Big Hill

One of those days where it turns out to be somewhat different to what you had in mind.  What was an admiral plan of casually checking out the Erskine Falls and taking in the wonderful sights of Lake Elizabeth over lunch, turned out to be all of that and what felt like two rounds of Rally Australia.



I think I said in the last blog that the GOR is a bit 'twisty and turny' but the route we took today over about 80km included several sections of tight blind corners to dips and twists of all approaches and angles, both on bitumen and gravel.  A feat of such concentration and precise judgement to be worthy of a podium finish was clearly in order.  Fortunately, we managed to navigate and negotiate our way through the forests and sections of the GOR with finesse and precision.  We only took one wrong turn and got lost once, according to the little voices from the back seat.  But what would they know?  We got them home safe and sound didn't we?

It was shortly after the crack of dawn (read 10:15AM) when we were on our way down the dusty, 'twisty and turny' road to Erskine Falls.   

 

Yep, I thought that we were "waterfalled out" on this trip but it was a nice climb down the steps to the bottom of the falls.  The boys got to practice their parkour moves on all the rock formations littering the upstream section.

 This is Straw Falls, a short walk downstream from Erskine Falls.

That's us on that ledge about 25m up!

  

 

This was one of those "don't think we should have done this" moments.  Jack and Jarrah scrambled up the rock-face followed by a very eager Fletcher whom I couldn't quite arrest until he had already made a good start.  Once we had scrambled to the ledge and had the obligatory photo taken, it was clear that it would be a rather risky and tricky manoeuvre to navigate our way down safely, particularly for Fletchy, or Jock-Boy as he prefers of late.

 

Jack and Jarrah did an extraordinary job getting down without falling. But my heart was racing - one false move and they could have fallen quite a few meters.  Then it was Jock-Boy's turn.  I climbed down first and helped him get from one crevice in the rock to the next and carried him down a couple of sections.  My heart was racing again but we all got down safely.  Phew.

 

Thumbs up all-round.

 

Jock Boy changed his name to Scarface after his

rock-hopping effort resulted in a decent scratch down his cheek.

 

Next on the agenda was Lake Elizabeth.  Another beautiful walk along Fern Tree-lined pathways through the forest was rewarded with a sighting of a Koala high up in a tree, the second random sighting on the trip so far!  It was nice to be out having a walk on such a beautiful day.  And good to be out of the car.





We enjoyed a picnic lunch once again and then headed off along many rather obscure and remote tracks through the Victorian countryside for the Rally Australia episode.  It was kinda fun from the drivers seat but clearly not as much from the back seats, judging by the upset tummies being complained of.  In any case, we finally made it to Apollo Bay for a rest and recovery which included a coffee for Andrea and I and some hot chips for the boys.  A decent basket of tasty chips with chicken salt will always fix a stomach complaint in this family!

 The chip and coffee mixer.

 

We were back at the Big Hill campground soon after for a quick family game of Hacky Sack before lighting the campfire and chilling over a burrito and glass of wine.  We had covered a whole lot of the Ottway Ranges along some very testing tracks and spent a long time in the car doing it but we saw and did some terrific things today.  The hits and memories continue to be created every day. Can't wait for tomorrow!