Previous Camping Trip

Following this post are photos from our camping trip of October 8-9th. At that time Waz wanted to go to Biddlecombe, but the rangers said it was on fire and therefore off-limits for the weekend. So we decided to go to Dunlop Swamp instead, a place none of us had been, but less than 9 kms in.

It was very hot and we started around 2:00 in the afternoon. Probably unsurprisingly we didn't meet anybody else on the trail (that was true for our more recent trip too).

There was supposed to be water (for drinking) at Dunlop Swamp, but when we first got there all we saw was a murky pool and some other muddier bits that feral buffalo had been trampling in. It seemed that the name "swamp" wasn't overly modest. It was late, we were tired and our only other option would've been to continue on down to the gorge, another 2-3 rough kms. It would've gotten dark while we walked.

Instead we decided to stay. We explored further and found that there was cleaner water available and even a nice little pool for swimming in. We set up camp in a lovely spot under the trees, had a swim, a campfire and were in bed by eight thirty. (Californians need to remember how close we are to the equator here--it's dark around or by 7 most of the year.)

In the morning I went down to the water for a swim and startled a big mob of red and green lorikeets out of one of the trees. A flock of colorful birds in flight is a lovely way to start a morning! I was not, however, able to get a photo.