After leaving Maguk we drove up to Cooinda to get some information about Yellow Water cruises, Jim Jim falls and other places of interest in the area. Trev and I booked a Yellow Water Sunrise Cruise for the next morning at $99pp (including breakfast), then we drove 10km down the road to Mardugal Campground to set up. Good campground, $10pp pn with good clean showers and toilets.
After lunch we drove out to Jim Jim Falls - 50km of serious corrugations, then 10km of winding, deep, sandy 4WD track to arrive at the beginning of the walk into Jim Jim. The first part of the walk was relatively easy, then we came to the interesting part - huge boulders crossing the river, many of them shiny and slippery with sand on top of them. It was really difficult, especially for those of us with shorter legs! And this walk was done in 30 degree heat - not pretty. We finally made it to the lower pool where we all had a swim, while looking up at the towering rocks in the gorge. There were large fish in the pool, and Trev and I took some movies with the little gopro waterproof camera.
We still hadn't arrived at the pool directly under the falls and Carole and I were feeling very tired after our walk over the boulders, so Trevor and John continued on through another boulder-filled pool, climbed up yet more black slippery boulders to arrive at the crest, looking down into the last pool. They both raved about how amazing it was, so I had to go, didn't I? I swam/crawled through the rocky water, then clawed my way up through the rocks to meet Trev and John at the top. I must say, I was very proud of myself, and I'm glad I made the effort. The final pool was huge, in a deep, dark cavern against rich red rocks. It would have been even more spectacular if the falls had been flowing, but it was still very impressive. Meanwhile, Carole was back in the lower pool, and slipped over while taking a movie, giving her camera a wash and her hip a nasty bruise and graze. Hopefully, her camera will recover.
The walk/climb back was just as difficult as it was on the way in, and by the time we got back to the car we were all hot and sweaty again. Just as well we had some cold water in the car-fridge. On the way back, poor Trev was driving directly into the sun, following some slow vehicles along the corrugations, and finding his way through their dust. As we neared the end of the road, we had to pull up sharply as a couple of vehicles had stopped in the road - they were trying to move a large olive python (around 3m) from the side of the road, to no avail. He wasn't interested in moving, so we continued on to camp. Next morning we had to be up early for our cruise.
After lunch we drove out to Jim Jim Falls - 50km of serious corrugations, then 10km of winding, deep, sandy 4WD track to arrive at the beginning of the walk into Jim Jim. The first part of the walk was relatively easy, then we came to the interesting part - huge boulders crossing the river, many of them shiny and slippery with sand on top of them. It was really difficult, especially for those of us with shorter legs! And this walk was done in 30 degree heat - not pretty. We finally made it to the lower pool where we all had a swim, while looking up at the towering rocks in the gorge. There were large fish in the pool, and Trev and I took some movies with the little gopro waterproof camera.
We still hadn't arrived at the pool directly under the falls and Carole and I were feeling very tired after our walk over the boulders, so Trevor and John continued on through another boulder-filled pool, climbed up yet more black slippery boulders to arrive at the crest, looking down into the last pool. They both raved about how amazing it was, so I had to go, didn't I? I swam/crawled through the rocky water, then clawed my way up through the rocks to meet Trev and John at the top. I must say, I was very proud of myself, and I'm glad I made the effort. The final pool was huge, in a deep, dark cavern against rich red rocks. It would have been even more spectacular if the falls had been flowing, but it was still very impressive. Meanwhile, Carole was back in the lower pool, and slipped over while taking a movie, giving her camera a wash and her hip a nasty bruise and graze. Hopefully, her camera will recover.The walk/climb back was just as difficult as it was on the way in, and by the time we got back to the car we were all hot and sweaty again. Just as well we had some cold water in the car-fridge. On the way back, poor Trev was driving directly into the sun, following some slow vehicles along the corrugations, and finding his way through their dust. As we neared the end of the road, we had to pull up sharply as a couple of vehicles had stopped in the road - they were trying to move a large olive python (around 3m) from the side of the road, to no avail. He wasn't interested in moving, so we continued on to camp. Next morning we had to be up early for our cruise.
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