Aussie Adventure Day 15

Blogger: Pat Lynch

Day 15 – 24LS AND 123LE(equivalent of reaching the top of Mount Everest) – July 16th

Camp is packed up and we are ready to move by 7.30. It is a clean blue sky with all prospects of rain now well gone. The going is good and we get the chance to cross another dry lake. This one is much dryer and we lead in our vehicle and once we are across we tell the others to follow. A km of spinifix is ahead of us and we drive right through it. We often find a camel path and we use one wheel of our vehicle on it. It makes the going easier. We cross a small sand dune and Nick in his Nisson gets stuck. Graham’s Toyota using a stretch strap pulls him back. We motor on through the spinifix. At 10am, we arrive at 24LS and 123LE and we find the exact spot. It is quite an achievement as there has been very few people here before. We find a tyre mark on the sand indicating that someone was here already. We mark the spot and we place our names on the metal of the inside of a beer can and we place that in a glass jar. Group photographs are taken as this is a very significant moment on our trip. It is the equivalent to reaching the top of Mount Everest. After coffee, we drive to the Constant Ranges which was explored by Rob in 1983. We arrive at 12.30 and we enter the valley by a small narrow path the width of a vehicle. There are about 10 vehicles a year visit here with a well worn path over Robs original path. It is like a hidden oasis.

We find some nice shaded area and we stop for lunch. Inside here you could be in Ireland. Nice green vegetation and lots of bird life. A group of about 70 pink and grey giliage seem to live in the area. They are in fact Parrots which I believe can be thought to talk. We are now 1100km from Perth as the crow flies and at this stage we are now heading south on our way home. Nick makes his daily call to his wife in Perth who will call the other family members to let them know we are ok and also give them a location. It is great to hear there are no messages for us. After lunch we drive on around the valley we are in. There are two entrances, 1 in and 1 out and we head to the exit. We continue on Rob’s path for several kms and eventually cross a creek that Rob had to dig to get across in 1983. It is now 1.40 and Rob stops at this creek to go and explore. He recons he knows a faster way to where we want to go. We decide not to go and continue on the path until we get to Vowyunggo Gorgo. We park and head up the valley. We find incredible caves with fantastic paintings in there done by the Aboriginal’s many years ago. We trek further up and find more and then we find water – very deep crevice  protected by deep rocks on both sides. Nick is brave enough to go in for a swim. He says it is cold. We all wash briefly and we trek higher on top of the Gorge. The view is magnificent. By 4.15 we are back at the vehicle having seen some more paintings on the way back down the Gorge. We head south for another 30 minutes and we make camp at a beautiful tree covered area at the side of a sand dune.

 There is plenty of firewood to get the fire going and we all set about our chores setting up camp. Pork chops for dinner with vegetables followed by fruit and ice cream. Coffee and tea to follow. This has been the best camp site of the trip so far. We chat around the campsite and sort the problems of the world. Full stars tonight and it is a beautiful view to be in your sleeping bag and gazing up. The milky way is visible which amazes me as we do not see this in the Northern Hemisphere. I eventually fall asleep after pulling the swag up over my head with a small area to see out.

More outback adventures tomorrow

Pat