Explosion soon to be renamed Expletive Gorge - 10th July 2016

Woke up to surprisingly cool canvas surrounding me (yay!). After about thirty minutes of listening to screaming children, dogs barking and cars reversing, I decided that it was time to get out of my tent/stretcher/temporary home (and guess who's back).

With only two eggs left, mum tried to think of a dish that only needed two eggs for three people. Deciding on French toast, we fired up the Webber (what can't that thing do) and [Larry] got cooking. After eating the week old bread, we (Again, [Larry]) started planning out what we wanted to do. Deciding on going to Explosion gorge in the morning and Moonshine Gorge in the afternoon, we packed/ locked up, and headed off.

Apparently Explosion Gorge has good fishing, and after driving over the rough 4WD tracks, hiking down to the bottom, and looking around, Larry decided that the fishing in the area that the path leads to would be pointless. Before arriving at the bottom, Larry and I (Ben) noticed that there was an area further up stream that would probably be better to fish at. The journey there was rocky, with small rocks on top of big rocks, that were on top of slightly bigger rocks. With some difficulty, Larry and I made it to the area that was both shady, and possibly an area full of fish. Being notified that one of the members of our expedition had had a boo-boo, Larry and I sprinted off toward the wounded third person. Said third person had had one of the little rocks on top of a big rock, on top of an even bigger rock give away. This resulted in a tumble that resulted in some 'serious' injury (4th toe from outside: Minor bruising   left arm: a bump).

Insisting that she didn't want to take the easier path that follows along  where we were going, and instead stumbling further along the rocky river bed, the third member once again stumbled closer toward the fishing spot.

Once the third member (It was mum) and I got there, we heard Larry's overjoyed exclamation of how he had left the reels in the caravan.  After a few minutes of taking in the scenery, whilst listening to the other two recite their enjoyment (not even the tiniest bit of sarcasm), we soon set off back toward the car (that we had to leave up the hill, because of a no vehicle entry sign).   At this point it was decided to rename Explosion Gorge to Expletive Gorge.

Larry, set off to bring the car down for our wounded member. Whilst Larry went and retrieved the vehicle, I helped to guide said wounded member away from the rocks, and up the tracks. I got half of the way up the track before Larry pulled up next to me, and mum was a little behind me. Larry drove slightly forward, before stopping right next to mum. As if we were those pick-pocketers in Europe, who try to sell you wire contraptions while one of their friends steal your wallet, mum completely ignored us.  Turning the car around, Larry and I drove slowly behind, as mum made the long journey, hobbling toward the top of the hill, where the 'No vehicle entry' sign was. Figuring that her point was proved, she got in the car, and we vacated the area.

Branco's lookout was the next location we ventured to. To get there, it was a steep ascent up a rocky hill.  With the occasional gasp from mum, we soon completed the ascent.  Branco's lookout is a scenic area, with views of The Pentecost, the homestead and lots of mountains, the lookout made for an area for good panoramic photos. Getting all of the photos taken, we made our way back down the track, stopping so that I could run along behind and take photos of the Jeep making the descent.

Back at camp, we made toasted sandwiches in the Webber (again, what can't that thing cook), using the mince that was going to be spaghetti Bolognese. After we had eaten and mum had defrosted all of our peas on her foot, we headed off again to Moonshine gorge.

Deciding that we didn't want to do the 5km return track, with an injured member, we instead opted for the much more popular version of 'just walk 100 metres from the car park, to a gorge you can swim in. Although not the best water to swim in, we spent about an hour there, floating around, before getting back in the car, and heading back (again, letting me out, so I could take photos of the Jeep).

For dinner, we had previously booked to have dinner at the steak house here at El Questro. Leaving the caravan, mum and I very slowly 'walked' toward The Swinging Arm bar, to listen to a guitarist. Suitably impressed, we decided we may come back tomorrow and listen again. Resuming our walk toward the steakhouse, this time with Larry (who previously was busy drinking rum and coke in the caravan, whilst downloading stuff onto the computer [in correct order of importance]), we followed the well lit path toward the steak house.

Arriving there, we noticed it was very popular, and with waiters running around to take orders. We took our seats, ordered, and waited. Surprisingly, the drinks took very little time to come, as with the mains (Mum ordered steak, Larry Barramundi, and I ordered Lamb). The dessert took a little longer to come, but they came before mum complained about said wait, so for them that's a win.