River Red Gums at Birthday Waterhole
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| Day1 to Day 3 | Day 4 and 5 | Day 6 to Day 8 |
David above
Birthday
Waterhole
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Tuesday 27 June 2006
Day 4: Hugh Gorge to Birthday Waterhole
Today: 12km Total: 45.2km
The overoptimistic schedule meant we had some catching up to do. Clearly though, doing the extra distance wasn’t an option so we essentially cheated and took a short-cut following the largely flat 4WD track between the two campsites. Counter-intuitively, it felt a bit frustrating to see the mountains there, but then avoid them for flat walking again. However, less than 4 hours later we had reached the beautiful campsite at Birthday Waterhole and we were back on schedule. We also met our first person since leaving Ellery: ‘Desert Dave’ who in an afternoon walked to Blinkley Bluff and back, what we would do tomorrow one-way!
Arriving before lunch meant we could take a rest-half-day and it proved to be a wonderful spot for it. We had lunch on the sand next to the waterhole and soaked up the sun. An idea that a swim would be a good idea for a bit of a wash was quickly discouraged after sticking a toe in the water; a wet washer was far more preferable
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River Bed from Birthday
Waterhole towards
Mintbush Springs |
Ghosts at the waterhole |
Danielle at the Birthday
Waterhole campsite |
River Red Gum |
Not Ghosts! |
Ghost Gum above Birthday Waterhole |
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Wednesday 28 June 2006
Day 5: Birthday Waterhole to Blinkley Bluff
Today: 7.7km Total: 52.9km
A gentle beginning to the walk gave no indication of what was in store as we followed the dry river bed until the sheer face of Blinkley Bluff rose up right in front of us. We climbed up to the first saddle with fragrant bushes and flowers along the track, then descended into a small hidden valley chock-full with Cycad Palms. The small, dry creek ended dramatically with a narrow notch that in wet weather must form a dramatic waterfall.
Then the climbing got really mean: up a tight little gorge, then further up a very steep and exposed slope, zigging and zagging back, following the reliable blue arrows. Stopping for a break, we discovered the summit just 100 metres further on upon restarting and set up camp. Soon we were joined by a couple of blokes completing the entire trail and we sat back and enjoyed the views as the sunset colours came and went. We estimated that we must have been able to see at least 200km in every direction with not one single man-made structure visible.
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Danielle walking with
Blinkley Bluff rising up |
Danielle among the Cycad Palms, relics from when this area was a rainforest! |
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David & Danielle at the summit!! |
The view back towards Birthday Waterhole |
Just one of the views from Blinkley Bluff |
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Best campsite in the world? |
Spinifex with the
summit behind |
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Sunset colours on the mountains towards Reveal Saddle |
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First light at Blinkley Bluff |
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Our campsite at first light |
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| Day1 to Day 3 | Day 4 and 5 | Day 6 to Day 8 |
