One of the many great things about camping in Australia is waking up to crazy bird sounds. The laughing kookaburra’s probably one of the most recognizable bird calls. If you ever watched the old Tarzan series you know the sound.
When Saturday morning rolled around we were slow getting up. We laid on our bed of pillows and listened to the Kookaburras. It was agreed we would skip cooking breakfast and load up the car so that we could get to our planned campsite. That way we could spend the better part of the day doing stuff.
We climbed out of the tent to a warm and cloudy day. Real muggy. Breaking camp was quick since we only had the tent set up. After the car was just about loaded up a flock of parrots landed near us and began pecking at the ground. We happened to have a little baggie of bird food so Tina went to work. After the food was gone and we pulled out of the campgrounds we found a blurb in a pamphlet advising not to feed this particular type of bird as they attack and kill many other types of indigenous birds. Oops.
Rolling through a small strip known as Hall’s gap we stopped to pick up some more supplies. This general store had few mentionables
As reported previously the fresh meat section had no fresh meat.
With supplies in hand we headed over to Smith Mill campground to get settled. Setting up didn’t take long so we jumped back in the car and went to go check out McKenzie Falls. These falls are pretty rad. They cascade down into a canyon and form some nice pools where you can chill and take photos.
Tina chose this spot to relax a bit.
Next stop was the balconies. The balconies are a series of massive rocks that jut out of the canyon’s rim. They look like balconies.
To get there we hiked down a path roughly 1 kilometer through amazing jungle like terrain.
We saw a little friend hanging out in the brush. Well not really little. This dude was about a foot long.
We wanted to feed him so we referred to the feeding guide.
Nope. Nothing about reptiles.
And then the balconies.
Well, after several hours exploring we were bushed so we headed back to camp.
We prepared some grub over the fire pit and camp stove. That night would be chicken lovelies and couscous. And before you ask, chicken lovelies are simply drumsticks with the bony knob chopped off the end. Presumably so the exposed bone seasons whatever you’re cooking the lovelies in.
After dinner we kicked it while some new neighbors showed up. A family of germans; in a sweet camper conversion made by Toyota. It had a pop up roof, a mini kitchen, all powered by a diesel motor of all things. You would never see anything like this in the US.
They were real friendly so I helped them gather wood for their fire. Little did they know about my penchant for fire.
Tina and I were getting tired so we called it a night. We wanted to get an early start so we could hit a local winery on the way home.
Not a bad day.
The next morning came pretty pain free. We loaded up and headed out of the park.
We hit the Seppelt winery and did a tasting of some real great wines. I had to reel myself back in because the last thing to taste was some tasty port. They were up this 12 year stuff that was 75 bucks. Even though the US dollar has been relatively good down here I opted not to get it. But we did end up with a box of some great bottles of other stuff.
All in all we loved this part of the country. We were out in the middle of nowhere and the camping’s pretty sweet. If we can squeeze it in we’re going to go check out Wilson’s Promontory. There’s only a couple of weeks left so it may not work out. Damn.
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