Trekkin

What a day.  This was only going to be a short walk, but it ended up totaling about 19km by the time that we finished up, around 7.30pm at night.  So, in two days, we have walked over 41km in the bush, uphill, downhill, across creeks, up & down ladders, reasonably strenuous exercise, but totally worth it.  Today was a day of WOWs, as each natural feature we saw was amazingly beautiful and the photos we took don’t even start to do justice to the grandeur and scale of it all, not to mention the colours and contrasts.

We started our day at Ward’s Canyon, a small, beautiful narrow side gorge above a waterfall. With a pocket of rare king ferns & the floor of the creek coated with red algae, simply stunning.  Our next venture was to the amphitheatre, what an amazing place, entered through a tiny slit in the cliff face above a waterfall about 10m up, then through a very narrow crack in the rocks into a massive 60m deep basin that water has eroded into the sandstone.  Again, simply amazing.  Onto the Moss Garden, a very pretty gorge with water constantly dripping out of the walls creating a natural water mist for the profusion of mosses & ferns that grew there, with a small beautiful waterfall as a backdrop.  From there we went to Mickey Creek gorge & the small Warrumbah side gorge, which was again, absolutely beautiful, with a massive sheer cliff down to the water as a backdrop to the waterfall, mosses, ferns, staghorns, elkhorns & the rest of the enormous variety of plant life.  Our last daylight stop was Baloon Cave, another small aboriginal painting site.

Then into our night walk with Simon, a very knowledgeable guide to spot sugar gliders.  We were very fortunate & spotted three different species of sugar glider & even more fortunate to see two of them gliding between trees.  It’s amazing how many sugar gliders there are in such a small area that we spotlighted in.  I’m very glad we had Simon guiding as he knew where to look, what to look for & what to listen for, plus the different calls that they made.  It was a very special evening, made even more so by the stunning array of stars on a clear cloudless night as a backdrop.

Our legs are so tired.

Wow what a day!!  Feeling stiff calf and thigh muscles we dragged ourselves out of bed and had a very quick breakfast, packed lunch and we were off by 8.10 am.   Amazing that once we started to move how quickly our legs eased up.  We back tracked (as there is only one path) to where we left off yesterday so that we could look at all the other sights that we missed.  The walk was so different today because of the different sunlight. The places we went to were once again simply magical.  Yesterday because we had an early start we were most of the time on our own out the front heading to the end of the   track. Today it was a lot more social, we met people from lots of place even overseas ones, the reason is because these places are closer and most people only go this far.

While at the camping ground we used the great outdoor kitchen and dining area – we met so many people, young eager back packers, families with young children from all over the world (today a young Danish family told us that they stole our Princess Mary and she is doing a great job and they haven’t been anywhere where it’s been so lovely and such friendly people – their Prince Frederick did well) and others (like us or even a lot older).  Everyone is friendly (hardly ever a name is exchanged) ready to tell you where they have been or where they are going, advising you what to look out for.  When I go home I will be lobbying our government about putting up a kitchen dining area in every street – just think, we would even get to know our neighbours.

This morning we left for our walk at 8 o’clock.  Yesterday I didn’t think that I could walk 19.2 km (return trip) to Big Bend (end of the walking track) but today I know that I walked about 22km.  It was worth every step just walking amongst the beautiful Carnarvon fan palms, cycads, eucalypts, wattles, ferns, grasses and many, many others I don’t know the names of would have been worth the long walk alone, but the magnificent sandstone walls of the gorge shimmering in the sunshine was just magical.  This place is an oasis of rainforest.  I wanted to take photos of everything but the camera just can’t do it justice. To think that there are plants thousands of years old and that the rocks were formed hundreds of millions of years ago made me realise how insignificant we humans are. There is some great Aboriginal rock art (ancient graffiti) to be seen on the sand stone walls.  Tomorrow we will go for a shorter walk about half the distance.  We are hoping anyway.  They are all reasonably easy tracks, even as you zigzag across the creek (over 20 creek crossing in 9.6km) large stepping stones are placed solidly.   Coming back that last 4 km couldn’t come fast enough – “ aren’t we there yet?”

