Nothing prepared us for……

Once again we set off early for yet another gorge, but first we had to swim across a pool to get to the start of the walk to Manning Falls. We knew it was an hours walk, but we did not know there was no shade, over rocks, and almost entirely uphill! We made it eventually, to lovely pools, just what we needed to cool our weary feet. The waterfall was a disappointment, but it was obviously quite sensational during the wet. It had been quite a clamber to get there, and we had to go back yet!.

 Undaunted, we set off, but by the time we got back to the campsite we were quite done in, not ready to tackle packing up and moving on. But the cup that cheers revived us, and off we go to Mount Elizabeth, a working cattle station, some 150k onward, and about 30k off the main road. The first 20k on the Gibb after Mount Barnett were extremely rocky, a slow start to the day, but eventually we came to a surface that was more like tarmac, and we were able to press on. This area is much more green, with small hills around us, and more twisty roads. Turning off for Mount Elizabeth took us on a reasonably good road, over 30k north, but which was twisty, and of course if we are not careful it is possible to slide on the loose surface.

The site was almost deserted, so we sat down for a quiet afternoon after we had set up and had lunch, time out to enjoy our surroundings.

 A wallaby came up right beside us, with a joey in it’s pouch, almost tame enough to touch, he grazed peacefully by us while we had our lunch. A Peacock strutted close by, occasionally screeching. Colourful birds flew from tree to tree all around us, and we could see many wild kangaroo in the field next to us. A peaceful afternoon, just another day without cares…..