a bit sore now. I caught up with the other couple at one of the water crossings and walked out with them. It didn’t take long, and Tony and Millie were waiting for me at the top. The rest of our group had gone to to the Hancock Gorge walk, a Class 5 all the way with a Spider Walk along the bottom – another narrow part where you can walk through the water or like spiderman, with hands and feet on either side of the chasm (I’d done a bit of the handrail trail like that). Millie and Tony and walked back towards the lookouts as I’d seen one from the Handrail pool and wanted to look down at the pool – we couldn’t find the lookout though, and ended up back at Junction Pool and Oxer lookouts. We enjoyed the view again then walked back to the car, and headed our bumpy way back out to the Eco Retreat.

We drove in and were able to buy ice from the café (for $10!!!) and put that in our fridge. We waited there for the others, as Millie’s friend wanted to come back in our car. There were a group of French girls there who had had an accident that morning and their car was written off, they were looking for accommodation for the night and we were relieved to hear that someone had lent them a spare tent.

Millie had an ice block while we waited, and when the others arrived our friend bought me a hot chocolate as a thank you for waiting in the cold. The kids had all done really well on the walk, and Caitlin and the oldest boy had had another swim in more very cold water. There were some very tricky bits in this gorge and they’d had to walk or swim through water quite a bit. LiAM wasn’t tall enough to do the spider walk and hadn’t gone all the way to the end with Caitlin and their friend, but he’d enjoyed the bit he’d done. Three hard gorges in one day – that’s so impressive, although the kids didn’t think it was that big a deal.

Millie’s friend came back in our car and they played I-Spy for a while then watched a DVD. Our other kids went back in the other car. We drove home in the dark, with a full moon popping out from behind the clouds occasionally. We got phone signal as we drove past the mine and received a couple of texts before it dropped out again. Back at the tent the other kids stayed with us while their Mum cooked tea, then she walkie-talkied to tell them it was ready and they walked back. Millie was thrilled to finally have a good play with her toys and her friend today.

We had soup and noodles for dinner then got ready for bed. I read a couple of chapters of Inheritance and everyone was asleep fairly easily after an extremely exhausting day.

Half-lap Day 78: Karajini

LiAM woke up a few times, freezing, because his blankets kept sliding off and he’d just be in his sleeping bag. He still wasn’t feeling well and was a bit miserable. It was a gorgeous morning when I got up a little after sunrise – still cold, but clear and fresh.

Once everyone was up we had breakfast and Caitlin rode her bike around the campsite and the other loops in the campground. Millie and LiAM played hide and seek with the 4 year old they’d met yesterday, then the girls got Millie’s toys out again and played on the picnic rug until the other girl had to go.  I played with Millie for a while, I was the mother to all the toys and was giving them names.

We’d been looking at the maps and slowly working out what we wanted to do for the day, and eventually packed food and swimmers and put hats and sunscreen on and set off. We walked through our camping loop and the next one, and then to a look out over the Circular Pool. On the way we saw several (very cute) little lizards sunning themselves on rocks. I’d heard that the gorges suddenly appear in front of you as you walk, and that was true. Suddenly up ahead we could see a large gap in the ground, and as we got closer to the lookout the depth became more apparent, and all we could say was ‘Woah!’. Even Tony felt some vertigo as he came close to the edge, it dropped straight down about a hundred metres, and the gorge wasn’t very wide before it climbed sheerly up the other side. We could see the Circular Pool from here and it looked gorgeous, surrounded by moss and ferns. People were swimming in it and walking around and we were keen to get down there. We walked to the next lookout which looked out over a junction in the gorge – it was called Three Ways Lookout and we could see the 3 directions that the gorge took from that point. We could also see the path down to the bottom of the gorge – it didn’t look as steep as I was worried it would be (it was marked on the map as very difficult).

A vertigo inducing view of the Circular Pool

We started down the path, it was rocky and windy but not hard. People coming up seemed to be struggling a little and I was glad that we’d chosen to go down here and come up at the other end. At the bottom of the gorge we walked in towards Circular Pool, and the track did get a fair bit harder – the rocks here were like slabs laid on top of each other, and most of the track was walking up and down natural steps in these rocks, to get along to the end of the gorge. We had to cross the water at one stage, it was very shallow here, just flowing over the flat rocks, and there were stepping stones so we didn’t need to get wet.

