Kalamina Gorge

Saturday 17th May 2008

Almost as soon as they were awake the girls wanted to be off with their friends but we managed to force some breakfast in first. Paige and Cate were doing schoolwork (which made us feel guilty and strengthened our resolve for tomorrow) but headed over as soon as they were finished and the girls all spent the morning doing their ‘stuff’.

We packed up a semblance of a lunch and dragged the girls off to the visitors’ centre. I found it very interesting but the girls (and Paul to a lesser extent) were soon bored and wanted their ice-cream and out! There was a lot of stuff about how the aboriginals lived alongside white fellas – often as almost slaves but there was also some celebration of how people managed to survive in such harsh conditions and there was some about aboriginal traditions in the area. I don’t think the place is very old but parts of it were showing signs of wear – I suppose that’s another result of the harsh conditions!

We then had to coax the girls into another gorge – this time Kalamina Gorge which is halfway between Dales and Hancock. This was along more dirt roads but luckily the Landcruiser is better sealed than the camper trailer (although not immune altogether – that stuff gets in everywhere). Once we’d got them going they really enjoyed themselves with Katie yomping on ahead at every opportunity. It was a relatively easy clamber with some breathtaking viewpoints and at the end a natural archway in the rock which could only be reached by swimming so we admired it from afar!

The colour of the rocks is amazing, as are the formations and the fact that during the wet season there can be metres of water above where we were standing – torrents gushing down the gorges that are the reason for the plentiful signs warning of flash floods.

Back at camp the girls were suitably tired but still put up the usual bedtime fight. Paul and I, however, were adamant because we wanted to watch the next episode of Six Feet Under before the laptop ran out of power again!

And, apparently, it got to 6 degrees tonight, so no wonder we were still cold despite the addition of jumpers and socks to our bedtime apparel – so attractive!