Day twenty three. Bendleby Ranges Campground. 24.7.26

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Took pics of the vans by fire and moonlight last night. Too late for the blog so here they are today.

Phew. OMG… it was cold last night!!! No doubt we were well into the minuses. There were icy sparkles on the hatch of the van at 10:30pm. The night was clear too. ICE crystals on everything this morning, Mary and Phil‘s taps and spout were frozen with an icicle hanging off it. Cars and campers were covered in frost as was plantlife.

We all stayed in bed late as it was warmer there. Up about eight thirtyish.
Had a visit from our resident apostle birds who actually ate out of our hands. Whilst photographing them I spotted two parrots eating in the bushes across the track. Many pics taken. Great light, fabulous pair of birds. The first photos were foggy as our lenses fogged up with the cold.

Bacon and egg wraps for brekky Yum! Cuppa tea, dishes etc before we aired down the tyres and eventually took off for a day on the four-wheel-drive tracks at about 11:30.

We headed off onto Weira View track, Gum Gorge track, Monument Loop (twice), Kokoda Trail, Gum Creek Drive, Lonk Track, North South Ridge with great views, reproducing kangaroos, sheep, goats, rocky tracks, multicoloured rocks in the creeks. It seemed every steep climb we had reached the top only to find another climb around the next bend. The tracks have a skill level – we did a few of the different difficulties across the day (low-medium, medium and medium to high, all in all a pretty fun day out and all vehicles and humans survived unscathed.

Laugh out loud moment of the day, Phil managing to close a difficult gate with himself on the opposite side to the vehicles.

We wound our way along various tracks as per the map. I’ll take a photo.

Lunch on Marchant Hill with a 360° view of mountains and flats and mountains for miles all around.

After lunch we kept going and eventually came to Link Track, one of the greater difficulty ones. It was steep and rocky and tricky.

We all made it and then across to the sunset viewing area. We were there just after 4 so had some time to kill.

Played around with some shots at two sculptures – a heart and a circle. Then we waited. Wind was nippy. We had a dram of port to celebrate the completion of the Link Track. I went for a walk on the windless side of the hill while the others waited in the cars.

There day has been mostly blue sky and sunshine with a cool breeze, there are a few more clouds for sunset. It was chilly again by then.

Back to camp to stoke the home fires as we have PLENTY of wood left to burn. We were provided wood for two nights comfortable fires. We were a bit conservative last night, so have the makings of a great fire tonight.

A yummy tea – beef stroganoff and some of the Spirit of the Flinders Rosa Bread warmed in the camp oven.
Then a much milder night so we sat and enjoyed our last real camp of the trip. We head for home tomorrow. Not sure how many days it will take. Two or three I guess.