Walking along the bottom of the gorge

 We reached the end and it was just as beautiful as it had looked from the top. A deep green pool surrounded by the end of the gorge, with ferns and moss along one side, where water was running into the pool. We’d heard it was very cold, but were all keen to swim anyway. Tony went in first and swore as he came up the first time. Caitlin went in next, she’s pretty good with cold water but said this was really cold. They swam over to the waterfall and said the water there was a bit warmer, they sat on the rocks with the water running over them and felt a bit more comfortable. Millie and I tried to go in, I lifted her over the edge of the water (it was quite rocky) and put her on a flatter part of the bottom – she said it was too cold and asked me to take her straight out. She went and got changed and sat in the sun talking to some ladies who had just got out of the water.

Looking up from the Circular Pool

I went the rest of the way in and it was seriously cold. I swam over to the waterfalls and the water was slightly less cold as it ran over the rocks. I let it flow over my head, while Tony and Caitlin sat up on the rocks. LiAM walked the long way around the edge of the pool and reached the ledge above where we were, and went into the waterfall water that way. There was a ledge he could stand on and have the water fall right over his body. He climbed down to the waters edge after a while, and Caitlin climbed up to the ledge. I’d helped her climb up and then was treading water near the rocks, I helped LiAM get down and then my muscles started to burn, all over my body, so I swam back to the edge and got out. The others stayed in a bit longer then eventually made their way out of the water as well. I was changed and in the sun and feeling much warmer.

After the others got out, Millie decided she would like to have a swim. She got changed, and then some people that we’d met at De Grey (and then seen again at Port Hedland – siblings from England who have been working their way around Australia, they have a dog that the kids loved), arrived at the pool. We chatted to them for a while, and Millie tried to get in the water. Another family arrived and got in as well, then Caitlin started chatting to the kids and got back in with them. Tony went back in and helped Millie get over to the waterfall, and Caitlin and the other girl swam over. The boy wanted to get to the waterfall as well and Tony came back and helped him over. The kids climbed on the rocks and sat or stood under the water for a while, then everyone got out and quickly got dressed and sat in the sun while we had a snack. We talked to the other family for a while, about places to stay on the West Coast and places we’d liked around Kununurra, then we headed back down the gorge.

Millie was cold and hungry and wanted to go back to the tent. She had a bit of fun jumping off some of the higher rocks on our way out, and ate some biscuits which helped a bit. We continued along the bottom of the gorge rather than climbing back up the top, and once Millie put her long pants back on she felt better again. A lollipop made things much happier as well. She and I walked at a slower pace at the others, playing alphabet games and chatting about what we could see. The first part of the gorge was pretty easy, then we crossed the water on stepping stones, and the next part was much harder. The path was very narrow, between the cliff face and the water. At times the only way along was to step from stone to stone through the water, next to the cliff, as the path disappeared entirely. A couple of steps were too long for Millie’s legs, I would stand on one stone with her then lift her across to the next one, then she could usually grab the cliff and step back on to the path from there. It was difficult but not dangerous – the water was shallow (only a couple of centimetres at most) so if we missed a step we’d get wet feet but not be harmed. There was a seam of blue asbestos at about head height at one point, which we carefully avoided.

Jumping off the rocks

At times the path widened out or we walked on large flat stones surrounded by water. It was beautiful all the way, lots of paperbark gums, tall red cliffs on either side, and fresh water trickling past, looking green from the reflections of all the trees. The rocks were still slab like, so the cliffs were very craggy as different levels had broken off at different points. We reached Fortescue Falls – the path led across the water at the base of the pool below the falls. It gave us a big range of views of the falls as we had to walk around half of the pool. We climbed up the terraced cliff on the side of the pool and found a flatish area to eat lunch, watching the waterfall. A few people went swimming and we considered it but the water didn’t look as nice, and the temperature was much lower than earlier in the day (it had become quite cloudy by now). After we’d eaten we decided to continue on to Fern Pool. I went via the falls and got some great close up photos, I was able to stand on some rocks looking straight in at the water falling above me, it was very cool.

