4th Full Day -

THERE WAS BLUE SKY WHEN I LOOKED OUT THE TENT AT 8am THIS
MORNING! We all messed around for a little while, then just had toast and cereals for breakfast. I then went for a shower while people were sorting out their various bits of the camp.

We decided we would go for a walk, but as the gorge was still closed we would go to 'Mickeys Creek'. Instead, which were much closer. However, the creek was still very high and only Mark and Angela's flat bed 4X4 could cross it. We all just climbed on the flat bed once the camp was full, and hitch a ride on the back about 3km up the track, including through the creek. We then parked the truck on the side of the road and went off for the walk

After about a 2km walk along the road we took a 'short' diversion of about 1km to where there was a small collection of Aboriginal Rock paintings, similar to those on the other walk.

We then walked back to the road and further along to the main trail at Mickeys Creek. This turned out to be the most fun trail we had done yet. To start with it is a marked path like the others, but then the path ends and you are allowed to scramble over the rocks, through the creek, over logs and up rock faces as far as you can, to the top of a smaller gorge.

We made it a long way up to find the normal path had become impossible to pass due to to gorge closing in to a tight alley way, with the bottom deeply flooded.

Instead of turning back we decided to clamber over a path to the left, and continue as far up as possible. Again we made it quite a lot further, then it became more difficult and you had to shuffle down a steep rock face...leading into 2ft deep water. The parents decided to stop and watch and all the rest of us tried to continue.

Diggor and Daniel both slipped in fully clothed, and were wet up to their wrist, Maddie had short shorts of and just got her trainers drenched, Cecily gave up when her jegins knees got wet, and I took off my shoes and rolled up my shorts.

Eventually we were all soaked to above our weist and had scrambled another 100m or so to a tight coner in the gorge, then the parents got bored of watching up mess around wading about getting soaked, so we all had to walk back to camp. It was an interesting walk back - everyone was soaked, and Diggor got some pretty good chaffing from his wet shorts (having taken mine off and waded in just boxers I walked back commando to avoid a similar fate!).

We got back to camp about 3pm and got showered etc to warm up and get clean of all the creek water mud.

We then played Kick Volley ball for ages, until the ball got stuck well up a tree. It was a good 20ft up so it created a whole new game to get it down. We made a pully system with some rope and another tree and almost pulled Cecily in the tree next to it..when Fenella saw and immediately put an end to that. In the end it took about an hour and a half of throwing objects into the tree and it eventually came down.

The 2 Marks had gone off to get fuel for the cars as we didn't have enough to tow the caravan to the nearest gas station (100km away!), so while they were gone we started a good bonfire and prepared it for cooking dinner in, using the campfire oven (a big iron cooking pot).

Once everything had been prepared we cooked Chicken Casserole in the campfire oven, which was reaaaally good, and ate about 8:30pm.

We stayed up till about 10:30pm having beers around the fire and chatting to other campers etc, before we went back to our bit of the camp before bed.

Before we all went to bed Fenella spotted a Cane Toad on the grass (the poisonous ones which all Aussies do they up most to kill) and called me. I proceeded to do as I was told...and kill it with a baseball bat!! Must admit it was a bit of a brutal experience..

(Photo - a 30 something lb'er Russ has caught back home).