Wednesday 6th August, Strolling and Scone

Just to add some extra information to yesterday’s blog, later in the afternoon Rob spoke to a young man who was in the caravan next to ours. He was dressed in his “high viz” gear and had clearly returned from work. He said that he and many of the other workers staying in the park didn’t work at the coal mine but worked at the large wind farm which we had also passed yesterday. He told Rob that he had worked on the wind-turbines all over Australia. We thought this was an excellent way to see the country! After leaving the caravan park this morning, we headed to part of The Goulburn River National Park to go on a walk to “The Drip Gorge” or “Great Dripping Wall”. We did pass the huge Ulan coal mine, on the way though. The walk was fairly easy and quite beautiful, a lovely way to start the day. The sandstone walls of the gorge, continuously drip clear spring water and the abundant plant life along the way made it even more interesting. On several occasions, we saw a bird and we’re pretty sure it was a lyre bird scratching around. The Goulburn River was flowing next to the track which added to the beauty. After completing this walk, we drove onto our next stop, the small town of Scone. Once we’d settled into the caravan park and had a quick bite to eat for lunch, we drove to our next walk at “Burning Mountain”. This walk was a little more challenging with many uphill parts on the track. Burning Mountain takes its name from an underground smouldering coal seam. It is estimated the fire has burnt for 6,000 years and continues to move about one metre per year. We saw the discolouration of the soil from the heat and fire and a small amount of smoke. We nearly didn’t make it to the end of this track due to a 1metre long black snake lying across the track, sunning itself. Rob and I stamped our feet but to no avail. Rob started throwing stones and again it was reluctant to move but finally it slid off the track! We’ve had a great active day and should sleep well tonight.