Karijini National Park
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2007
1
100
131
Trip End
Jun 2009
Tom Price,
Western Australia,
Australia
Monday, October 13, 2008
The following day, up early, we made our way towards the Dales Gorge and were surprised to find that just a few meters from our camp the land plunged some 150 meters down to a small river in the base. We followed the trail down the gorge wall where striations of red and black colours hinted at the rich iron ore present within the rock. In the bottom we followed the river through gardens of green towards Circular Pool - a cold crystal clear plunge pool with a warm curtain of water flowing through the rock and over a ledge into the water, made for quite a refreshing swim, although, at 9am, Kev wasn't quite ready to take a dip. We retraced our steps back to the garden but instead of climbing back up, we followed the trail along the bottom to the other end of the gorge where Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool were. It was so peaceful on the walk with only us and the occasional lizard, by now the sun was high in the sky but the trees and ledges of the cliff offered some shade and respite from the heat. At the falls, the peace was shattered by the 2 dozen or so other tourists that had driven along the rim and taken the shorter path down, ah well it was nice while it lasted.
We had read that Fern Pool was of very high cultural importance to the local Aboriginal people, as not only was it used for ceremony but it was also the resting place of one of the creation serpents. We had read in the visitors centre about the strict etiquette on how the pool should be approached and entered, so that the serpent would not be angered. The rules involved introducing yourself by name and where you are from, the next step involved taking water into your mouth and spraying it out towards the pool, then the pool should only be entered via the step ladders provided. We followed all but the spraying of pool water from our mouths - we didn't really want to get sick, but entering the pool took us sometime as not only was the water freezing but the abundance of fish made it quite difficult to pluck up the courage. We did eventually get in but only managed a few strokes before fear got the better of us. There was a guy there who had a blatant disregard for the signs asking you to use the step ladders and subsequently the sun went behind a big grey cloud, not to reappear again!!!!
The next night was spent at an eco-camp that had a telephone and flushing toilets!!! We were disturbed by a tour bus arriving and deciding that everyone in the park should listen to their music rather than the wonderful sound of nature. The gorges at the opposite side of the park were viewed from a look out over the point where 5 come together and meet. The view was stunning and made us keen to go explore. We decided on Weano Gorge, where a trail in the bottom had us rock hopping, traversing cliff faces in order to remain dry and then climbing down a roped handrail to the aptly named Handrail pool. The way down was very slippery with water cascading down, by now our feet were saturated and a view of the pool from the top more than sufficed, it was too shaded to swim there anyway!!
We left the park and headed to the town of Tom Price, where the toilets were closed, the sun too hot and the supermarket poorly stocked - the only saving grace being a dirty sausage roll and a tank of fuel - on we went....
