08/31 - Arkaba Walk - Day Three

Again, we stopped for lunch, a dramatic pause. After our meal, we continued a short ways up the creek, then took a sharp turn into a side canyon. We clambered over rocks and stones and climbed. As we climbed, the canyon widened and soon we emerged on the hillside. We continued to climb. Soon we were following a ridge line with views on either side.

We followed this track for some ways, up and down, but mostly following the ridge. We saw kangaroos bounding, distant mountain ranges and wide open spaces. Then our guide paused. Down before us was Arkaba Station, our goal. We still had a kilometer or two to go, but from here on it was anticlimactic. We descended and lost sight of the station. Then we saw the station ahead, just above us. A brief climb and we were home.

08/30 - Arkaba Walk - Day Two - Part 3

It turned out neither. We headed through the narrows, following a track from rock to rock, avoiding the water. The canyon turned.

08/28 - Arkaba Walk - Day Two - Part 2

08/27 - Arkaba Walk - Day Two - Part 1

There was a lot of creek bed walking, and there was actually water in the creeks here and there. At points the footing was a bit rough, but overall the track was easy to follow, at least with Paul, our trusty guide, in the lead.

08/26 - Arkaba - The First Day

We started in the national park and headed west, crossing from one set of mountains to another. The "pound" itself, short for compound, is flat, but surrounded by mountains. The vegetation, wattles, gum trees and sycamores, was exotic, and the wildlife exotic. We followed the well blazed trails and soon ran into a flock of yearling emus who eyed us curiously, but warily.

Then we climbed the west wall of the pound, old mountains in layers of red, gray and brown rock. We passed through the gap and left the national park heading down to the Hysen Trail, named for a painter who painted the area much as Georgia O'Keefe painted around Santa Fe. It was a steep descent and not all of it followed a well blazed trail, but we soon reached the main track in the valley, but we didn't stay on it long. We took an unmarked side track, not blazed at all, to our campground.

08/26 - Arkaba - Campsite

08/25 - Spit Road to Manly - 2

We walked on through rain forest and suburb and across charming beaches. We could see the Manly ferry across the water. The trail was paved and our final approach was along suburban streets. Exhausted, we settled on the ferry for our quick voyage across the harbor, back to our hotel.

08/24 - Spit Road to Manly - 1

The Spit Bridge to Manly trail starts below the unpromisingly named Spit Bridge. The trail follows an alley down from the road to the base of the bridge, past trash cans and urban scenery. Then, there is the water with sailboats, park land and the homes of the lucky few who can afford to live on the water.

We followed the trail past tidal flats, up and down sand stone cliffs, across little streams and past waterfalls. We spotted birds and views. Climbing, we had a magnificent view of the office towers of downtown Sydney not far from an array of aboriginal petroglyphs.

08/23 - Destination Sydney

08/21 - Vancouver

08/16 - In Search of Water

In search of water we went to Barnes Creek and were pleased to see that Lake Crescent still has a fair bit of water. We started climbing the Mount Storm King trail to get a better view of the lake, but we didn't get far. The trail was crumbling, and it is a steep trail. If we were slipping on the way up, coming down would be treacherous. We turned around and took a look at Marymere Falls. It was nice to see some flowing water.

At the pebble beach we could see just how low the flow was in Barnes Creek. The river was much narrower and the beach much larger than usual. Then we walked a bit up the Barnes Creek trail and got a few glimpses of the river. We got our water fix, at least for now, but we're hoping for some real rain.