Today finds us revisiting Dales Gorge in Karijini , another great part of this national park . We looked around the visitors centre first , before the generator ran out of fuel & the lights went out .
We headed round to Dales Campground and up to circular Pool Lookout , the pool itself looked to be a bit low on water , this is the view looking back to Dales Gorge on the right - you can walk along the gorge & up to Fortescue Falls & Fern Pool - our next stop .
A field of wildflowers greeted us at the Fortescue Falls carpark , where we had lunch before going for our walk & swim .
We'd forgotten what it looked like till we got to the edge of the gorge , memories came flooding back , but today is different , we had time to soak it all in , instead of being on a mission to see it all & do it all .
Next into view was Fortescue Falls - this view never fails to amaze , water cascading down multiple steps in the rocks and a beautiful green pool of water at the base . As is usual here there are always people swimming or lying on the rocks enjoying what nature has provided .
There's a lot of steps and platforms to walk down to get to the falls and as you descend further the breeze stops and the heat starts to increase . We kept walking past the falls , heading instead to Fern Pool . When we were here last - 3 years ago - we didn't swim here , today however is a different story .
The walk is an improvised one without any form other than the natural lay of the land , over rocks & tree roots , past some amazing trees - tall paperbarks & gums reaching upwards from the creek beds , large chunks of rock - the size of a truck - are lying where they've fallen of the adjacent cliffs a long time ago .
Then we arrive here , a large pool of beautiful clear green water , some people already in and enjoying the water . Didn't take us long to jump in , lot's of small perch swimming around in the pool and nibbling on your feet if you sat and dangled them in the water .
The water was a nice temperature , cool but not cold , a very pleasant temperature for a swim . The pool is reasonably deep - at least 3m . We swam around an held onto various tree branches that were in the pool , going under the waterfall & sitting on the rocks .
These are some of the wildflowers here .
Some interesting colours are in the rock layers here , more what you would have associated with where we were yesterday at Wittenoom . The white / grey layer is asbestos in it's natural form , and it's all around the falls and gorge . In one place there is a layer of white dust in an eroded section of cave in the gorge wall - not sure how safe that could be , but must be alright otherwise the authorities would shut it down - as they do !!
That was the sum total of today , a very relaxed day in our travels - time for another night in paradise .
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