Woke to a chilly morning at Undara and had to pop an extra top on until the sun warmed things up a bit. I guess we’re a reasonable distance inland now and should expect such conditions for a while.
Up at dawn gives one the chance to avenge those around us who were noisy well after we went to bed the night before. A few opening and closing of the tent zips, together with the car doors helps. What really works a treat here is a handful of torn-up bread thrown under the troublemakers’ caravan while on the way to the toilets. Have I mentioned the flocks of noisy currawongs that will fight over the smallest scraps of food? Makes for interesting watching over breakfast and a cup of tea, although the occupants of the caravan looked confused as to what was going on under their home on wheels!
After breakfast and a shave (first for ages as very few (none) of the recent amenity blocks have had a mirror) and nice hot shower, we prepared for a 12km loop walk around the Undara NP. The information sheet listed out all the things to take to make the trip safe and enjoyable. We opted for enjoyable (and not too safe) saving us the added weight of a first aid kit, sun screen and excessive amounts of water. What was not mentioned is that the track has a number of side tracks to lookouts – the distance for these side trips did not appear to be factored into the overall distance.
The 15km walk took us through flat savannah country, initially along the route followed by an old (1860s) telegraph line, before winding past an old settlers’ hut and climbing the granite escarpment for views over the flat plains below.
On returning the the Undara NP office to sign off that we had returned (and survived the walk), we shouted ourselves an iced chocolate and iced mocha to help with the recovery process. A swim in the pool may be in order soon.
