PILLIGA - 17 TO 18 OCTOBER 2022

 17 OCTOBER

PILLIGA

We had breakfast and left the Warrumbungles.

First stop was Coonabarabran for wood, water, fuel, food and coffee.

Next stop was Baradine for the National Park Office and information on the Pilliga Forest. The roads were okay and the camp ‘Sculptures in the bush’ was open. It was a long dirt road with corrugations, ruts and sandy drifts. Eventually, we reached our camp and settled ourselves.

Later, in the afternoon, we hike the Sculptures in the bush track. Yes, it passed a number of sculptures on the upper part of the gorge. The second half was through the gorge of shaded trees, grasses and a creek. Usually, the creek is dry, but we had to do two creek crossings to follow the track. It was such a pretty hike and worth the effort of getting there.

In the evening we lit a campfire and enjoyed food and a few drinks.

18 OCTOBER

A sun shining morning.

I had an early walk to the gorge. The morning light was pretty, reflecting off the waters of the shallow creek. Two kangaroos were on the edge of the creek with a background of a magical fairy glen of modelled green. There were also a number of birds chirping and sing songing away in the cypress and gum trees.

Back at camp and after breakfast, we decided to leave due to the coming rainy weather. We got bogged along the way in the soft sand. Luckily, we had ramps to get out.

We continued to the Sandstone Caves. A 3 km hike around a number of shallow sandstone caves with great views over the hinterland.

Next stop was Narrabri, where we decided to stop for two nights.