Mornington Station 8th August

Mornington is run by Australian Wilderness Conservancy . That is an entity that purchases land and then sets about restoring and improving it for fauna and flora. We decide to head to Sir John gorge for the first day. It is about 15 km drive from the campsite. When you are heading out there the landscape is like something you would see on Mars it is very barren on the ranges. Then you get out of the car in your bathers thinking we must look like clowns in our bathers in the middle of a hot dry enviroment a short walk and you found a huge body of water with cliffs one side and long flat rocks the other. We walked a fair way down and found a nice spot on some sand with shade from a tree and rock ledge. Maya found a deck of 500 cards so we played a few games of spit and 31. We had the place to ourselves. This part of the Gorge is the upper reaches of Fitzroy river but lucky for us no salt water crocs it's to high up for them to climb. We checked out the wetlands on the way back at dusk. There had been a hot fire through there so not alot of cover but a few species of bird none the less. The reason I mention the deck of cards is that they will feature later on in our travels. Beer and wedges at the bar round the fire tonight.

Second day we had booked some canoes in the afternoon to paddle the Diamond Gorge. This is a must and the only way to see this stunning and peaceful place. We had met up with some friends that we met along the way Shout out to Nick and Hil and the kids. They were paddling too so we had lunch and a swim together there. Once again the place was empty. There is huge pile of dolorite at the end of the Gorge which looks like someone's dumped a pile of rocks there with a machine but this is a natural phenphenomenon due to ancient volcanic movement. A beautiful sunset was our gift for staying out so late on the water. It is about 25km back to camp so it pays to make sure you have enough fuel to do the side trips when going out on stations.

Feature Creature 

Simon The Cicada and friends