Day 84 15/06/2011 Karijini National Park

 Day 84 15/06/2011 Karijini National Park

BBRRR, Claudia and I were the smarter ones, it was very very cold last night, in fact there was a frost evident on the ground and on the neighbour’s car!! Callum said that he stayed warm too because he was all scrunched up in bed with his doona, dressing gown, Tigger and Floppy to keep him warm.  Pete complained that his face got cold all night – not sure how he fixes that problem.  Claudia and I were very snuggly warm.

Dales Gorge

We decided that we would tackle the Dales Gorge walk, this walk encompassed the Gorge Rim section, Fortescue Falls and Circular Pools, it was an easy 4.5kms.  Unfortunately Zac couldn’t come with us because he has two infected mosquito bites on his foot and it is swollen and painful!! When we head to Tom Price if the swelling and infection hasn’t subsided we will need to get him to a doctor.  It is very painful at the moment!!  So we left Zac at the van with school work to complete and an expectation that he would actually do some!!

Circular Pool

The walk started off heading straight down into Dales Gorge heading towards Fortescue Falls, this was an easy descent but we were reminded by the kids that what goes down must go up.  After admiring the falls and with Callum in the lead we headed off down the creek side trail that would take us to Circular Pool.  The trail took us past some amazing banded iron rock formations as the gorge walls towered above us.  We also got to wonder at the tranquil sunken gardens, deep sedge-fringed pools, and permanently cascading waterfalls.  The walk was relatively easy and we enjoyed the rock hopping and climbing that we had to do to get to Circular Pool. 



Circular Pool was a natural pool that occurred at the bottom of a waterfall.  The waterfall wasn’t falling from the top but about five metres from the pool was a spring fed fall.  What made the pool so beautiful was the clearness of the water and the beautiful maiden hair ferns that fringed the edge of the pool.  Whilst the brochures recommended a dip in this pool, we didn’t swim because the water was freezing!! The gorge walls were so high that the pool only received a small amount of direct sunlight each day, definitely not enough sunlight to warm the water enough to invite us in.

The walk back from Circular Pool took us a little way back along the path that we had already walked but then we deviated off and took the steep climb back up the gorge wall.  Thank goodness for those who went before us and built steps and where necessary provided a ladder.  Once we reached the top of the gorge we enjoyed the rest of the rim walk back to the caravan for a well-earned lunch!!

When we got back surprisingly Zac had completed a number of school tasks that I had set for him, he had also managed to eat his way through a box of biscuits, pull in the awning because he was worried about the wind affecting it and go for a bike ride – his version of recess!!



Fern Pool - where we had our bath



After lunch we decided that we needed to put on our swimmers and head back to the pool under Fortescue Falls for a swim.  It had been a number of days since we had been able to have a full shower and I thought we could all benefit from a dip in the water to freshen up – no soap or shampoo allowed – but a rinse off would be good.  We also decided that Zac could join us on this walk as it was not too far and he needed to get out of the caravan.  Without so much as testing the water with our toes the kids and I jumped in, oh my gosh, the water was freezing, poor Claudia almost went blue immediately, but we quickly gave ourselves a rub over and jump out.  Whilst we were freezing ourselves Peter had discovered Fern Pool, and he reassured us that it was warmer – he wasn’t swimming but others had told him it was OK.  We gathered up our clothes and headed to Fern Pool and after jumping in first, the kids took a vote and I lost!! I can attest that Fern Pool was warmer, not so warm that I would have stayed in for more than a few minutes but warm enough that I feel cleaner!!



Dales Gorge walk



Coincidently, whilst getting dried we met up with the grey nomads that we had previously met at Tunnel Creek, the ones that shared their big dolphin torch with us!!  It was nice to catch up with them again and to chat about where they had been on their adventure since we saw them last.

In preparation for another cold night I cooked dinner in the van, the oven and stove make a great heater for our little van.