We woke quite early to the peaceful sound of birds chirping all around us. It was also a pleasant morning with the temperature dropping sometime during the night. Enough for me to turn off the fan. We ambitiously thought last night that we would be at the Lawn Hills Gorge for sunrise but instead we decided to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and head to the gorge for a little bit of kayaking.
It's around 10 kilometres from our camp at Adels Grove to the Lawn Hills Gorge where there is also a National Parks Camping Area. I think the facilities are a lot better here at Adels Grove but the camping area is not very shady so it would get quite hot. We parked our vehicle in the visitors carpark and made our way to the Information Centre but it was closed and looked like it had been closed for quite some time. From here we walked the 100 metres or so to the waters edge. We initially had thoughts of bringing our own kayak down to the waters edge but when we arrived we saw that there were lots of canoes laying about but no oars. We asked another lady what the go was and she said you had to hire the oars back at Adels Grove. Good luck with that we thought, as there are hardly any staff at Adels Grove. Anyway we had or own oars in the back of the vehicle so we walked back and retrieved them from the car and once again made our way to the waters edge.
Lawn Hills - Boodjamulla - is a stunning gorge and deserves the accolades that it receives. It is so peaceful and extremely quiet as you paddle the kilometre or so to Indarri Falls. I truly could imagine our First National People walking along the top of the gorge and it does feel like a sacred site. In fact you are not allowed to enter the lower gorge for it is indeed a sacred site.
We stopped at the falls for a short while but didn't go for a swim, although the water looked inviting enough. Philip checked out the track to the Upper Gorge which is short but with a heavy canoe to carry it might not be an easy feat. We may try it with our own Kayak tomorrow as it is a bit lighter.
We paddled slowly back to the entry point and just as we were about to pull the canoe out we received a text from our friends to say that they were ten minutes away from Adels Grove. We were the same distance so we virtually meet at the gate. Philip guided them onto the sites either side of ours and after unpacking their respective caravans it was time to sit down for beers and cheers and lunch on the side. It was lovely to see them.
We have spent the afternoon swimming in the cool waters at Adels Grove as it is the perfect way to cool down on a hot afternoon. The temperature once again reached 37 degrees that is quite hot for this time of the year. We are fortunate that it does cool down slightly in the evenings but it is still highly unusual to be this hot in April.
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