Day 35 – October 5 2012

We decided to venture a little further today & drove north to the Western River Wilderness Protection Area & walked the Waterfall Creek Hike.  The dirt road in was in very good condition & when we got to the small car park there was only one other car there, from the ACT & the couple live in the same suburb we do just a few streets away – a small world.  The first 2km of the walk was fairly easy, along an old road that had been washed & eroded in places, but generally fairly easy downhill.  The last 500 metres was where it got tough, up & down & around, over rocks, tree branches before arriving at the end of the track looking down at the waterfall whence Waterfall Creek gets its name.  There was not much water trickling over the falls, but it was a very pretty sight anyway, a lot better than the photo shows.  I can only imagine what it would be like in full flight dropping the 30 or so metres to the small valley below it.  We had a very pleasant walk back to the car chatting to the other Canberrans.

We then headed to Stokes Bay, through lots of farmlands that are yellow in colour, either from the canola crops or the native yellow daisy that is everywhere, & the famous Rockpool Café for lunch.  People travel from everywhere to eat at this café (we certainly did since there isn’t any other place to eat anywhere near).  It is small & beach shack in style & served a nice seafood meal & good coffee, looking out over the small Stokes Bay, a fisherman’s paradise.  After lunch we walked to the beach, the sign on a large rock pointed to the beach, but it pointed straight at the cliff – we thought someone put the sign up as a joke. When we got closer we found that there is a tiny winding path through the eroded limestone cliff that goes through a cave that has entrances on both sides, opening out onto a beautiful sandy beach.  It was really very special walking through this cave for access to the beach.  There were a few families with kids playing in the sheltered rock pool as soon as we stepped out of the cave & the rest of the beach was empty, there were signs warning of strong rip currents a little further along the beach.  We walked the length of the beach & were treated to the sight of a pair of hooded plovers, a rare & endangered bird species of southern Australia.  They are small black & white birds with short legs, unusual for a beach bird, they looked cute when they were walking, their legs couldn’t be seen as they moved.

We enjoyed the beachcombing, the views changing with the changing light & the sheer beauty of the seascape.  The drive back through the rolling farmland was enjoyable, we called in at Parndana to stock up on a few groceries (another place people drive for miles just to shop there, ha ha), then made our way back to camp before it got dark.  We spotted an echidna on the side of the road plus a wedge tail eagle feeding on a dead possum in the middle of the road.  Of concern though was the large number of kangaroos on the side of the road or on the road itself, only moving when I braked & nearly came to a stop, fairly scary & I slowed right down as the light was fading in the showering rain.  We got back to camp safely despite the near misses & there is a few sporadic showers coming through.  Another great day.