点评:Prior reading was high in its praise for the clarity of the water in the waterhole and the pristine nature which engulfed it. It was also reassuring, that the walk to the gorge, whilst not a doddle, was manageable for scramblers of our experience and expertise.
The drive to the NP like any other entry past neighbours of parks: lots of “private property” signs and “keep out” and the like. Several had even placed their own speed limit signs - 5 kph- on the roads outside their houses. It was about a twenty minute drive until we reached an already crowded car park which soon became overcrowded as we kitted up. One Japanese tour group asked if there were snakes: in some way our gators had them concerned. I told them the bush adage about the third person being the one who gets bitten and they disappeared up the track, seemingly counting the position in the line.
The info was right about the walk: ten minutes of mostly flat track with about 15 steps as we approached the pool. They were right about the waterhole too: it was delightful but as you would expect, bloody cold.
This was the last of the accuracy.
As we set off across a very difficult traverse of a boulder field which was about 35 metres across, folks came the other way with tales of a steep climb up and then a steeper incline down to the gorge. Several had thrown in the towel and returned to the waterhole. An experienced walker who told us other tracks she had taken on, said it was grossly underestimated in the literature. Five minutes into our rock- crossing, we back tracked to find out more.
Finally a young, very fit couple arrived back from the gorge, describing a steep climb and then a very steep incline over unstable ground down to the gorge. An added bonus were the three Tiger Snakes they saw. His honesty, expressed as an audible gasp when he entered the cold water, made him a believable witness.
Our waning enthusiasm ran out and instead we sat for quite a while talking with folks.
翻译:之前的阅读对水坑中的水的清澈度和吞没它的原始自然给予了高度赞扬。同样令人放心的是,步行到峡谷虽然不是轻而易举的事,但对于我们的经验和专业知识的争夺者来说是可以控制的。
开车去 NP 就像经过公园邻居的任何其他入口一样:许多“私有财产”标志和“禁止入内”等。一些人甚至在他们家门外的道路上放置了自己的限速标志——每小时 5 公里。大约二十分钟的车程,我们到达了一个已经很拥挤的停车场,当我们整装待发时,停车场很快变得人满为患。一个日本旅行团询问是否有蛇:在某种程度上,我们的鳄鱼让他们担心。我告诉他们关于第三个人被咬的丛林格言,他们消失在赛道上,似乎在计算队伍中的位置。
关于步行的信息是正确的:当我们接近游泳池时,大约有 15 步,大约 10 分钟的平坦轨道。他们对水坑的看法也是正确的:它令人愉快,但正如你所预料的那样,非常冷。
这是最后的准确性。
当我们出发穿过一个非常困难的横跨大约 35 米宽的巨石场时,人们从另一个方向走了过来,讲述了一个陡峭的攀登,然后一个更陡峭的斜坡下到峡谷的故事。几个人已经认输并回到了水坑。一位经验丰富的步行者告诉我们她走过的其他足迹,她说这在文献中被严重低估了。穿越岩石五分钟后,我们回头寻找更多信息。
终于,一对年轻、体格健壮的夫妇从峡谷回来了,他们描述了一段陡峭的攀登,然后在不稳定的地面上沿着非常陡峭的斜坡下到峡谷。一个额外的好处是他们看到了三条虎蛇。他的诚实,表现在他进入冷水时发出的喘息声,使他成为了一个可信的证人。
我们逐渐减弱的热情耗尽了,相反,我们坐了很长时间与人们交谈。