The sites we visited today were Big Bend, the end of the formed track & overnight camping area.  As the name suggests, it is on a big bend of the creek with an absolutely stunning curved cliff face following the bend of the creek around.  The photos don’t do justice to the white sandstone nor the sheer size.  We then went for a stroll up Boowinda Gorge, which twists & turns & gets narrower the further up you go.  This gorge is unusual in that the base is much wider than the top, with the base being at times 5m wide & the top sometimes 2m.  Very pretty & it entices you to walk further, to see what is around the next bend.  Cathedral Cave was next & is a very large overhanging cliff face that has been adorned with a great number of differing aboriginal motifs.  Obviously a very significant site of great cultural heritage.  The last site we visited today was the “art gallery”, another significant aboriginal site with about half the number of motifs as Cathedral Cave.  Another culturally significant site.  Both of these sites we had to ourselves for a long time & it was great to sit & reflect quietly.

Back at the camp, wine, cheese and bickies.   Our legs stiffened up & we could hardly move.  Lucky that our freezer has some home cooked frozen meals (tonight’s lucky dip was Beef Bourgeon) I only had to make a salad and boil some potatoes.  (We do rough it.)  Ron is already sleeping and my aching bones are screaming for the bed too.

Again, up before sunrise and watched the reddish clouds on the horizon grow lighter as we prepared breakfast.  A leisurely breakfast & clean up, then packed & on the road by 8am, following our night time neighbours out of the rest area.  Injune is a small town with one BP fuel stop, we must have created a precedent for stopping there because as we started refuelling, another four cars with caravans stopped for fuel creating a bit of a traffic jam at the three bowsers.  The Carnarvon Hwy to the Carnarvon Gorge turnoff was OK, a bit of roadworks in a few places, but generally the road was in good condition.  We followed another caravan from just out of Injune to the turnoff & were followed by another caravan from Sterling, Canberra whom we met at the Injune fuel stop, they turned off with us & followed us right into the gorge.  The road into Carnarvon Gorge was good bitumen for about 20kms, then the next 20kms  was mostly good dirt, freshly graded, with a few interesting creek crossings that needed to be taken very slowly with some holes & bumps either side.

We drove right to the end of the road, the visitor information centre & were disappointed to learn that the superb campground there was only open during Queensland school holidays & tonight was the last night it was open.  We turned around & headed back to the Takarakka Bush Resort about 4km & booked in for 3 nights.  We set up camp in a small powered campsite & went for a walk up onto the ridge lookout above the camp where there is a reasonable view across to the sandstone bluffs on the other side of the gorge.  We then went for a walk along the very pretty Carnarvon Ck with very clear water & noticed the flood damage along the creek that occurred in the floods earlier this year.  Back to camp for cheese & coffee & we were visited by some hungry kookaburras looking for handouts, one landing on the rear roof of the Karavan & another right next to me on the power box.  It created a great photo opportunity for the people camping around us & no, we didn’t feed them.

At 5pm we headed to the fireside chat (less fire) where Simon, a guide, gave a talk on the area that was very interesting, plus some tips on what to see & how to break up the walks.  We think we’ll take his advice & do a shorter walk and a longer walk the day after.

The scenery changed from the monotony of the plains as we crossed over the Great Dividing Ranges, the bushes became denser and we could see some of the grandeur of the gorge.   The road to Carnarvon Gorge started out smoothly with the beautiful scenery in front and docile looking cattle grazing on green pastures on either side – idyllic.  Then we hit dirt road.  I was very happy that we put the washing machine on before we left in the morning (it’s a washing barrel more than a machine, it works by shaking and shaken it got). As we drove through creeks, pot holes and corrugations I was hoping that Ron’s back wouldn’t shake out of alignment.  Ron assured me that this was a good freshly graded road, not even a preparation to what is to come.  We missed out on the National Park caravan park but Takarakka is pretty good with lovely trees and beautiful clean amenities otherwise why would 200/300 other campers choose it.  We have a shower in the Karavan but 3 minutes under the park’s shower is long and luxurious.  Really looking forward to the hiking tomorrow – hope those Kookaburras will wake us up at the crack of dawn – even though we didn’t share our cheese with them.

We had a wonderful week with my parents-in-law.  As usual (when we are in Grafton) Mum organised a lovely BBQ for the family and some of their friends, it’s so much fun catching up and seeing the kids grow up.  Ron’s sister Suanne had to work but we caught up with her in Ballina twice between dropping off the Karavan and picking it up.  We also managed lunch at the Crown Hotel with our good friend Karl.  As all good things must come to an end these two Grey Nomads (only one of us is grey) had to move on.

