DAY 8 - CANIA GORGE - HIKE TO DRIPPING ROCK & THE OVERHANG...2

We planned on doing the bigger hike today to Dripping Rock and the Overhang..  The great part about staying in one place for a week, means that we are never in a rush, so we were able to get up and have a leisurely breakfast and enjoy the birds that come visiting us each morning..  The King Red Parrots are very friendly and are not afraid to come and eat out of your hand...

John cleaning up after breakfast..

The male red king parrot

The female Red King Parrot

These king parrots are such inquisitive birds and move their head from side to side to keep an eye on what you are doing... 

We knew our walk this morning was about 4kms so we decided to get away around 9am so that we weren't walking too much in the hot sun...  We had heard that the walk today is a bit of an uphill climb and it is also a grade 3 walk.

 

We all met at the picnic area where quite a few of the tracks to the wonders of Cania Gorge start. 

This pleasant walk starts at the southern end of the picnic area.  After crossing Three Moon Creek the track winds through eucalypt woodland and dry rainforest before leading to the base of Dripping Rock..

Three Moons Creek..

The path is initially on flat ground and then comes close to the edge of the creek as it follows part way up the cliffs. When the path first comes next to the creek, you can climb down to explore with gigantic boulders to climb over and under.

 

 

As the path continues the gully becomes deeper and we reach Dripping Rock. The rock face is damp although I wouldn’t say it was flowing with water.

 

We did  find this rocky overhang  and the cool water seeping from the sandstone creates a haven for the ferns and moss we found here.  We also found  the nearby bench was a pretty pleasant spot to sit for a few minutes to listen to the dripping of water and all the bird-song.

The track continues on past weathered caves of vivid yellow and red ochres, ending at The Overhang, where water has eroded the base of the sandstone cliff.

From Dripping Rock the cliffs along Russell Gorge begin to liven up, displaying colours or reds and yellows, and the cliff overhangs the trail. I kept wondering if we were already looking at The Overhang, but we were only witnessing teasers on the way.

The walk itself becomes more rugged and was hard on the old needs although it isn’t difficult. There are sections where the path is quite close to the edge, so you need to take care...

After a few stops to admire the colours in the cliffs we reached a part of the cliff that towers above with a straight edge and a slight lean that makes you believe it could have been deliberately cut this way in some ancient past time.

 

Beside the wall is stairs that lead down to return you to the level of the creek in Russell Gully. When you reach the bottom you see the start of the overhang around the corner where the creek flows beneath it. At least it would be if the water was flowing.

Continue further up the creek, either under the overhang or on the opposite bank, and the walls reveal stunning bright yellow and orange colours coming out of the rock.

The track continues past weathered sandstone to The Overhang, where water has eroded the base of the sandstone cliff. There is a pool in Russell Gully.

We've made it back to Dripping Rock and we all feel that the sign that says 600m to The Overhang is a lie...  According to our knees it was way longer than that.  It actually felt more like 5kms than 600m and we were wondering how on earth we were ever going to make it back to the picnic area.    There are an insane amount of very uneven stairs between Dripping Rock and the Overhang and we have had to navigate them twice...
We were all pretty tired when we got back to the picnic area so all we wanted to do was head home for some lunch and a nanna nap.

One of the things that did perk us all up was arriving him to find this friendly little fellow at our campsite....  This kookaburra was different to the way we say yesterday..  Yesterday we photographed the "Laughing Kookaburra" where the one visiting today was the Blue Winged Kookaburra.   

The call of the Blue-winged Kookaburra is coarser than that of the Laughing Kookaburra, and ends somewhat abruptly. The Blue-winged Kookaburra lacks the brown eye-stripe, has a blue tail and a large amount of blue in the wing, and has a pale eye..  On the other hand the Laughing Kookaburra is instantly recognisable in both plumage and voice. It is generally off-white below, faintly barred with dark brown, and brown on the back and wings. The tail is more rufous, broadly barred with black. There is a conspicuous dark brown eye-stripe through the face. It is one of the larger members of the kingfisher family.

After we all enjoyed a bit of a nap, it was time to get out the cards again.  The beauty of down time out here at Cania, means that most afternoons finds us playing cards... We have introduced Barb to "Five Crowns" our favourite game to play at the moment, and I am not sure whether it is beginner's luck or what, but it seems that most afternoon she beats us.   John is not really a games person but he did join us under the annex but he was happiest reading his book...

After noon drinks time... not wine but the good old Coke Zero...

 

Whilst we were playing cards, the beautiful Red King Parrots came to visit.. They have become pretty tame and friendly and this afternoon we had six or seven at any given time, sitting on or under our awning....

Tonight dinner was a joint effort.  We have had left overs from the last few nights so decided to pool it all and then each family cook some vegetables to put together.  John was designated the potatoes though as he does awesome roasted potatoes that are just plain YUM...

Dinner tonight was left overs...

John's famous potatoes...

Enjoying his dinner

As usual, after dinner and the clean up is all down, we have been ending our day by sitting around the camp fire.  It is a wonderful way to end the day, toasting marshmallows and just chatting and reminiscing about previous holidays we have all had together..  There is something to be said about staying put in one place for a week or so.  It is definitely a more relaxed sort of holiday..

 

We are having a day off from hiking the Gorge tomorrow.  I am not sure that either Barb's or my knees would cope with another full day of hiking, so instead, we have decided to go and explore Monto a little more.  We are very keen to see the painted Silos as well as venture a little further a field to check out Mulgildie..