OK here is a bit more about the pool...I'll do this over 2 post because of photos...
In the twenty or so years since my first visit to the pool I've taken only a handful
of people to this spot...it's a special place for me and each person I have taken
there also feels this way...It will be hard to convey the energy and vibe of this place
so a selection of photos may help to give an appreciation of the lay of the land....
a breif description may also help...The pool is on the eastern edge of the caldera
and is found between the ocean and mountians....Here is a description taken off
a web site...sorry if there's to much info
The biggest erosion caldera in the southern hemisphere, and one of the largest calderas in the world, it
is one of the world's great natural wonders, and also one of the few places where the erosion process
can be seen to the underlying pre-volcanic sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, providing enthusiasts
with a wonderful opportunity to test their knowledge of geological processes.
When the volcano finished it's eruptions about 20 million years ago, the volcano had risen to a height
of over 2 kilometres. Layers of ash and lava had been deposited over its outward slopes, to a diameter
of about 100 kilometres.
This spread the volcano out over an area from Byron Bay in the southeast, and Lismore in the
southwest, to Mount Tamborine to the north in QLD.
Over the past 20 million years the vast majority of the material ejected has been eroded away by time,
and the effect of the many minor creeks and tributaries including the Rous and Oxley rivers, feeding
the Tweed River, winding its way across the valley floor and eventually entering the ocean at Tweed
Heads.
What remains is still mighty impressive. Considered the central magma plug, Mt Warning and a
system of ring dykes, being extremely hard rock, have resisted erosion, and dominate the valley
landscape, especially in and around the township of Murwillumbah.
The rim of the caldera has been protected by a cap of very hard basaltic rock, forms a virtual semi
circle of vertical cliffs around the western side of Mt Warning, which now stands at just over 1100
meters tall, and is increasingly known by it's aboriginal name - "Wollumbin".
Being so high and so far east on the Australian coast, it is the first peak on the mainland in Australia to
be touched by the rising sun at the Autumn and Spring Equinox.
Back to my stuff now...It's a pretty amazing spot...and this pool is not accessible to the general public..
I've only encountered people there once....and they were leaving as I arrived...the best way to describe
the enviroment of the pool is womb like...it feels like a safe secret place...and I'm sure has been used
as such by many who have visited...for doing whatever they had to do...especially Aboriginal peoples...
the pool can only be accessed one way...
(unless you abseil in,or jump...DJ would of had a good spot here with CC)
So when Michael says"tell them about the pool" Well...some people say it's good for their Dreams
others say it's like a wishing well...some just admire the beauty...some go there alone and you never
know...some go there to chant and sing...one told me they saw their future...and some just like to swim
some never tell...we are all fortunate in that we have places like this we can go....
I took two aboriginal men from the Northern Territory (Ramangining, East Arnhem Land)and they said
it was a special place and stood in the pool and chanted...when they finished they told me that the
ancestral spirits(Guardians) had been asleep because no one was left to talk with them...but now
they were awake(so it would be good for me to spend time here)they also said they could speak with
their Kin back in the N.T.because this pool was connected with many others(Aboriginals also do this
with special trees...Talking Trees)they then showed me how it's done...then they made fire and
smoked tabacco at the entrance of the pool,told me that a flying fox spirit appeared(I was supprised
because I knew that nearby there was a large flying fox rookery-colony,they had only just arrived...and
this fact had not been mentioned)they liked it there very much...I managed to record the tabacco
song...I'll MP3 it and with Michaels help post it somewhere for downloading...
As for the deppressions on the stone(I think there are 5)They may be natural but the pattern doesn't
suggest so...also the similar depth and spacing makes this unlikley(my guess is they were made by
aboriginals) as I have not seen any others like them in this area...but very similar wearing can be seen
in other places I have visited and it's definitely natural...I'll post a pic of this...I'm familiar with the ideas
of recapitulation but as such don't practice as set out by DJ...hope you enjoy the pics and reading
about the pool...the numbers on the pics should allow you to position yourself in the pool,enjoy your
swim...ha..ha...
THE PICS...the pool is a 3 tiered system the upper pool only accessible by climbing up next to the first
waterfall,the top of which is #1...there is no way out of this pool but to climb back down or jump....
#2 is the top of the waterfall flowing into this pool...one pic looks back down from this point #2 to point
#1&3...from this point just to your right there is a smaller waterfall from which I always have a drink...
point #3 being entry and exit to the lower main pool next to the rock with 5 circular deppressions... also
there is an image of the sky above the pool...and 2 of natural wear in stone...hope this helps put things
in perspective...
P.S. I follow all of your threads but am not always able to respond...I enjoy the time that I visit "Soma"
thanks everyone!!!
