An early morning hike

 

Tuesday 22 June 2021 – An early morning hike

After our hot and thirsty walk to Mitchell Falls, Jenny had determined that the next long walk we did should be done earlier in the day.  It was quite a chilly morning though so starting off a one and a half hour walk with a swim across the Barnett River was a bit of challenge!  Greg and Lynn saw us off as they had decided they would wait another hour or so before doing their swim but us intrepid travellers headed off about 8am and, whilst the river was cold it wasn’t that bad and it was actually quite pleasant walking across the sunny rocks in wet clothes and they were nearly dry by the time we reached Manning Gorge.

The falls were flowing much more strongly than 5 years ago when we were here with Ben and the water was quite cool but we were warm enough after our walk and rock clamber down to the water’s edge to soon brave the water.  We swam across and under the waterfall to the little rock ledge we had found last time and enjoyed being in the moment. 

Larry tested Jenny’s nerves a little by clambering half way up the water fall and doing a bombie back into the water with Go-Pro in hand.  J is still not sure whether she was more nervous about the survival of her husband or the Go-Pro!!  Luckily both resurfaced and we headed back on to the rocks for some soaking up of sun and scenery.  H&M headed back and L&J stayed a little longer rock happing and checking out the other minor waterfalls over the rocks before heading back themselves.  It was much warmer on the way back and J wished she had had a second swim before walking so that her clothes were a bit wetter.  We were stunned to see, heading in to the gorge at about 11am (by which time it was quite a bit hotter) a young couple with nothing with them – no water bottles, back packs or towels.  Not a smart move and they will have to rely on the kindness of strangers if they run into trouble.

By the time we got back to the Barnett river crossing we were quite hot and therefore happy to swim across again.  H&M were still in the water relaxing and chatting to other campers so we stayed in the water with them for a bit longer and then we all headed back to the vans.

L&J ate a late lunch of left over pizzas and then we all lolled in our chairs before deciding that a nap wouldn’t go astray and our respective camps all got very quiet save for gentle snoring for an hour or so.

Another campfire this evening with the remainder of our wood and Greg and Lynn contributed some compressed wood logs so we had another good fire and plenty of coals for potatoes.  H&M cooked up steaks and veggies and another very nice dinner was had.  During the evening the clouds rolled in and there was thunder in the distance and by the time we went to bed and few fat drops had fallen so we were sure to pack up lots of things and put the remainder under the awning.