Day 57 - Manning Gorge Walk Day

 (Kate)

Day 57 – Manning Gorge walk day

We have been on the road for 8 weeks today We were awake at dawn, as seems to be the way of things these days, and were all up by 6:30am. We didn’t set off on the walk straight away, as we knew the first part involved putting our shoes and backpack in a barrel, and wading/swimming across the river. And it was still cold enough that we were wearing jumpers. We breakfasted etc til about 8am, then set off. It was cool in the river, but we were confident that we would appreciate our cool wet clothes before too long, as the first part of the walk was uphill in full sun. A lot of the first part of the walk was on dirt paths, interspersed with rocky challenges. We took snacks and lots of water. The walk to the swimming hole took between 60-90 minutes, not really sure how long, but it was very manageable, even for me, who doesn't like clambering up and down rocks.

It was amazing – the best swimming spot so far. Huge pool, with a chest deep sandbar in the middle to hang out on, or maybe it was a rock covered in sand. There were rocks of various heights to jump off, which Ben, Nicole and Keith did. Lots of photos and videos were taken. We swam over to the waterfall from the upper pool, and underneath there was a rock shelf, where we saw a 1.5m long stripy snake. Gold and white stripes. Not sure how it got itself in there, but it retreated when it spotted us. We stayed for a couple of hours enjoying the sun and the swim, and then wandered back down, and swam/barrelled back across the Barnett River. We were back by lunchtime.

Kate stayed at camp to rest and do a load of washing in the awesome front loader for $3, while Ben, Nicole and Keith drove back out to the roadhouse to pay for another night, and to get treat lunch, and happy hour food and lemonade.

We are all a bit sunburnt (even Tan Man senior and Tan Man Junior) but it was a very fine day. Nicole has sunburn on her upper back but the middle section was protected by her plait. Funny but not funny, if you know what I mean. My arms are slightly red but I just got away with it.

Nicole and Keith wading across the river to get some barrels

Ready to start the up hill climb

Keith placing a rock on the cairn

Yellow Kapok tree

Ben and Nicole preparing to jump off the rocks

My new favourite photo of me and Nicole

Exhausted but glad to have done the walk today.  A great sense of acheivement.