My World ~ Melrose to Tumby Bay, a Road Trip

Most of you will know we were away for a while for a little trip

to the Eyre Peninsula. Our first two nights were spent in Melrose

where my SkyWatch shots came from. Onward through this pass

where you can just glimpse the sea in the distance and on to

The Arid Lands Botanical Gardens at Port Augusta where we

were welcomed by this beautiful goanna, all of 3' long and not

at all shy.

Sturt Desert Peas were still flowering and we had a wonderful

lunch at the restaurant as well as acquiring a great book on desert

plants so that I can bore you with botanical names galore in the

future.

On again through arid landscape where the locals obviously

have a sense of humour and ask their girlfriends to marry them

on the side of five huge water tanks in the middle of nowhere.

A luxurious night in a seaside motel in Whyalla, a stroll on

the beach, a romantic dinner and next morning on wheels again

through 100 miles of not very much

to lunch at this charming old hotel in Cowell where the largest

jade deposit in the world is found and

we met this charming couple, not very chatty but so comfortable

on their bench on the verandah. We spent the night in a cabin at

the beach side caravan park and I had a chance in the evening to

dangle my line from the jetty.

Onward another 100 miles or so, just a nice drive, to our

destination in Tumby Bay where we had a welcoming committe

serenade us on the sea front.

and I had some luck from the jetty. We had a five night stay

booked, but it was so pleasant there that we stayed eight nights

instead.

And then, there were the pelicans . . . but that is another story.

All photos enlarge and if you wish to see the marriage proposal,

enlarge at least the water tanks.

Thanks to the eager beavers among the MY WORLD Team, I too can share

this epic with the world.

Watery Wednesday ~ Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland

Thank you all for visiting and leaving comments which I treasure.
I am sorry I cannot at present return the compliment. It is as
much as I can manage to put up a post.

Fingerlings restocking the river for Heron takeaways.

Some evidence along the riverbank of the recent massive storm

flood that roared down the gorge uprooting large trees and

washing away great boulders set as stepping-stone crossings,

ripping out steel ladders cememted into sheer cliffs and generally

creating havoc.

Now the river is deceptively calm and benign but beware of

thunderstorms further up stream!

The Logo will open waterways around the world.

*
Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy we can all join in the fun.

MY WORLD ~ 23 Carnarvon Gorge

Most photos may be enlarged, I hope you do.



After driving a few hundred kilometers out of
Yeppoon, see previous MY WORLD post, we started
out on the last 21km of rough gravel road to the gorge.
After a few km, there was a slight hitch...did I mention
the gravel was rough?.., while the Prof attended to a
few minor adjustments, I, being helpful, photographed
the scenery.




A view to the mountains that contain the 16,000ha
gorge area which is part of the much larger Nat.Pk.



We treated ourselves to a comfortable night in a
de luxe safari tent wit Q-sized bed and bathroom.
We felt the extravagance was warranted since we
had just passed our 50th wedding anniversary.
Early next morning we were greeted by this kangaroo
and her many friends as, armed with a large water
bottle and two apples, we headed on a daywalk
exploring up the gorge.



These are the largest Cycads we have encountered
anywhere. They must be hundreds of years old to
have attained this size.
Cycads are in a class of their own, being neither fern
not palm.



The seeds are a beautiful bright red and the whole
seed head looks much like a pineapple.

There had recently been raging floods down the river
and the track had only just reopened after major

repairs to the many crossings and destroyed rock

scaling aids 20' above the normal river height.

Because of the extra water, the Acacias were in bloom

also this pretty blue Solanum

The Heron took advantage of one of the stepping stone
crossings to look for his lunch

while pretty pink grasses swayed on the riverbank.
We hiked over eight crossings at roughly 1km
spacings which exhausted my energy, so Hobbit
fashion, I dabbled my hot feet in the water while
the Prof went on to the Moss Gardens.

There are many points of interest to hike to if you

are young and/or fit..unfortunately I am neither.

We saw a number of hopeful Herons of different

colourings on our return journey

I hardly think these fingerlings were what they

were hoping for.

This little Hibiscus like flower eased my tired spirits
as I looked up to the possibilities of scaling the cliffs

further up the gorge.

The next night we froze in a canvas cabin
without amenities, in the camp groud, but

somehow it was more pleasant to be among
other nature lovers rather than purely luxury
seekers.

If you are still interested, tune in to the next exciting
episode, without shredded tyres, next week.

For more glimpses into other places click on the Logo
at right and travel the world from your armchair.

My thanks to Klaus and the MY WORLD team for
keeping us on our toes and blogging.