Our Enchanted World: PRETTY POOL

PRETTY POOL is the subdivision where I am staying. It is named after an inlet just over the hill from my place - which I thought was a large natural pool close to the beach. I was warned by local people that although some foolhardy souls swim there, I should avoid it for fear of salties (salt water crocodiles known for their aggressive territorial habits and voracious appetites) and stonefish with nasty spikes protruding from their rocklike skin - oh and maybe a few sharks....
Hence I stayed away except to take the following photos - from a respectful distance.

Until my new friend Andi called me when I was at the gym yesterday afternoon and offered to take me kayaking - he did not say where. Naively, I readily agreed.

Andi is an adventurous soul. He is one of the locally based Flying Doctors; he and his wife have sailed extensively and he has traveled widely and is very active.

Andi and his kayaks and truck at Pretty Pool.
We arrived at Pretty Pool at sunset at 620pm. The sky was beginning to turn pale blue with the clouds blushing pink. I knew we had less than an hour of daylight. Was this a clever decision? Had I been selected as Croc fodder? Is Andi a true friend? He knows I am here all alone. I told him my wife's name is Danuta and I have four wonderful children. He promised to warn the crocs to keep their distance.
I am used to a conventional sea kayak - wide and stable. Andi's are surf kayaks - long and narrow and definitely unstable. He tells me to keep moving forward otherwise I might roll over. Nothing would induce me to flip over!
I could not take my camera for fear of getting it wet - but I had my phone securely waterproofed in my Aquapac (thanks Danka!). In any event, it would have been too dark and I did not want to scare and upset the crocs with the flash.
Pretty Pool turns out to be a serpentine inlet extending over 2km inland finally terminating close to a road I drive by daily, yet all but invisible from the roads and byways as the terrain around is so flat and marshy.
It turned out to be a wonderful experience kayaking up through the mangroves after sunset, with the glorious colours of the sky and an ever darkening wet world around one. The tide was low and there was very little flow. We paddled back fairly fast arriving at our starting point in pitch darkness.