We left Kilmorey, with our bank accounts topped up we, we were back on the road and back on holidays. Our next destination was Carnarvon Gorge, which we had never heard of before getting a tip off from the family we just worked for. From Kilmorey we took a short cut by travelling along the dirt road to Tooloombilla and onto Injune. Stopping at Injune for lunch, a soggy pie. Throughout our travels, with all the bakeries we have stopped at, we have finally learnt that all pies that are in a aluminium tin are soggy, so if the pies are in a tin we go for the sausage roll. With a full stomach, not satisfied, but full we left Injune and continued travelling to Carnarvon Gorge.

Arriving late in the afternoon, we checked in and set up camp. With the expensive camping fees we decided to only stay 2 nights instead of the recommended 4-5 days. Making the most of our 2 nights 3 days we set off on afternoon walk. Our first walk was Mickey Creek Gorge, a 3km return walk. As we walked further into the gorge the more narrow and dark it became.

On our return back to the car we spotted our first Echidna in the wild, this was the first of many we would see in the next few days.

Once we got back to the car we decided to squeeze in another quick 1 km return walk to the  Balloon Cave, a cave wall with stencilled aboriginal art work, a preview to what we had to expect for the “Art Gallery” the next day

After a big day of driving and walking, we settled in for the night to prepare for an early morning to beat the heat.

We woke early to get started on our 19.4km walk through Carnarvon Gorge. We crossed Carnarvon creek serval times as we made our way deeper into the gorge, mainly flat and rocky surfaces the whole way. It is recommended to walk to the furthest point and then make your way back branching off to the other tracks, so that’s what we did.

First stop was the very impressive ‘ Art Gallery’, a significant aboriginal site. 62m sand stone wall covered in over 2000 art pieces which are thought to have been over 3,650 years old.

Amazed by the spiritual feeling and history of this place we continued our walk back down the main track to arrive at Wards Canyon, a complete oasis in the outback. A magical garden filled with waterfalls, rock pools, ferns, palm trees and moss. A perfect place to rest on a hot day on the cool rocks.

On our return back to the main track we spotted another Echidna scratching around in the leaves.

After a steep climb up metal ladders we reached the “Amphitheatre’.  Hidden inside the gorge walls is a 60m deep chamber of towering stone walls.

 

We continued onto Moss Garden, a small waterfall filled with ferns. The water constantly drips from the sandstone sustaining a lush carpet of moss and ferns.

After 7 hours of walking, we arrived back at the start of the gorge, it was time to relax, so we drove to the nearby ‘Rock pool’, the only place in Carnarvon Gorge you are allowed to swim. We spent the afternoon relaxing under the Casuarina trees and swimming with the resident turtles.

It was another early night for us as we were going to get up at sunrise to climb Boolimba Bluff. Arriving at the start just as light broke we witnessed two kangaroos having a punch up.

 

After 300 metres of steps, ladders and rock climbing up through the spotted gums and rainforest, we reached the top of the look out with spectacular views to enjoy.

After 2 days full of walking we had done all we wanted at Carnarvon Gorge and headed south through the beautiful Arcadia Valley, we stopped back in Roma, to fuel up and restock our fridge and cupboards, then we hit the road again to Surat. Here we stayed overnight at a fishing club, a free camp situated right on the river. It poured all night with rain so we packed up in the morning and continued to head south.

When we left Surat early that morning, it wasn’t far down the road where we hit two  kangaroos. It was pretty horrific as we were unable to stop coming down the hill as it happened. The kangaroos had jumped across the road, and then decided to jump back across the road last minute… it was too late. Shocked and not sure what to do, we called the local animal wildlife centre and they took care of the situation. Back on the road and we would have got about 2km and we got another shock. A call from my sister and Michaels brother, to tell us she is pregnant! After that news, shocked and excited after the morning we had, it was time to pull over for a drink. Being only 10am, we ended up at St George winery which served a yummy morning tea in a beautiful garden setting. It turned out that the winery was the wines that were being sold at Birdsville, so I stocked up on a few more before leaving.

After an eventful morning, we decided after our break we would drive a little further to Moree to stay for the night. A cheap caravan park for $17 a night powered had us sold for a comfy night in. The next day we continued to drive most of the day and parked up for the night in the town of Tooraweenah, we were lead here by the comments on Wiki camps saying you receive free scones on arrival. That we did, and enjoyed happy hour with some older folks.

Another day of driving the next day to Dubbo where we stayed in the Top Tourist caravan park. We rode our bikes all over Dubbo for the day. Most of this week we did a lot of driving, continuing the next day we drove through Orange, stopping for lunch and had a look around town, and then continuing on to Bathurst. On the way I picked up some really cheap cherry’s at a road side stall. In Bathurst we stayed at the showgrounds arriving late in the afternoon we just went for a walk and then the next morning we drove 2 laps around the Bathurst V8 super car track.

After our hot laps, we drove through the blue mountains to Penrith. We stayed in Penrith as it was a lot cheaper than staying around the blue Mountains. The next day we were awake early for a full day of exploring the Blue mountains.

We walked to Wentworth falls. Just few days after we walked here, sadly someone was killed by a rock fall.

Michael went for a dip at Katoomba falls and then we went to the 3 sisters look out.

Our second night in Penrith we went to the League club for dinner as we were told by Michaels grandad to eat there. We enjoyed a nice night out, sharing a pizza then followed by watching people fly next door at the indoor skydiving centre.

The next morning it was time to head to the big smoke, Sydney. Read our next blog to see what we get up to in the city. Thanks for reading xx

	WEEK 39	TOTAL
Kilometres	1201km	31,468km
Sunrises watched	3	66
Sunsets watched	3	110
Beaches visited	0	126
Fish caught	0	24
Snakes sighted	0	7