We all awoke soon after and after two cuppa's and some spaghetti on toast we began to pack up as the hill side here got plenty hot in the day so we thought we could knock over some northern section walks today and another we wanted to do was closed so we got on with packing as Vincent the ranger came up for a but of a yarn and hello as it was his land we were camped on with permission from his parents but this was all good and he told us of some good places to go and about a good size freshwater croc in the riv where we were going to swim yesterday but not to worry , we had swam with freshies before with no issue and expected the same here but we were keen to make tracks again north as the weather wasn't getting any cooler and buildup would soon be upon us .
We dropped the camper back at the station and setup the solar panel to work away while we were walking .
First stop was Stonehenge with an interpretive signed walk along a creek telling us about native bush tucker and medicines .
We only took twenty or so minutes to do this walk and at 9am it was already warm and the area fairly exposed but we all enjoyed the learning story, some we knew and had heard of others were all new.
Then we passed a few others along the rocky road towards the blood woods , the escarpment walk and echidna chasm .
Four other cars in the echidna chasm car park and a flash 4wd motorhome from Europe somewhere that would be more at home on the Paris Dakar rally than here but half their luck I was just jealous .
we had pre chilled all of our water bottles for the chasm walk which was only 90 minutes long but we wanted to detour and picnic with the midday sun shining on the chasm walls bringing out the orange iron hues in the sedimentary rock.
We clambered along the creek bed into the chasm where the first section was pretty impressive with palms dotted along the high ridge lines and in some nooks and crannies .
The next section after a short rest was decided more diffuse but fun with some rock clambouring and two sets of steep steps with handrails but we enjoyed it immensely , although Corinna was more than a bit apprehensive about a few overhanging boulders wedges tentatively only a few metres above .
At the end of the chasm we rested and ate our shapes with cool water and waited only 20 minutes for the sun the shine down into the chasm before our eyes and leave great rays of light and amazing shadows around each bend , we sat here for a good half hour and chatted with some nomads about our last few amazing days in this country .
They took off and we slowly followed behind but we never heard the croak of some frog as we had on the way in .
It seemed to take no time back down the chasm to the cruiser where we had refreshments and made our way back to the ranger station to re hitch the camper which was still there thank god .
We said our goodbye to the rangers to let them know we were off country and thanks again .
The windy corrugated road road was once again on us but seemed tame compared to the way in but we were stuck behind a bloody navara , lol.
Four small water crossings along the way and we once again reached the northern highway where we pulled up only 30 Kms up the road at Fletchers creek rest area only mid afternoon but we needed to charge the camper by solar a bit more and we were in no real hurry.
Camper setup and a chat with a local ex stockman in the way to a mine in Derby to work who was quite helpful , we set about a late lunch of hamburgers and homemade potato salad in tortilla wraps then the kids went playing along the nearly empty creek bed trying to rescue stranded fish of many varieties .
A little journal and blog time for the oldies then a few phone calls with acold drink thrown in and the sun began its red decent over the horizon , amazing sunsets I love the top of oz for that.
Plans made for Tommorow and the next few camps and we neede to restock shortly and refuel at a good price as well.
Today had been another special moment in the region and bring on many more!.
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