Yesterday I ran into the group from Kakadu that I met. They are camped right near me. While I was eating my big bowl of mush (packet mash mixed with canned pepper steak) one of them came over and invited me to dinner. My mush is very filling but I went over and had a bit of fish.
One of the couples asked what they should do tomorrow and I suggested they go to Zebedee Springs and El Questro and take me too. They agreed.
We went down to Zebedee early. Being on NT time helps as it is an hour and a half earlier here. The springs are surrounded by palm trees at the base of an enormous, orange, concave cliff that looms above. There are black marks on the cliffs where the water tumbles over in the wet season. It must be quite a sight.
The spring comes out toward the base of the cliffs and flows down through a series of rock holes into a creek. The biggest rock hole could fit maybe 5 people and there are only half a dozen or so. We spent some time in the rockhole at the bottom and the water was lovely. Like a bath. After a while we saw some people coming down from the higher holes and went up. The water up their was even warmer as it was right where it comes out from then rock. It was really nice, amongst the palms in this crystal clear 32 degree water. I didn't even wee in it as it was already warm enough.
Getting out was cold. I could've wee'd myself then. We left as quite a few people were arriving so it was a good thing we were early.
Next we went to the gorge. There is a long water crossing on the way. Most of it would probably be doable on the bike but there is a deep hole at one end that would bring me down. Let's face it, the whole lot could bring me down.
The walk through the gorge is grade 4 to the middle pool and grade 5 to the end. It was 4.8km return. The old boy I was with (Jack, I think) stayed behind but his wife is a bit more sprightly so we went along to the middle pool. The walk was along the rocks that make up the bottom of the creek in the wet season. It wasnt too hard but the middle pool was a bit disappointing.
Sue insisted I carry on. They didn't mind waiting for me. To get to the next part of the track I had to scale a big boulder by wedging myself in a crack with my legs on the boulder and my back against the wall of the gorge and shuffling up. It was out in the water so my boots were around my neck.
It actually wasn't that hard to do. The next part of the walk was pure rock hopping and was a bit longer than the first part. It was really good fun. I felt like a tomb raider. I had to climb across ledges, slide down rocks, leap across the creek, hang from trees. Near the end I had to climb up a little waterfall.
Right at the last tricky bit I stuffed up. There was a deep pool with a shear wall on the left and a bit of a climbable wall on the right. I climbed along the right wall but couldn't go any further. There was a submerged rock in the pool and it seemed to be the only way to go. So I jumped to it and my boots got soaked. When I got across I saw that the top of the wall on the left was actually a ledge and I was supposed to climb it way back before the pool.
After that there was a waterfall. The gorge actually continues beyond but the waterfall blocks any further progress. The pool at the bottom was super deep. I reckon 10 metres. I didn't really think it was that special except that at this point the gorge is really narrow. I took a vertical panorama but can't share it because of the shite internet here.
I started the walk back and realised, when I got to the little waterfall that I'd climbed up, that climbing down was going to be tricky. Shortly after that it occurred to me that gravity was on my side. That wall that waterfall went down wasn't actually vertical, so I got on my bum and slid down. Amazingly it worked. So I slid down as much stuff as I could on the walk back. When I got to the big boulder down to the middle pool I wedged myself back in the crack and slid my back down while walking my legs down. My shoes were already wet so I didn't bother taking them off.
All in all it was an enjoyable day.
Tomorrow I'm out of here. Going to tackle those water crossings again. On the way out this morning there was a group of maybe 15 people riding Africa Twins. They are nice adventure bikes. They were all identical so I think they must be on a guided tour.
We got to the water crossing when there were two bikes left to cross. The first one made a bit of a meal of it and stalled in the middle. To be riding an Africa Twin means they have their full licence so I feel a bit better. I would've been stoked if he dropped it or got stuck like I did. The fact that he went down the middle and not right on the edge like a moron (me) meant he could get his feet down and it wasn't a big deal. So I'll go down the middle tomorrow too. I also let my tyres down and ate a bunch of weight which I have been evacuating from myself today.
I'm going to take the bitumen over to Derby. It is a long way and I can't see any spots where I'll have internet. Furthermore, Wolfe Creek Crater, the Bungle Bungles the King Leopold Ranges are accessible but make for significant detours. If I decide to go to all of them it could be a couple of weeks before I'm back on the internet. Having said that, I don't know that I'll do any of them.
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