Day 74 Mary Pool, Halls Creek, Palm Springs, Sawpit Gorge, Caroline Pool

 We have finally adjusted to the WA time zone and were able to sleep in, and soon we will have to readjust to eastern states time. We opened the blinds and lay in bed looking out on an amazing view, where we had enjoyed the sunset the night before. But we had to get up and get moving and back onto the road towards Halls Creek. We stopped over at Mary pool briefly. This was another well equipped free campground by the water. The pool is an offshoot from the Mary River and it was teeming with birdlife. There were several Pelicans, Cormorants and Corella’s squawked in the trees above, to name a few. 

mary river camp ground

the previously mentioned anthills / diprotodon do-do 

 We continued on to Halls Creek and topped up with fuel before heading back onto the dirt. of course i start filling up then a tour bus unloads at the pump next to me with a load of 70 yer old clipper experts. trapped again. We headed down the Duncan Highway, which was quite narrow and winding in places, with dry creek crossings and flood ways. This is a main road, with warning signs about road trains, yet we felt it wasn’t really up for the task, and would be a slow drive back to Kununurra. It was really very scenic however, with ever changing views and outlooks to enjoy. We drove past the original town site for Halls Creek, which was later relocated after the gold rush. we drove past cause its a bit of a dump.  theyve put a pile of bricks at the site of each old building, then put a sign up, and someone painted the sign completely white. all of them. with nothing on it. no idea what the pile of bricks is supposed to represent. its no wonder they moved halls creek. creek wasnt great there either.  We drove out to Palm Springs, which lived up to its name and was a pool of water with palms around it. Matt enjoyed lunch here. From there we headed down to Sawpit Gorge. The surrounding hills beside the road were covered in spinifex domes, that from a distance looked as though they were soft and fluffy, but the reality is they are sharp and prickly. and itchy. The road was even worse than before, with short creek crossings, that had steep entry and exit angles, which meant Matt and to expertly steer Bridget through. The gorge itself was quite small, and we had to walk through above ankle water to reach it. We observed a sign that said a croc had been sighted at Palm Springs, we thought it was a misplaced sign, as there was no warning at Palm Springs itself. 🤔There was a young family enjoying the gorge and attempting to fish the green waters. The gorge had red rocky cliffs on either side, that weren’t huge. A nice spot nonetheless. We returned to Bridget and headed back out. Matt had spied a couple of old  rusty wrecks and took photos of them, one was an upside down ‘70’s Holden, and the other was a 1950’s FC Holden sedan. 

We returned back past Palm Springs and down the winding road and turned off to Caroline Pool. This was another small gorge with a pool of water.  We decided it was a good place to stop for free for the night. Matt carefully drove Bridget down a steep road to the dry creek bed, and we parked here with great views to wake up to tomorrow. Matt placed our chairs near the water and we sat for the afternoon enjoying watching the birdlife here. There was a family of Cormorants diving for fish. But there was one bird that hadn’t quite mastered the silent dive for fish manoeuvre and would flap its wings and squawk and then dive into the water beneath the surface. I wonder how hungry this bird is, and how successful its ‘scare the fish’ technique might be. The birds after fishing for a bit, would sit on the rocks and dry their wings. There was a lone white Egret with them, but it seemed a bit precious and wouldn’t get wet, probably didn’t want to get dirty. There was an azure winged Kookaburra sitting on a branch quite high up in a tree quietly, just observing. Just as the sun was setting, it flew down and swooped so quickly at the surface of the water, the beautiful blue wings in full flight. It had succeeded in catching the fish and returned to the branch to eat it after giving it a few knocks on the branch. The black Cormorant heard the splash and came flying over to see what had made the splash and who was eating its fish, down that end of the pool. As the Kookaburra was safely up in the tree enjoying its dinner, the Cormorant returned to the other end of the pool, before getting out to dry its wings. It amazing what you can see when you stop long enough. This maybe the last gorge we visit in WA, and maybe even on this adventure.