Formed track ends here

Repeating the habit from last year, this morning I awoke about four minutes before six in just enough time to hike to the top for the sunrise. Joey, one of the students, met up with me there and braved the hike in the dark. Unfortunately for us it was incredibly anticlimactic and was a mere dark to light, no special colors involved. Even the cockatoos were virtually silent during all the action, or rather lack there of.

Not wasting the early morning, I quickly ran back to change for a run. After chatting with a native NSW ozzie for a bit, I met Joey again and headed off on a run down the Carnarvon Road. The time flew as I pointed out the grey roos and pretty faced wallabys all along the way. I will never get tired of this scenery.

Post-heaping foods from Steve, Simon gave us a lecture about the general Carnavron wildlife. It was the usual fascinating talk about Carnarvon fauna and Aboriginal visitors. He over viewed the bird species including the native kookaburra which perched themselves on a nearby tree watching and waiting for a handout from one of the students. He also talked about the apostle birds which earned their namesake by often hanging out together in groups of twelve.

Simon went on to talk more about the flora, which included the cycad tree. These unique trees are pyrophilic, meaning that they thrive on forest fires. Ironic, no? They also produce seeds which are edible.. if you get rid of the cyanide. Tasty.

Just like last year Simon had an activity where the students broke into two groups to participate in three successive competitions. They had the task of making a rock sharp enough to cut through rope, shape a boomerang, and create a container strong enough to hold a good bit of water. The rope cutting was intense- and injuries were sustained.

While the students worked fervently on their newly assigned projects, I took my sweet time piddling around the rocky surrounds and spotted myself a keelback (freshwater) snake skin! Surprisingly this particular snake isn't the venomous sort. It's actually the only known Australian snake that can eat cane toads and survive.

The water holding competition was a little intense as well.. I was the judge on the aesthetic portion. Team Echidna won though with their lovely little braided palm branches. The other team did a great job as well but it just wasn't quite as green. After that we threw the boomerangs and team Echidna, yet again, won. The boomerang came right back to Simon's feet!

We had a quick lunch and it was back out to do some hiking. We headed to Warrumbah Gorge which was a mad scramble through moss-lined walls and wading in icy cold water. It was absolutely absurd. And gorgeous. At the end there was a lovely little DEEP portion where the majority of the crew decided to go for a dip. I was the designated photographer. Definitely passing on the hypothermia, thanks.

Backtracking, we tramped up another route leading along and eventually in to Mickey's Creek. This one had a relatively wider path, but was much more rigorous. The rocks were huge and in many cases required some serious maneuvering. It was impossible to get past some parts without getting at least up to your waist in the frigid water.

The entire time we were hiking Colin, AKA spider monkey, somehow managed to keep himself dry.. until the final few meters before the turn around. While I was maneuvering down some rather steep rocks (I earned the title spider woman as I refused any help offered.. sounds about right?) I heard a SPLOOSH and in a thick Australian accent, “I'm all wet!”

Colin was no longer dry.

I felt like I was five again, going through an all-natural version of White Water which was way prettier and probably had a much smaller chance of getting E. coli issues.

We drove back to the campsite after Colin treated us to chocolate and starburst babies (phenomenal combination- orange is the best) where the big old roo was waiting for us. I snapped a photo quickly before jumping into the shower, sans towel, clothes and all. Sometimes I don't think my brain works.

Steve treated us to a really nice dinner complete with pumpkin which is even better over here than in the states. He also had a wonderful orange cake for us... so much food.

Unfortunately due to the rain, no, monsoon, we couldn't go spotlighting tonight for gliders. I literally had to cross a river to get to my tent tonight. The rain hasn't let up at all and to be perfectly honest I'm getting nervous that we'll be able to get the bus out of here in the next few days. The hike is still on tomorrow. All 14 k's in the bloody pouring rain.

Oh. What. Fun.