Thursday 5/10/2023 – King George River - Twin Falls

We stumbled out of bed around 06:30, both very tired, and had scrambled eggs, mushrooms and spinach leaves for breakfast. After my coffee, I dropped the dinghy, lowered the outboard on and got everything ready to head off.

The outboard started first pull and seemed fine and the dinghy was holding air, so all good. With walking shoes on, water, sat phone, cameras, drone and some fruit we headed off for a big adventure. After a dinghy ride around the falls admiring the size and beauty and taking a few photos of Sirocco, we headed off to find the walking track to the top of the falls.

I found the start of the track quite easy and secured the dinghy so it wouldn’t float away or get stuck on the rocks at high tide, and then we headed off. It was a hard hot climb up the steep canyon wall, and I was exhausted and dripping with sweat in no time and had to stop a few times to rest, Claudia was ok though.

When we got to the top it was very hot but there was a nice breeze blowing that gave us some relief. We followed the stacked rocks to stay on track and finally after about 40 minutes we got to the top of the falls for the incredible spectacular view.

We took a few photos at the edge of the waterfall, but I was so hot, I desperately needed a swim, so we headed off to try and find a clean water hole to cool off in. It was much dryer than last time I was here and most of the pools were either dry or stagnant. Along the way we came across a very lively whipsnake. 

As I got hotter, the more desperate for a swim I became. The further we walked up stream, the pools gradually got bigger, deeper, and clearer until we found one that was about 600mm deep and clear, so we stripped off and got in. Ooooooh, it was sooooo cool and nice.

 

We sat there for maybe 20 minutes and then I said let’s go further and try to find a deeper pool, so off we went again. The next pool was perfect and had a chest deep area next to a flat ledge and it was also full of fish. We must have spent nearly 2 hours here and by then my hands looked like prunes.

 

After this we went back to the falls, and I got my drone out to fly it out over the twin falls. I struggled for about 40 minutes to get it going as it had an alarm and the compass needed calibrating and I was having trouble seeing the screen in the bright sun.

Eventually I got it sorted and it was ready to fly, but I had wasted quite a bit of battery life in the process. I managed to get some nice photos and video and flew it back safety, landing it on the large rock next to us.

We were so high on life, there was a nice breeze blowing, and we were not hot when we started the long walk back to the dinghy. I asked Claudia to lead us back to the boat by following the stacked rocks marking the trail and she got us lost many times, but it was a good experience for here in case I was to get injured.

Along the trail there were some lovely plants, trees, flowers, cow poo, green ants, and termite mounds that we stopped to look at and photograph. Finally, we made it back to the track leading down the cliff to the dinghy. I found the going down so much easier, but Claudia struggled, sliding down on her bum most of the way. Not sure if it was due to her short legs or fear?

When we eventually got back to the dinghy, the bloody thing had gone dry on top of a large rock. I had pushed it way out on a long line to prevent this from happening, but shit happens. Luckily, I managed to push it off the rock, and slide it across the sharp oyster shells without tearing a hole in any of the pontoons or suffering any leaks.

Before heading back to Sirocco, we went over to the fern garden near the east waterfall, and we sat under the dripping water for a few minutes to cool off. We got back to Sirocco around 16:30 and we were both completely buggered.

After some snacks and a cool drink, we both recovered. Claudia started to make dinner while I had a beer and then went fishing. I caught a good pan size trevally that went into the fridge for a meal some other day, and then I had a nice cool shower on the back steps.

We had a lovely Thai green curry for dinner, then after washing the dishes we ate chocolate and I had a couple of beers before going to bed early, both very tired. According to Claudia, I talked about rocks and crocodiles in my sleep, so I must have been a little stressed out.

Track Sirocco’s progress

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Sirocco