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Published: June 20th 2009
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Day 55 - Warwick
Up early again today with the sweet sounds of the Magpies! They actually got a really pretty song, I've never noticed it in the UK so don't know if it's the same!! The weather forecast wasn't great today but we'd decided to go up to the Main Range and do one of the walks. When we jumped in the car the sky didn't look too bad so we were quite hopeful! We were intending to do the 10.2km return Mount Mitchell track but when we got to the Cunninghams Gap car park the entrance was the otherside of the highway and it was busy with huge B-Double wagons! Instead we settled on the Bare Rock track which was 12.4 km return and described as a detour west of the peak of Mount Cordeaux, crossing a rock saddle north of the peak and re-entering the rainforest before ending with a brief scramble to a rock outcrop with spectacular views!
The walk started well with initial sightings of three different rock wallabies, no photos as they're a bit too quick and get spooked really easily! We heard plenty of beautiful singing from the birds and we did
stop quite a lot on the first part of the track looking for more wildlife. I'm pretty sure I saw an Albert Lyrebird and definately heard it's song but again, no photos! We saw plenty more evidence of rock wallaby activity as they seem to enjoy scratching at the roots of trees but although we heard the delicate sound of cracking branches and the thud thud thud of them making good their escape, we didn't cross paths again! The walk was relatively easy, the weather was cool and the views on the lower and middle section of the climb were great. We could hear the rain on the trees above us but we were well sheltered until the track turned and all of a sudden we were on the cliff edge in the blowing wind! There was no mist at this point so we were able to see across from Mount Cordeaux to what we think was the dam we visited yesterday. Onward and upward we went into thicker rainforest and then through thick grasses when it seemed we were quite close to the edge. As soon as we got back inside the rainforest the heavens opened above us and
we were in for a drenching! When we did make it to the rock scramble and the Bare Rock open lookout we had a fantastic view of white mist! Oh well, we laughed!
On the way back down we met a lovely group of 5 who had a short way to go before the rock scramble. They looked strangely different to us, they were all dry!! How did that happen! They were hoping to eat lunch up there but we thought that was going to be a bit soggy! We chatted for a while and wished them well on their final stretch to the top! They hadn't seen the wallabies on their way up so we figured we'd done well and been quiet enough to catch them this morning! Pat on the back for us!! Only one other couple were making their way up the track as we were flying down it! They too looked shocked at our wetness!! Was it just us?! No more wildlife although we did catch the birds singing on the camera so maybe someone can work out who it is!
We had lunch in the car and then went back to the caravan
for a hot shower and to throw the clothes in the wash! We rushed out then to visit Morgan Park which is where the Warwick 8th mile Drag Strip is but we couldn't get to the track itself as it's all locked up and there were big scary dogs protecting it! Woos Woos!!
We went off to Davids for dinner tonight and very much enjoyed his homemade Tofu lasagne which was really tasty. We had a lovely evening with plenty of laughter and stories. David identified 'our' snake as a Carpet Python, at least we know now! We have a free day tomorrow as David is still catching up with important Rotary club duties, he writes the newsletter so needs to get this done by tomorrow, but we'll definately be popping in to say goodbye before we leave the area early on Monday morning.
So, what to do tomorrow? Now where's that book of 'long walks to do in the rain', it's definately here somwhere!
Love
Dar and Sar
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