Australia: Tales from a Canadian Nomad: Wigglies Waterhole

So I finally braved the heat and dragged my air con ass outside for a little adventure. I had heard about Wigglies Waterhole which is just north of town by about 15 minutes at best. I knew it had two entrances, one that was rough 4WD track and one that wasn't. I decided to take both - I drove in on the 4WD track, and out on the regular bush road. The first was definitely a 4WD track, with lots of rock, ruts, and creek bed. No sand thankfully as that is where my Rav4 struggles. On the way in I stopped at the bridge crossing the creek as there was some noticeable grafitti there. The bridge is the Geoff Moss Bridge, and in 2010, a 24 year old man was climbing down off the edge of it and his harness flipped and he fell out of it, dropping to his death below on the rocks. There is a memorial poem painted on one of the pillars, and other memories painted on the rocks around it. Tragic death for sure.

Then it was onward to Wigglies Waterhole. I came upon a sign for Wigglies Gorge, which I hadn't heard about, only to discover it wasn't much of a gorge, and there wasn't much to see. So I took a few photos and carried on to Wigglies Waterhole. Just as I arrived there, another vehicle turned up with a large Aboriginal family. Three kids, four women and a man. The kids all raced ahead and as they were passing me, I slipped flat on my sorry ass and back - WHAM down on the ground. The pebbles on the path were too rounded and I skidded to such a fall. Thankfully I had the foresight to keep my camera on my chest so it didn't smash against the ground. I had my big camera with me and would be heartbroken if I trashed it. Everyone called out to see if I was okay, and so I got up and dusted myself off, pride and all and carried on. It did hurt, and I am so very sore since then, mostly my ass and back, but also a bit of stiffness in my neck. One would think with so much padding on the ass, I wouldn't be able to hurt it. One would be wrong.

So after collecting myself, I got up and wandered down the hill to the waterhole. Well, there wasn't much water there and it was so warm I couldn't imagine getting any refreshment from it. I also felt like I was intruding as the Aboriginal family descended upon the waterhole as a clan. That was fine. I moseyed around, took some photos beyond the waterhole, and of the area and jumped back into the car and headed out. It wasn't until I returned home and looked at my photos that I realized when I fell, I had moved one of the settings and all of my waterhole photos were overexposed. Dammit. I can't be bothered going back because it was so very unremarkable, but I hate overexposed photos. I should have checked as I was snapping the frames but didn't. I was just still reeling from my fall I reckon. In any event, I've posted a few from the little adventure.