One of the places we treasure the most is Gara Gorge which starts at the Blue Hole - a local swimming spot in Summer - and then descends 250 m (about 750 feet) in a series of waterfalls into a secluded and beautiful valley, which is barely accessible to anyone. This gorge country winds for tens of kilometers as part of the World Heritage Listed Oxley - Wild Rivers National Parks. It is completely uncommercialised and full of wildlife. Two of the pictures show the rugged nature of the countryside.
At the top there are some great walking tracks with ever wider views as one gets farther from the Blue Hole. Along the eastern edge there are historical relics in the form of a flume, which once carried water to Australia's first hydro-electric scheme built in the 1890s to power the nearby town of Hillgrove - site of a gold mining boom at the time. Some of the concrete-sided flume is readily visible in the attached photo.
We walked about 6 km today around one of the walking paths, thankfully in dry, although threatening, weather. It started pouring just after we left the national park! A couple of photos show members of our party walking though steep terrain and at one of the lookouts en route. We couldn't help pulling faces at the latter having just had the scary experience of stepping over a large black (or tiger) snake. Perhaps I should say that Greg had that encounter and I was close behind. Max ran up to have a look, but was restrained!
AS
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