Day 53 23/10 (Sat) – West Oz Active Combo Gorge Tour

If you come to Karajini, I cannot recommend this more highly as a “must do” experience. A combination tour was on offer, which was a combo of the Knox Slides Tour and the Journey to the Centre of the Earth Tour. Not cheap but definitely worth every penny and easily the best day tour either of us has ever done. Although the heat at this time of the year make it uncomfortable, this is the time to get down into the gorges themselves and enjoy the cool of the water (quite cold at other times of the year). All equipment (including hiking / water sandals, wet suits, rubber inner tubes and little paddles) supplied and morning tea and lunch stops catered for (chocolate bar, snake and apple for morning tea and salad, meats and bread for lunch). There is no access to most of the area we were going to without appropriate climbing, etc qualifications and permission from the rangers (Class 6 gorge area).
Ably led by owner/operator Dan and his offsider Pete, we hiked down into Knox Gorge carrying our inner tubes (being careful not to deflate them on the spinifex), had a refreshing dip in the first pool we came to, did a practice 2m jump into the water a bit further along and then slid down a rocky waterslide to drop 5m into a deep pool in the now quite narrow gorge. Then an 8m abseil into the next (pretty shallow) pool, tossing the inner tubes into the next larger pool and scrambling over the rocks to jump in (mine floated away across the pool wothout me) and float (or swim if you’ve lost your tube) across to the little island for morning tea. Spectacular scenery, with the gorge walls rising up precipitously all around, amazing red, white and blue-gray strata  of the different minerals visible, and the clear green water and green of the surrounding trees and bushes. Morning tea was at the junction of three of the gorges (Knox, Red and another one whose name I’ve forgotten) and then we continued to float down Red Gorge in the inner tubes, gently paddling while admiring this inspiring place, with occasional short hikes across to the next stretch of water (all drinkable). For something a bit more active we then got the oppotunity to leap into the water attached to our tubes (either straight in, twisting around or somersaulting while “sitting” on your tube) and jump 8m into the water (you don’t have to do any of this and you could jump in from a lesser height). More hiking and floating then lunch at the Junction Pool – intersection of four gorges (Red, Joffre, Weano and Hancock). Could look up from here and see all the other poor people looking down from Oxer Lookout! Next it was up through the “Centre of the Earth”, a narrow climb up a cascade in Hancock Gorge. You wouldn’t want to be caught in here in a flash flood – a change in the colour of the rock strata (where the overlying softer red rock / dust had been washed clean) indicated flooding in this gorge to at least 5m. On to Regan’s Pool, named in honour of Jim Regan, an SES volunteer who died during a gorge rescue 6 years ago in a flash flood, where we could attempt to climb around the edge of the pool (and fail unfortunately – only one of the 6 of us who tried it made it, although Chris was looking good just before he fell into the pool!), while Dan was setting the ropes for the climb out. Next a climb up and around the rock face above Regan’s Pool, rope assisted and then on to Kermit’s Pool (which is the furthest you can get into Hancock Gorge on your own), the spider walk and wading out to the ladder up out of the gorge.
All in all, the best day ever! Managed to stay awake long enough that evening to get back over to the bar to see the DVD of photos and video put together by Dan for an additional small cost.

More info from the West Oz Active website.