2006/08 Australia trip - Cape Range |
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Tuesday July 25th
We had a cloudy start, the result of bad weather down south apparently, but most of the clouds had burned off when we set out. 
We stopped briefly at nearby Bloodwood Creek but there was a dive class going on there, so we moved on. Merle had recommended a sunset stop at Pilgonaman, a gorge in the mountains, so we thought we’d check that out in bright sunshine first. It was a rough road in but it looked an attractive spot: eroded red cliffs and a dry white stream bed. Sandie got stalled in the clumps of spinifex, but I got far enough into the gorge to feel I was being watched, and sure enough, there were tiny rock wallabies perched halfway up the cliffs and watching me flounder through the 
undergrowth. They spend their days in the safety of the cliffs, and come down to feed on the gorge floor as the sun is setting. Spending much of their lives climbing they move more like monkeys than wallabies. We would be back to see them again at sunset.
We drove to Yardie Creek to take the boat trip. There is a water crossing there that leads south along the coast towards Coral Bay, but after watching one person get stuck in the sand trying to cross the creek, we resolved that when we left the next day we’d go via the long route, the way we’d come in. It’s one thing to get stuck, but quite another to get stuck 
with an incoming tide!
The boat trip up the gorge was good. The guide knew his stuff and did his best to make sure that everyone had a good view. Mostly the scenery was mangroves and rugged cliffs, and there were reef egrets and plenty of rock wallabies to be seen – a record number for the trip he said.
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Yardie Creek (4.54) |
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In the afternoon we drove back north to hike the Mandu Mandu trail. We thought that it would just be a quick hike up the gorge and back but a steep trail took us high above the gorge to a lookout that showed us the gorge, 
the plains, and the surf of the Ningaloo Reef out on the horizon. Our descent was mostly slides and sit-
downs. There was little wildlife to be seen, not surprising as it was the hottest part of the day. On the way out Sandie spotted a large lizard clinging to a branch at the top of a shrub. He stayed there, confident that we couldn’t see him, despite our antics and the clicking of cameras.
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It was time for Pilgonaman Gorge and the sunset. Sandie went to use the toilet there, but was warned by the previous occupant that it was crawling with poisonous redback spiders. So I think she made other plans.
The route into the gorge was a bit easier this time as we remembered where the trails were. We looked up to see a couple of goats watching us, and then the whole family was watching the humans. They were originally imported by farmers, but now they’ve gone wild or feral and are flourishing in the mountains. 
The floor of the gorge was busy with red kangaroos and euros, but we were there mainly to see the wallabies. The wallabies stayed high in the cliffs until sunset, when they began to climb down to the gorge floor to feed, and began chattering to each other.
A few dozen corellas came swooping in from the coast and dived into crevices in the cliffs, leaving just a couple to sit on the cliff tops and do the customary screaming. By the time the wallabies had reached the floor and started feeding it was dark and we had to leave and find our way back to the camper and the campground, dodging kangaroos and rabbits.
Back at the campsite, we found a little message inside our carton of eggs. It was from the RSPCA and told us that the parent hens had space to flap their wings and socialize. Thereafter these were referred to as “happy eggs”.
Wednesday July 26th
We said goodbye to Merle and Frank, and thanked them for making us feel welcome. They know the names of all the campers and make a point of helping them enjoy the park. There were already a couple waiting to move into our site.
I think we would have liked to stay longer, but we’d moved into that stage of the trip when we had to start rationing the days and thinking about how far we had to drive to get back for our flight. We had to leave time for cleaning up the camper, so we had about three weeks left for at least 2500 miles of travel.
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