Author: Mrs A
Another early morning, and out and on our way by 7am, sandwiches made and water bottles filled. We commenced our day’s activities at Zebedee Springs, a permanent thermal spring (28-32°C) in a beautiful orange sandstone gorge, the water coming out of rocks and flowing through a series of little pools through a creek.
We drove about 8km from camp on 4 wheel drive tracks, across two water crossings and parked up. A short 2km hike saw us arrive in the main gorge, surrounded by palm trees and a gorgeous stream bubbling down, already some visitors sitting in the water enjoying the warmth. We found ourselves a private pool, changed into swimmers and settled in to the water. It was great scenery, and reminded us of our fabulous New Year’s Eve with John, Ev, Chris & Karen spent floating in the Nymboidia on that 41 degree day! Unlike that day, it was a cool 16 degree start to the day here, and the warm water was more than welcome.
After about 40 minutes we changed and hiked back to the car and drove to our next destination, El Questro Gorge. Accessing the parking area was an adventure in itself, with quite a wide, deep water crossing to tackle, before leaving the car and setting off up the gorge. The following 4 hours could not really be called a walk, as we were more or less following a river the whole way, rock hopping or wading through water surrounded by tall palm trees and sheer sandstone cliffs. It gave us quite a workout, and at one point we had to change back into our wet swimming gear and wade/swim across a pool and climb up a waterfall to reach the next section. It was certainly an adventure, and the scenery was worth it.
We returned to camp at around 2.30pm for showers, and I did some painting while Mr A read. Tonight we ate at the campground bar – they had a good musician playing and it was a great atmosphere. More adventures ahead for tomorrow – we are hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful and endangered Gouldian Finch which lives alongside the Pentecost River nearby.
I thought for a brief moment when I saw that picture of you two in the water: “I was there! Oh no…that just looks like NYE…”