Today we are pool hunters. We have heard about Bulgo Pool, and it fits our criteria – it is man-made, filled by the ocean, and functional according to all reports. However, the route isn’t entirely clear. There are a few references to it online here and there but getting there will be an adventure. What we do know is that there is a significant descent through the national park to get to the pool.
We park at Otford and immediately walk in the wrong direction for 30 minutes. As we retrace our steps, we spy the pool below cut into the rock. It looks very small and a long way down.
Once on the right path, we commence the descent. It is not easy and our group ends up slightly lost and get help from some of the inhabitants of the shack community living on the beach. These are people who holiday in the small shacks built during the depression by people who had nothing. You can’t sell or develop these shacks – they feel like a shabby chic Hamptons community by the sea.
We continue down and spot that the younger part of our group is already in the water. They have claimed the prize of the first explorers, to float in this beautiful and remote pool on their own.
When we arrive, Paul G finds a natural rock pool shaped like a fish. It is a perfect representation with a fin, tail and mouth. It is whole and complete, home to other, smaller fish.
This fish rock pool is a living fractal – a pattern that is similar and related at different scales all over nature. It is why broccoli looks like a tree, why hang-gliders look like birds, why a whole world can be inside one rock pool.
Mimicry is a building block and, in this case, the water has chosen to create a pool that mimics a fish. With its mouth facing east toward the ocean it seems to be drinking in the sea to grow.
Later our children tell us this is their favorite pool so far. The combination of the clear water, the absence of others and the effort it has taken us to get here have pushed it up the ranks. I am reminded of how we are always yearning for our own Eden. We unknowingly mimic the earliest stories we have ever known. In this case, there is a perfect place to be found in the wilderness.
In the Bulgo water, they are the happiest they have been since we started. Every path you walk for yourself first, and then for your children – just as your parents did for you. You want to share your wisdom and give them an insight into your passions and pleasures.
At night, around the dinner table with our friends, I say a prayer. I talk about how my god is the god of passion and pleasure – a god that encourages you to explore and share them with your family and friends.