Left Nuga Nuga early, driving out north towards the Dawson Highway. Some parts of this dirt road were good, others I’m pleased we were in a tough 4wd.
Stopped for lunch at Fairbairn Dam. Great grassy area at the lookout over the Dam wall and dam. No one there, no one else came up, but don’t even think about camping here! Needed to re-supply so did our shopping at Emerald, out to the Irish Pub for dinner then back to the Emerald Show grounds for the night.
Largest Van Gogh in the world.
Our campsite had been chosen to perfection, getting the shade both morning and afternoon. We had brekkie then pumped up the kayak and paddled around the lake looking at birds for a while.
Off to explore.
Dead trees as a result of the lake formation.
Re-arranged the new drawer system in the back of Mitzy, now incredibly efficient (!); rested for a while until it cooled down in the afternoon when we took the kayak out again. Saw more birds this time – lots of cormorants, a few pelicans, black swans, geese, ducks, egrets, spoonbills, terns, hawks, and others we couldn’t identify. Also heaps of turtles popped their heads up to look at us, and some fish jumped. I’d guess the fishing would be lousy due to the numerous dead trees in the water causing snags everywhere.
Only one other car drove in while we were here – a couple of guys in high-vis shirts and mining company numbers on the vehicle .. coming to make sure we weren’t greenies reporting on them I guess (wink).
Had a campfire tonight. To see our photos from Lake Nuga Nuga click here.
The end of a wonderful day.
Our last day here and we farewell Trish and Bryan. Thanks so much for joining us here – it really made the stay and the walking so much more fun!
That’s it Steve! That cleft just ahead.
On the day of the Big Walk we bypassed The Amphitheatre. I knew how amazing this was from my last visit and didn’t want Steve to miss it so we decided to do it before packing up to go (and our drive today wasn’t going to take us long). 10K return to the Amphitheatre. It’s a hidden opening in the rock. To get to it you climb a ladder (several actually) then go through a narrow cleft passage in the rock before it opens out to a beautiful enclosed amphitheatre, with a small spring-fed creek and lots of beautiful ferns.
The view above
The sky is visible only by looking directly up. With so few people here now we were blessed with seeing more kangaroos on the walk and down at the creek. A beautiful big Eastern Grey male was grazing on the path and let us get within a couple of feet before jumping off. Such a majestic animal.
From inside – the only way in and out.
Click here to view our photos of the Amphitheatre.
Back to camp, packed Arty up and set off to Lake Nuga Nuga.
Lake Nuga Nuga was formed some years ago when the creek outlet was blocked. It flooded quite a lot of land and the existing trees there died. Not sure of the exact size of this lake but it looks to be a few kilometers in diameter and is surrounded by brigalow.
Despite the arid landscape it is starkly beautiful.
We’re here to see the bird life, to paddle around the lake in our inflatable kayak and to enjoy a couple of days of solitude, reading, relaxing, and re-organising the drawers now we’ve had time to use them for a few days.
The drive here was delightful with the Carnarvon Ranges to the west and the Expedition National Park ranges to the east. The road from the highway was pretty good – dirt, but well maintained … not surprising when we drove past the massive Santos Pipeline Project base! Once we turned into the Nuga Nuga Road though it deteriorated quickly, and we were warned that if it rained we wouldn’t get out.
Our campsite.
We drove around and picked the best camping spot – across from a potential island when there’s more water in the lake and with views east and west to the lake (about 50 meters away in each direction). The easterly breeze coming over the lake was beautifully cooling, fortunately, as the temperature on the drive here was 33 – 34. We had the pick of any camp site we wanted, we’re the only ones here.
We did the minimalist setup of Arty – just flipped her open, opened the windows and pulled the awning out from the side of the car, took the chairs out and setup the gas stove. We think this is all we really need the majority of the time – and it took less than 15 mins, and we’re still new at it!
What remained of the afternoon was spent relaxing, enjoying wine o’clock as the sun set over the lake, and watching the birds. Steve has a Night Sky app on his iPad. We had fun identifying the stars and constellations with it before turning in for the night. Bliss!