Day 6 El Questro Station

A blue winged kookaburra.

Palm trees that have been scorched by fire.

El Questro Gorge.

Oliver hiking and climbing in.

Four wheel drive country.

A pair of brolgas.

A huge boab in our campground.

An agile wallaby.

Thursday, September 15^th.

We got up early as usual and had a cereal and toast breakfast. When I went to the showers I saw a blue winged kokaburro which are a different variety than the ones on the east coast. These are the largest of the kingfisher family.

Then we loaded up in the truck and drove to Zebedee Springs. To get to it we had to take a short walk in through a lovely gorge. When we got there it was really small and the water was only warm and there wasn't much room so I walked back out again.

We drove to El Questro Gorge for another walk through yet another beautiful gorge. As we drove there I saw some big boab trees and asked Damien to stop on the way back.

This hike was long, about 10kms return, and involved a lot of walking on a rocky river bed and climbing over rocks and wading through water to cross the creek from side to side as we went in. There seemed to be some drama with Tomo, and since I like to walk by myself to enjoy the solitude and the atmosphere and to maybe see any wildlife, I left before everyone else. There were a number of water pools along the way. Ollie caught up to me near the end and we made a wrong turn and had to double back, but we still got there before anyone else. The final pool and waterfall were beautiful and we quickly jumped in because we were hot. We all swam for a while before returning. Damien only made it half way with his crutch because of the rough terrain.

When I got in the truck I reminded Damien about the trees but he forgot as I was not in the front. When we got back we made lunch at camp and then had the afternoon to ourselves.

I decided to walk to the trees by myself. I started out going out of camp the wrong way and went past part of the small grass airstrip where some people are able to fly in. Then I retraced my steps and started on the right path. I photographed some trees on the property and then forded the river over the road and saw fish swimming across the road.

Right after that I came across two large brolga cranes. They didn't seem too bothered by me and I watched them as them wandered past. I walked about 6ks in the 35 degree heat along the dirt road. A couple of cars going the other way stopped and asked if I was okay as I guess not many people go for a walk out here. I found a good boab on a side road and then continued to the cutoff to El Questro Gorge and here I found the three trees I was looking for. They are truly beautiful, majestic and strange looking trees. Unfortunately, since I was here in the dry season the trees had no leaves and I didn't see any in bloom. Then I walked back. I hoped to catch a ride with someone but no cars came. It was amazing walking through the bush by myself listening and absorbing the outback around me. 

When I got back I drank some cold water and then had a shower. I met my German friends and we went to the bar for a couple of happy hour beers. I showed them some photos of the day and the cottage. Then we went back to the dark campsite to have an amazing roast lamb dinner made on an open fire with carrots, potato and pumpkin all done in tinfoil in the embers.