Normally they visit 5 gorges in Karijini National Park, but Tony found the group to be fit enough to do all 7 of them (wasn’t I lucky, hum…). He thinks the place is fantastic and visits the gorges in his spare time. It was an 8 hour drive and because it gets dark at 6 pm, we left at 6 am already. In late afternoon we visited Hamersly Gorge. The picture of the toilet is a good example on how toilets looked like along the way and on the camping site. Very basic and guaranteed inhabited by all sorts of spiders and insects.
De gorges zijn onderverdeeld in klasse. Deze was klasse 4: weinig aanpassingen gebeurd (bijvoorbeeld trappen of leuningen) waardoor het op sommige plekken serieus moeilijk kan zijn. Ze vragen een middelmatige tot hoge fitheid. Deze gorge viel op zich nog mee, omdat het grotendeels droog was en de weg kort. Enkel 1 rots was vrij moeilijk voor mij om erop te geraken. Op het einde van elke gorge is steeds een pool (water). Helaas heb ik hier niet gezwommen, omdat Tony niet gezegd had onze bathers (zwemgerei) mee te nemen en mijn backpack ergens achteraan verstopt was. Hij benadrukte ook voor de komende dagen: ‘Wet rocks are slippery’. Natte rotsen zijn glad.
They give each gorge a level. This one was level 4: very little modifications (like stairs and leanings) what makes certain spots hard to pass. They ask a moderate to high fitness. This gorge was not too bad, because most of the path was dry and it was a short way. Just 1 rock was a bit hard for me to get on. At the end of each gorge there is a pool (water). Alas I did not swim in this one, because Tony did not tell us to bring our bathers and my backpack was somewhere hidden at the back. He emphasised for the upcoming days: ‘Wet rocks are slippery’.
They give each gorge a level. This one was level 4: very little modifications (like stairs and leanings) what makes certain spots hard to pass. They ask a moderate to high fitness. This gorge was not too bad, because most of the path was dry and it was a short way. Just 1 rock was a bit hard for me to get on. At the end of each gorge there is a pool (water). Alas I did not swim in this one, because Tony did not tell us to bring our bathers and my backpack was somewhere hidden at the back. He emphasised for the upcoming days: ‘Wet rocks are slippery’.
Toen we in het kamp toekwamen was het al donker. Er was 1 wc+douche en dan nog eens een apart wc en aparte douche. Enkel die eerste wc+douche was verlicht en tegen ons vertrek was dat licht en de klink stuk. Het was bezet en ben zonder nadenken naar de andere wc gegaan. In het donker dus. Zonder de toestand te weten of zonder te weten welke dieren er rondhingen. Niet slecht van mezelf. Tony had liever dat we geen douches namen en dat we in de natuur naar de wc gingen. Dat was erover voor mij. En voor de meeste anderen ook trouwens. Dan gingen we ons bed maken, nog steeds in het donker dus. We sliepen in swags, wat ik niet eens op voorhand wist. Een swag is een soort omhulsel voor je slaapzak met matrasje onderaan. Zie foto (deze is wel op een andere plek genomen). Verder sliepen we dus op de grond onder de sterren. Er waren tenten om de backpacks in te stockeren (en de swags overdag). De prinsessen (zoals hij ze noemde) konden er ook in slapen. Ondanks een beetje regen de eerste nacht heb ik alle 3 nachten in de swag buiten geslapen. Weer een grens verlegd en een nieuwe ervaring opgedaan. Ik vond het uitzicht trouwens prijsloos en het beste ooit. Weer zoveel mooie sterren en zelfs de vallende sterren zijn hier zeer zichtbaar. De eerste nacht alleen al 6 gezien! Af en toe wakker geworden door lawaai van de anderen, huilende dingo en bijtende mieren, maar dat nam ik er bij. Zalige frisse wind in het gezicht, beter dan airco.
Tijdens en na het avondmaal zaten we op picknickbanken vergezeld van reuzengrote sprinkhanen die graag op ons sprongen en een megadikke spin onder tafel.
When we arrived at the camp it was dark already. There was 1 toilet+shower, a second separate toilet and a second separate shower. Only the first toilet+shower had a light and by the time we left the light and the handle were broken. It was occupied and without thinking I went to the other toilet. In the dark. Not knowing its condition or knowing what animals were hanging around. Pretty courageous if I say so myself. Tony preferred we did not take any showers and went to nature’s toilet. That was too much for me and most others. We then went to set up our bed, so still in the dark. We were sleeping in swags, what I did not even know on beforehand. A swag is a kind of sleeping bag made from hard material with a small mattress at the bottom. You put your sleeping bag inside. See picture (taken at an other spot). So basically we slept on the ground under the stars. There were tents to stock the backpacks (and the swags during the day). The princesses, like he called them, could also sleep in the tents. Even though it rained a bit the first night I slept all 3 nights in the swag outside. Again I expanded a limit and had a new experience. I thought the view was priceless and the best ever. Again so many beautiful stars and even falling stars are very visible here. The first night alone I saw 6 of them! Once in a while I woke up because of noise of the others, a howling dingo and biting ants, but that was part of it. Great wind in the face, better than airco.
During and after diner we sat on picnic tables accompanied by giant grasshoppers who loved to jump on us and a mega big spider under the table.
Tijdens en na het avondmaal zaten we op picknickbanken vergezeld van reuzengrote sprinkhanen die graag op ons sprongen en een megadikke spin onder tafel.
When we arrived at the camp it was dark already. There was 1 toilet+shower, a second separate toilet and a second separate shower. Only the first toilet+shower had a light and by the time we left the light and the handle were broken. It was occupied and without thinking I went to the other toilet. In the dark. Not knowing its condition or knowing what animals were hanging around. Pretty courageous if I say so myself. Tony preferred we did not take any showers and went to nature’s toilet. That was too much for me and most others. We then went to set up our bed, so still in the dark. We were sleeping in swags, what I did not even know on beforehand. A swag is a kind of sleeping bag made from hard material with a small mattress at the bottom. You put your sleeping bag inside. See picture (taken at an other spot). So basically we slept on the ground under the stars. There were tents to stock the backpacks (and the swags during the day). The princesses, like he called them, could also sleep in the tents. Even though it rained a bit the first night I slept all 3 nights in the swag outside. Again I expanded a limit and had a new experience. I thought the view was priceless and the best ever. Again so many beautiful stars and even falling stars are very visible here. The first night alone I saw 6 of them! Once in a while I woke up because of noise of the others, a howling dingo and biting ants, but that was part of it. Great wind in the face, better than airco.
During and after diner we sat on picnic tables accompanied by giant grasshoppers who loved to jump on us and a mega big spider under the table.
zo'ne swag zie ik ook wel zitten! Super cool. Da moet idd prijsloos zijn om onder de blote sterrenhemel, ver van de geïndustrialiseerde wereld, in slaap te kunnen vallen.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenGoe gedaan van u zene, zo uw grenzen verlegt! Ik ben fier op u!