Sorry if this is getting repetitive, but then I went camping again.
There was a flat open campground, formerly a special camping area where various Aboriginal tribes would gather to settle disputes - usually by a fight - and then make up and hang out for a few weeks afterwards.
The swimming hole was this river that had a clean gravel/pebble bottom and perfect visibility. Which was good, because there are
freshwater stonefish (venomous) in it. The area also had swarms of march flies (horseflies, to some of you),
stinging trees, and a lone dingo that wandered through the campground at night. The rangers (who were local Aboriginals) told me with the stinging trees, an untreated sting will cause severe pain on contact with water for up to three months; but "treated" stings only hurt for about a week, and "treatment" is to piss on it. I wonder if that's just a prank they play on tourists?
While I was here I had a few spare hours, so I got the tool kit and had a look at the funny brake-light/indicator thing. I did plenty of probing and jiggling and such, even threatened it with duct tape and WD40, but without success. Meh.
Nearby was a mountain I wanted to climb:
It is called Walsh's Pyramid (duh, it's a cone) or Banda Djurraga Murgu, Hill of the Scrub-fowl Nest-mound.
It was hot, and I wanted to see the sun rise from the summit, but didn't want to tackle an unknown trail in the dark, so I packed a bit of gear and started the hike at 4.30pm, although the temperature was still about 30. I was soon sweat-soaked, and the sun set when I was about half-way up. I did the third quarter by twilight, the final quarter by moonlight with a bit of torch use.
I made the summit without trouble. There was a strong southerly blowing, and it was moist and cool. I ate, and started to rug up. Two jumpers, extra socks, and a beanie, but I was still cool, and it was only early. I put on my full goretex rainsuit, but was still a bit cool. I got into my survival bag, a large orange plastic bag. This gave me enough shelter from the wind, but being non-breathable plastic, mean all my sweat etc stayed inside it.
Of course, the only real worry was thunderstorms. There had been a few in previous days, and this summit was NOT a good place to be. Granite and lightning play well together. It was a good thing I was too uncomfortable to sleep properly, because every 20 minutes or so I would do a scan of the weather. I've had thunderstorms approach me while camping before; you get plenty of warning with the light flashes in the sky and then the noise. Any warning sign like that and I was OUT OF THERE, dark or no dark.
Well, the night passed uneventfully, and dawn broke. Alas, it was a little cloudy, the views were rather fogged out! Just below the summit I took this shot, showing the shadow of the mountain with it's cloud hat.
As I descended, I met about a dozen other hikers in small groups coming up. I went south and found a roadhouse for more bacon and eggs.
Meanwhile, George TheCow was off at the beach. It is scenic, but no good for swimming, due to sharks, salt-water crocodiles, and two types of venomous jellyfish.
