A Whimsical Walk

Originally there was a plan! However the delicate flowers that we are, did not want to get wet after overnight showers deposited countless raindrops on the vegetation…
So we decided to follow a fire trail that was leading north of the Broad Swamp area. After a false start, we were on our way discussing the affairs of the world – one of the main advantages of walking on a fire trail!
The mist enveloped us. We arrived to a perplexing area cordoned off with orange flags: it was not obvious what was being protected….  We also found some pink tape – the universal marker used in the Australian bush! Then a box placed by the local mining company measuring, I assume, the water table level. All very interesting!

As we continued on, a well-formed but not particularly new fire trail appeared on our left.. The phones came out: it was not on the map! Red flag! “Why don’t we follow it to see where it goes?” So follow, we did! It was leading towards a creek but stopped well short of it. I spotted some pink tape in the wet bush and I said: “the creek is about 50 m away, why don’t we follow the pink tape?” The tapes brought us to another water monitoring station in the swamp. While I was inspecting the station, two members of the party noticed a cliff line on the map and by now, you can guess what they said!

We followed the edge of the swamp collecting dew on our clothes as we went and arrived to the cliff edge opening on a small valley. I recognised the pillar of sandstone near the cliff: Lot’s Wife! I had been there before! We walked to the right side of the creek to get better views and stopped for tea and a discussion of and commentary on the story of Lot’s wife. At some point I felt something falling on my hand and discovered what became a conversation stopper: a leech! After checking ourselves, we decamped and set out for the ridge opposite to us across the creek.
We found a surveying prism mounted on the rock used to measure subsidence. Nearby a jutting rocky outcrop had great views on the sandstone pillar. We followed the ridge to the end where we got some views of the valley bordered by large cliff walls.

It was time to head back. We retraced our steps along the ridge to another fire trail, discovering another unmarked fire trail… While we were walking, we were surrounded by orange butterflies. We eventually reached the old tramway trail that delivered us to the cars.