22nd July, 2014

This morning we awoke to the sound of the water tumbling over the rock face into the Wangi plunge pool. After breakfast we all completed the Wangi Falls Loop walk which takes you up over the top of the falls and back down one side. It's a 1.6 kilometre walk which is up a moderate incline, past the bat colony, across the plateau and then back down another incline, nothing too strenuous but it did offer some great views out to the west.

We returned to the campsite for a quick snack before jumping In the car and heading off to the Cascades. From the car park a 1.7 kilometre walk headed out through open woodland and then followed a creek through sandy footing at first, then across slippery rocks up to the Lower Cascades. The water was crystal clear in the pools beneath the falls and it was a nice temperature, not overly refreshing.

This is the Fern Leaf Grevillea and it's nectar makes the area it is growing in smell like honey, it's a beautiful plant, I would like some in Drouin.

After enjoying the Cascades we came back to the car and returned to camp for lunch. Clare whipped us up some ham, tomatoe, salad onion and cheese toasted sandwiches. I was sitting at the table with Alyssa and had just picked up the first half of my sandwich, I was contemplating where to start when 'smack' it was gone and I saw it flying off towards the car and hitting the ground. A kite had swooped down, unheard by Alyssa or myself and whipped it out of my hands, it was unbelievable, so bloody fast and quiet, it's prey doesn't stand a chance. I wish I had had a video rolling, it would have been a YouTube sensation.

So after we had got over the shock of the sandwich picking kite we jumped back in the car and headed off to Blythe Homestead. It was a homestead established in the 1928 so that the owners could mine tin and run cattle on site. The parents had 14 children and there was a book inside the homestead telling the story of the family. The bottom of the roofline was so short that only Trent could stand at full height and walk underneath it and the homestead was very small. The posts of the cattle yards were still in tact, as was the gate. There was no walk to the homestead, you can park almost at the front door. There is a decent creek crossing of about 500 mm which stops the two wheel drives getting in here.

From Blythe we headed a bit further along the dirt road to Sandy Creek Falls (Tjaynera). A fairily easy 1.7 kilometre walk along the side of a creek, up through a paperbark and cycad forest, which had recently been burnt, leads to a magnificent waterfall and plunge pool. We had a swim here and Trent and I jumped in off one of the cliff faces from a height of about 5 metres. This kid has got an edge, he has no fear of these things. The colour on the rock faces and the deep pool made this one of our favourite swimming holes to date.

After returning to the car park we drove back to camp, nearly clipping a Wallaby on the dirt road (caught on GoPro) and settled in for dinner. A big black feral pig has just paid us a visit, apparently the Rangers are trying to catch it. They can't be trying to hard, it also paid us a visit last night, maybe we should offer Josh and Twitch up to catch it.

Termite mound on the way home.