Fortescue Falls

The walk in to Fern Pool was easier, along a dirt trail, past some huge trees. There were also trees growing in the cliff with all their roots exposed and hanging down, they looked very cool. The pool itself was lovely, so green and inviting looking, with a small waterfall on the other side. Caitlin got in quite quickly, and confirmed what we’d been told – it was cold, but not as cold as the Circular Pool (this pool would get sunlight on it for part of the day, the other pool probably gets none at all). I went in as well and it felt great, refreshing and so nice to be a large pool surrounded by all these cliffs. I could see fish under the platform as I climbed down the ladder. This pool was quite deep and surrounded by trees, very different to the other one. Caitlin came back in and we swam over to the waterfall – it was about 60m and Caitlin was a bit nervous in the deep water, but she made it easily. It was a little harder as we approached the falls because of the current. We climbed up on the rocks, and Caitlin went straight in to the ledge behind the waterfall. I sat at the base of the fall for a while, then very inelegantly clambered up to where Caitlin was and we sat comfortably for a while looking out through the falling water, it was very very cool. We climbed back down the rocks and swam back as fast as we could (Caitlin didn’t want to linger).

Millie was thinking of coming in now and LiAM had been in and out and now wanted to come to the falls with me. I was happy to help either of them but was getting cold so encouraged them to hurry up and decide who was going first. I was standing on the ladder and a fish bit my toe and I yelled, which amused everyone who was standing on the platform. LiAM came in and we swam back across to the falls. He was very nervous, it’s the furthest he’s swum without help (and I knew I couldn’t do it with him on my back) and there was weed in the water which was freaking him out (it was a bit spiky). Towards the end I swam side stroke and had one hand under his arm which helped him a bit, he felt much more secure if I was touching him. We reached the falls and he climbed up behind them and loved it there. I sat below the falls again and let them wash over me, while the fish nibbled at the dead skin and the sand fly bites on my skin.

Fern Pool

While we were sitting there we noticed the others talking to some people on the platform – it was our friends from Kings Canyon again! This gave LiAM the motivation to get back in the water, and I helped swim back across. I was doing most of the work with my legs this time and towards the end my left leg started to cramp just above the knee. I thought I was still going to take Millie into the water, but she was happy now playing with her friend and didn’t want to swim anymore.

I got out and stretched out the cramp and we caught up on each other’s news since Broome. We got dry and changed and walked back together, this time taking the stairs straight up from Fortescue Falls. The girls were having a fantastic time playing together and exploring the trail.  The mum offered to give Millie a lift back to our tent, and the son walked with us, everyone was happy with this arrangement. When we got to the tent we all sat down and had a wine and shared some chips and dip, and the girls played with Millie’s toys (they play in such a similar way, this worked much better than the games Millie had been trying to play with the other girl earlier in the day). They decided to have a picnic shop, so got some biscuits and nutella and drinks to snack on and sell to their animals at the shop.

We all sat and chatted for over an hour and had a lovely evening. Tony cooked dinner while we were talking, and once it was ready they headed back to their van to get their own dinner. We made tentative plans to do some walks together tomorrow, possibly with our oldest 2 going with them to do a harder walk and then meeting up later to do some more.

We ate and then got ready for bed. I walked the girls over to the toilet and on the way back Caitlin spotted an owl in a tree, very cool. My muscles were all aching by now after swimming so much in the cold, and the long long walk with lots of ups and downs for my knees. As I walked back into camp I thought I was stabbed by spinifex, but the pain just kept getting worse. I got Caitlin to shine the torch on my ankle and there was a HUGE ant with both its pincers and its stinger stuck fast into my skin, through my sock. Caitlin flicked it off with her torch and sprayed it for me with aloe vera, and found a cold wine bottle to hold against it. The pain receded after a while and I was able to continue getting ready for bed. Millie decided to sleep with us (she didn’t like the blanket wall that was still up in the tent I think) and we snuggled in and read Inheritance until everyone was very sleepy.