Day Forty Three - August 18th, 2013
Yungaburra

A year ago today, I flew out of Heathrow bound for LAX. Although I've worked some pretty boring jobs, it's all been worth it to get me where I am right now!
The temperature change overnight caused a great deal of dew to settle on the tent, so we had a rather damp morning. We migrated to the camp kitchen to prepare brekkie and pack lunch for our day of walking. One of he couples we spoke to last night sneered at our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They didn't seem to fill of themselves when we said our budget was tight, as we had another 4 and a half months to go. At 60+, you'd have thought they'd be more understanding!

We had decided on walking first around the 5k track at Lake Barrine, and then the 3ks around Lake Eacham. We parked up, and set out on the path. I was expecting a nice calm jaunt, much like the one Elly and I have taken around Pitsford Reservoir. This however, was the stuff of nightmares. A track completely enclosed in bush land, with leaves strewn across the path and dappled sunlight streaming in through the trees: snake territory. Elly stopped to have a look at something, but find tell me until we were safely back in the car that it had been a snake skin. I was very nervous and expressed it, but Elly was confident and we kept going. About two kilometres in, after I'd flinched away from ever rustle and falling leaf, we came across a trench filled with leaves that we would hae to cross. This was too much even for Elliot, and we turned and retraced our footsteps. To make it worse, we saw a large rat scurrying through the undergrowth. Definitely the worst walk so far.

We did head down to the lake to eat our sandwiches, and although we had to fight off a rather persistent bush turkey, it was a calming lunch. We decided to head to Lake Eacham and see if conditions were any better. They weren't, but we had a good time watching the kids jump off pontoons and cool off in the clear waters.

With our day activities squandered, we came back to the campsite to read and decide where we will head tomorrow. The geese around the pond are huge! We used the time to have a little sunbathe and generally relax. Even though it was extremely hot, Elly convinced me to go for a run around 2.45 as we wanted to head back and see the platypus later in the evening. It was sweltering, but the roads were clear and we got an up close and personal view of the farm land around these parts. We were barked off by a couple of working dogs, and saw a - mercifully - dead snake at the side of the road, but made it back unharmed.
After a shower and a quick stop at the campsite shop for some ice lollies, we headed off in search of the platys again. We weren't disappointed, and saw the little guy in the same haunt almost immediately. We followed the path and saw a few more pop up, but we were certainly luckier yesterday. We did see a mother and baby turtle skimming the surface in a protected area, and a water vole of some kind. The creek is definite alive with wildlife.

Back to the campsite for left over ratatouille and an early night before we head off tomorrow!