The drive out was interesting , going through flat lands , up mountains , down mountains , over dry river & creek beds , and some with pools of water . All the way out we passed road trains regularly - they come & go from Port Hedland to Telfor Mine all day & night . There have been the most cattle we’ve seen for a long time . It is mustering time around here at the moment , so there are helicopters and mustering crews arriving .
Arriving at the turnoff to Carrawine Gorge , we turned in , there were 6 cars & camper trailers stopped on their way out . The road in was corrugated and rocky , with occasional washouts . On a star picket beside the road was a sign - Glacial Polished Rocks - we decided we best have a look at this - here we are in the dry outback and they’re talking about glaciers ???? About 1klm in we came to a rocky outcrop and stopped and went for a walk - well there it was - all this rock had been scraped and indeed polished . We started to imagine a glacier sliding over the top of these rocks , cutting slices off , leaving grooves and curves . Some of the rock has weathered away - as you can imagine , the glacier certainly wasn’t here in the last few hundred years or so !!!
The sun reflects off the polished rocks quite well !!
Carrying on , we were only a few more klms away from the gorge , anticipation was growing, we’d already learnt something new for the day , and were hoping for there to be plenty of water - enough for a paddle anyway . We’ve carried the kayak with us all this way and weren’t expecting to paddle in the outback - but we’re hoping .
The scenery going in was what we would expect from the outback - dry barren stoney ground , spinifex , stunted trees & occasional shrubbery bush , very stark - almost what you’ve seen in all those old western movies !!
Arriving at the gorge we found ourselves driving down over the river bed - a very wide area of river stones probably nearly 500m wide , leading us to the gorge . Stopping to have a look, we found a lot of water - it hasn’t been flowing for a while , but there was a long pool stretching around the corner out of site .
Finding a spot , we got the kayak down , had some lunch and headed off toward the corner. Much to our delight , the pool continued on , and on , and on . Getting in was fun , the gravel & sand base that looked nice and firm had swallowed most of my legs up to my knees in mud !! The first few minutes on the water were spent washing my legs !!
Rounding the corner , the ridge on the right disappeared , turning into gravel river bank , another cliff appearing on our left . There were ducks , heron , cranes , pelicans and our favourite rainbow bee eaters - about 30 or more . They would dive off tree branches , grabbing insects and with a sweeping turn just above us , return to their branch . There were many other birds as well , which were all nice to hear .
Before too much longer we’d found the end of the pool about 3klms from where we put in , so turned & came back . With the cliff line now on our right we paddled across and into the shadows - it was about 5 degrees cooler in there . Looking up we found mud swallow nests on the cliff face - very clever little builders !!
Coming back to the corner , there was a little offshoot to the pool going into a narrower valley between the rocky ridges , so we went to the end of there as well before coming back to the main cliff line across from where we put in .
Cruising up a little further we found the other end , so came back and got out - found a firm spot to stand on while getting out - that was a bonus !!
The drive back was uneventful , the scenery is stunning , such a beautiful country we live in !!!
We are currently in the East Pilbara Shire - it’s the biggest shire in the world - check the size of it in the photo !!
They have a series of steel sculptures on the way into Marble Bar , these are just 2 of them.
That’s it for today , we sat and chatted to our neighbours from Rockingham in Perth for a while , before getting some tea . Here’s todays map :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AtDATGW_1NRpNY16to01hJaO74c&usp=sharing
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