Yarrangobilly Thermal Pool

“Water in caves presents a problem which can be minimised in its effect upon the individual or party by the use of appropriate techniques. By and large, water in caves should be avoided, because there is no point in splashing about for the sake of it, or because one is going to get wet later on in any case. A wet man is a cold man, and a cold man is a liability. To the caver, this is an unnecessary waste. It is for those reasons that immersion should be delayed until it is absolutely unavoidable.” The house | The dinner | Thermal pool | Expedition One | Expedition Two | Charades etc | Movies

Chapter 3: Yarrangobilly Thermal Pool
Since the weather was glorious all weekend (though a tad frosty before the sun came up), we decided that a dip in the thermal pool would be in order. An early scouting mission proved that the trek was possible, and plans were made to arrive at the venue at sunrise (or thereabouts).

Strict protocols were adhered to: no photography was permitted of non-males in bathing attire, and males without bathing attire were asked to refrain from partaking in the frivolities, or to borrow someone else's bathing garments. All went very swimmingly, through Gregg was clearly disappointed to discover that the objects tickling his feet were not indeed baked trout, but some other organism which is best left unmentioned.

The less-adventurous members of the party remained vigil at the poolside in case of any mishap, ready to apply CPR or Mars bars.
[click for larger images/more detail]

We made an early reconnaissance of the pool before sunrise	This is what it looked like through the morning mist	The green vegetation in the foreground is 'grass'	Incongruous in such surroundings, Autumn makes its presence felt
Either some people are overdressed, or some of us are lizards	A dangerous middle-of-the-road photo shoot	The Roberts were inseparable for most of the weekend	Spiro ψαράς is ready for action
Meanwhile, the thermal pool warms up	The crowd assembles for the ritual bathing experience	Alex considers her options, but backs out after being unable to undo her shoelaces	Pauline inspects the temperature whilst Jenny and Jim disentangle themselves
The men emerge from the bathing shed	Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps have little to worry about	Brian briefly reconsiders his options after Ivan emerges from his dive	No diving. No splashing. No photography. No swimming.
With only one lane for laps, the pool was quickly crowded with swimmers	The life guards show keen interest in the proceedings	Awaiting Brian's emergence from the changing sheds, the crowd grew restless	Since Brian forgot to pack apré-swimming gear, we took in the scenery
Our Greek fisherman goes looking for a boat	If you look closely, there are nine trout in this picture	Our first major cave sighting whets the appetite	All of a sudden, we became quite geologically inclined