Moving on Slowly

Our exploration of the Great Divide continued as we headed south and west. Jenolan caves were explored on a misty dank afternoon but provided some impressive walks and caverns. We spent the night in Kanangra Boyd NP and woke to a sunny day ideal for our walk out to the spectacular Kanangra Walls where Sarah posed for pictures in a dramatic location before we walked a few hours out over the plateau with extensive views across miles of wilderness.

Yerranderie a former silver mining town was reached via 30 miles of dirt track and proved to be a fascinating historical relic with old houses, mine shafts and machinery all slowly dispappearing in to the bush. Owned for 5o years by a remarkable old lady the future seems uncertain as she has no direct heirs and is in her late 80's. For now though it made for a memorable place to spend a couple of days and appreciate how isolated the few people who still live there are - the most direct link with civilisation being a rough airstrip cut in to the bush and kept in trim by roos and wallabies.

Wombeyan caves provided more good walks and a clean and peaceful Parks camping area before we headed to Goulburn for food, fuel, gas and laundry topped off by lunch out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Later that evening we arrived at Bungonia NP set in an area of karst and riddled with sport caves. Walks on the surface linked up to give us a good day out followed the next day by the descent in to Slot Gorge a narrow defile that seemed impenetrable when viewed from above. In fact the route lay through a jumble of house sized boulders worn smooth by water that rewarded us with a swimming pool at the far end before the long hot climb out.

We are now in great comfort at Trevor and Anne's (a couple we met in Gloucester Tops) house with an invite to a Christmas do this evening - fancy dress is ? optional so our thinking caps are on. Sarah rides a week tomorrow after which we will explore the mountains of Victoria before heading for Tasmania in early January. We are adjusting to the heat and humidity, enjoying the very diverse bird and wild life and accommodating the huge distances in to our plans for 2011.

Links as usual to photos and SPOT