Day 22 Granite Gorge II & Lake Eacham

Moments after hitting publish on the last post, the kids returned from an adventure walk with their new friends from next door. There are multiple walks around Granite Gorge each with coloured markers to indicate difficulty... of course the most difficult one one was left to do... c'mon dad lets go.

We set off at 830... its was already 32 degrees.

The track was certainly challenging and took us rock hopping and boulder climbing for the next hour until we arrived at the waterfall which may or may not have been the end of the Gorge... not much in the way of information along the trail. They made us sign a waiver before heading off on the trail and it was clear why... there were countless obstacles and moments where I had to mask my anxiety about "what might happen if..."

Here is me feeling old and tired (and looking it).

The home trail took us back to the cabin, it felt like 40+ degrees. We trudged... we toiled... I carried Josh for about 50 meters fireman style. By the time we got to the cabin it was after  10am, Em had already checked out and was waiting for us at the office 300 meters away. We felt like Burke and Wills collapsing at the "dig" tree, narrowly missing our supply team and left to wonder if these would be our last moments. But luck would have it, the keys were in the door! We are saved by icy poles and the cool drinking waters of cabin number 1... so long cabin number 1 we love you 😅





Here's a bower bird nest. We also witnessed two male peacock's facing off  - but could get the video recording in time. Hard to understand how a theory of natural selection applies to the Peacock... that tail must weigh a tonne, hamper mobility and give them no survival advantage...

We left Granite Gorge bound for Lake Eacham about 1 hour away. We made two stops, one at a local produce outlet and another at Curtain Fig tree










Curtain Fig was truly an incredible site and one we just accidentally stumbled across. We read about how this fig formed. In short a fig shoot sprouted on a branch, grew large enough to knock tree A into tree B. Both Tree A and B then rotted away to leave this curtain fig. I wish I had noted how long the process took, while this process isn't unique it's rare.

Cooling off in Lake Eacham was the highlight of an already packed day. Beautiful clear, fresh waters, and deep enough to warrant using the snorkel gear. Kids saw fish and turtles here. Despite the alleged presence of a freshwater croc, the ranger encouraged us to swim here... Funny fact, the turtles here at Lake Eacham have the ability to breathe from their bum through a set of gills.

Its was after all Halloween... So we dressed up, decorated the van and went trick or treating around the park. it was a great opportunity to roam around the park in a large group of kids and parents and meet everyone. I picked up some pointers from another family who were about day 300 of their trip... I wonder if they blog about every day... hmmm