Day 24 – Adel’s Grove

I woke up early, showered and dressed and then had breakfast in the camp kitchen. Breakfast is currently two large cups of tea (550 ml each) with Teddy Bear biscuits and then either toast, weetbix or something else – this morning it was sausages in bread. Lynn had a briefer breakfast and then we were ready by 8 to drive down to Lawn Hill to go on the cruise. The road down was surprisingly good, given its remoteness, the traffic and obvious infrequent maintenance. There were a few corrugations and some minor ruts, but nothing to write home about – so I didn’t! We were at the parking area by not long after 8:30 and recognised some cars from the camping area. Some must have gone on an earlier cruise, but some had been walking. None were canoeing because it was cool (less than 13°C). We walked around, familiarising ourselves with the area and finding where the cruises went from. By 9:15 the other cruise had come in and all the passengers for the 9:30 cruise were there, so we headed off. The boat is powered by an electric motor and carries about 10 people, plus driver. We headed downstream, then upstream for a lot longer than it initially seemed possible. The commentary was about the area, the geology, the gorges and the flora and fauna. The gorge has different microclimates on each side and contains some species not commonly found (one fern is here, a part of Indonesia and Hawaii). We saw tofu falls which build up, not erode down like rock falls. We didn’t return until well after 10:30, so we had a good trip. After visiting the facilities, we walked along to get another view of the falls – from above, it’s easier to see them as from river level, vegetation obscures them. We headed back to camp (it was getting warmer now) and had a little light lunch. I wrote up my blog and transferred today’s and yesterday’s pictures. I walked along the creek and saw a lot more of it – Lynn went into the swimming hole but only to paddle. The rest of the afternoon was spent just doing very little and chatting with a few people. I did transfer photos I had taken of our neighbours and a group opposite who had been paddling in the gorge. I had a massage in the afternoon and will have to wait a few days to see if it was successful. At least no ribs were broken, although the masseuse told me she could clearly see where the break was in my shoulder blade. We had tea at “The Shack”, the fish and chip shop. Then I went for a walk around the park to try to find the other amenities block. I had no luck and took a long time to return to find Lynn missing. However her chair and the chair of the lady next door was missing so I didn’t worry. I went to bed and later Lynn returned and she went to bed.