We left Grafton on Friday (9^th July) a lot later than we had hoped.  It took all morning to repack the Karavan after the Ballina factory fit out, packing our clothes in the drawers, repacking the fridge, changing things around.  All packed and then remembered the big water tank needed filling, 130 litres later, finally ready to go.  We farewelled mum & dad at 12.30pm & then stopped at Coles to stock the larder with some fresh food where we ran into an old friend & had another chat.  Finally, after a quick bite to eat we hit the road westward & onto the Gwydir Hwy.  We stopped at the top of the Gibralter Range after 14km of constant climbing for a view back over the Mann River valley & the way we had come.  Onwards & westwards through a chilly Glen Innes & Inverell where we came to an eventual stop for the night around 25km east of Warialda at the Gragin Rd Rest Area.  Meatballs from Coles on the outside BBQ, Tereza whipped up a great salad and on with the diesel heater inside the van as it was quite chilly.  We soon warmed up & read until about 8.30pm.

The Karavan is nice and compact, most things are very well thought out.   The bed was comfortable too so soon we were warm like two bugs in a cocoon.

I woke up early and was very reluctant to go out to the toilet, but nature calls.  We will have to re organise our things so that we can get easier access to our inside loo.

Up before sunrise at around 6.30 & heard the kookaburras start the day, then followed by the chorus of other birds starting to wake.  A golden sunrise through the trees with a sliver of moon still clinging to life & the BBQ again swung into life to cook the bacon & eggs for breakfast.  On the road by 7.30 am with a long day ahead as we had planned to be at Roma by nightfall.  We were soon in & through a sleepy Warialda & arrived in Moree around 9am were we refuelled at the Caltex before heading for Mungindi & St George, were we had lunch at the park near the river in town.  A bit of a breeze had come up, with a few clouds starting to mar the clean blue skies we had all morning.  The head winds slowly picked up as we headed towards Surat & then Roma, were we passed through & turned onto the Carnarvon Hwy looking for a place to camp for the night.  About 20km north of Roma we stopped around 4pm at Bungil Ck rest area near the other caravan already set up there.  We set up camp & settled in with some cheese & wine as the birds started to settle in for the night.  A long day travelling & certainly very nice to relax, we were both tired from the drive.

Ron is still into getting from A to B, we will have to relax and make those A to B’s shorter, then again I only had to take one photo on the way to remember the whole of A to B.  On arrival at our campsite we went for a lovely walk along the creek.  Our neighbours were settled in with a nice camp fire, I thought that it would be polite to say hello but Ron said NO.  Later they invited us to sit around the fire with them.  We had a pleasant hour or so sipping our drink and chatting, they were heading the opposite way back to Victoria from Townsville.  We found out that we met the criteria – no children or dog.  Apparently the etiquette for camp fires is that you have to be invited.  I have a lot to learn!!!

Well, what a hectic last couple of days packing & finalising everything.  We finally got away at 3.37 pm on Friday 2 July.  A lot, lot later than we had hoped.  It was a miserable 5C and raining as we left & rained all the way to Four Mile Hill rest area just south of Taree were we pulled up at 11pm, set up the Kimberley & had a sleep. We saw a bad accident on the other side of the F3 southbound near the Hawkesbury River with fire & rescue vehicles in attendance & traffic blocked up for miles.  Thankfully we had a fairly clear run, with the amount of traffic diminishing as time wore on.

Up at 7am & on the road again, a quick stop at Caltex & Maccas for refueling then on to Grafton.  Clear blue skies & not a drop of rain.  We reached Grafton at 11.30am Saturday morning and wished dad a happy 86th birthday with family & fiends.  It was great to catch up again & we set the Kimberley up on the driveway next to the house.

Canberra to Grafton via Taree.

Ok So…This is the first post!

We are planning to head off on a 3 month trek around Australia, with a month in the Kimberleys towing a Kimberley Karavan (hence the kk in Trekkin).

We have both had a few health issues leading up to our trip, me with a debilitating back problem that kept me flat on the floor & off work for 3 weeks & Tereza with a skin cancer scare & some surgery.  We’ve considered postponing a few times but made the GO decision last Tuesday.

We plan to leave Canberra on Friday July 2 & head to Grafton for my dads 86th birthday on July 3.  Next stop on Monday July 5 will be Ballina at the Kimberley factory where we will get solar panels fitted to the roof of the Karavan, a second LPG gas bottle fitted & a carrier container fitted above the front cargo box.  We will also get a general maintenance & battery check conducted.

Here are a few photos of our Karavan, opened at Broulee on a test run & closed for towing so that you get an idea of the size of the Karavan.