6.30am
Took some photos of the escarpment as the sun rose behind me.
7am
17 degrees, clear sky and no wind. The mouse didn’t leave!!
Headed
off from camp across to the entrance of the next gorge to check out the
Escarpment Trail.
Rocky
walk up the side. Great cave.
More
caves further along.
Continued
around to a flat rock area which would have water flowing over it in the wet.
Nice view from here so we don’t think we will push my knees to do the rest of
the walk to the top of the escarpment.
Found
some burrows left by marine animals (shellfish and worms) many years ago.
This
line of little rocks was very shiny while the next section was very yellow.
Lots
of ironstone nodes everywhere.
Found
some fossils too.
Walked
back to the track that goes around to Drapers Gorge. Looking up to where we
climbed to at the white post.
Escarpment
as we enter Drapers Gorge. We continued along the track.
Lots
of interesting rock formations.
The
track gets rockier as we wind further along the gorge.
Climbed
around a gully where the creek flows down. Still a bit of water in the pool for
the animals.
Continued
on – my tendons are starting to complain. I am fine on the flat and climbing
but coming down does me in. As there is wall to climb around we decided that
was far enough for my knees. A shame but I don’t want to do any damage just to
say I climbed it. This would be nice to see in the wet when the water is
cascading over the wall.
The
view back.
As
we came back to the pool I noticed a big ironstone rock jutting out and I
reckon it looked like a turtle’s head as there was an indent on the side for
the eye.
I
wonder when that slab of rock broke away.
Walked
back to the van for a cuppa. Found a bit more info in the brochure.
Steve
saw a post on Facebook about these bees – Dawson’s Burrowing Bee, one of
Australia’s largest native bees. It is unique to WA’s north-west, predominately
the Gascoyne area. Will have to keep a lookout.
Walked
up the road towards Temple Gorge.
Steve
heard some buzzing and looked down and we spotted bees digging in the dirt. Not
as big as we thought but these must be the Burrowing Bees we just read about. (Looked
back at the photo in the brochure and they are different but these ones were
certainly burrowing)
Continued
on to the start of the trail.
Easy
walking up the creek towards the ‘Temple’ escarpment ahead.
Interesting
views.
Reached
a waterfall ledge. Looking back.
Very
red soil in the walls here.
Continued
on and found a ‘window’.
Steve
climbed up then I passed him the camera. Not a great view through it.
Purple
mulla mulla flower.
This
would be a great ornament for a garden.
Continued
along and found the end of the trail below where the waterfall would cascade
down in the wet season.
Interesting
looking at the layers of creek stones on top of the red rock.
Looking
back down the gorge.
Chatted
with the couple who climbed up behind us. We mentioned the bees and she was
keen to see them. She said that they line the burrows with wax and nectar to
feed the larvae. They are only seen between June and September when they come
back out of their burrows.
We
walked back with them and showed them the bees.
This
one had his burrow under a rock. I even managed to take a video of him.
Had
lunch in the van which had warmed up to 33 degrees but the breeze is nice.
I
wrote some blog while Steve went for a drive to collect some firewood from
outside the National Park. There is a communal fireplace.
The
wind picked up and sent a few good willy willies through camp. Luckily they
didn’t fill the van with more dirt!
Andy
got the fire going and others joined us around the fire for a drink and chat.
Another lovely evening watching the stars come out.
8.30pm
24 degrees.
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