15-July
Not too early today, and we don’t have to pack! Our first stop this morning was a hot spring, and we have early access. The gate normally opens at 8 but we can get in there at 7. And when we got back at the car park, just around 8 AM, we understood why this was a very good thing. One car after the other arrived and I suspect it would be very soon overcrowded in the hot springs.
Next destination was Amalia Gorge, Jimmy warned us, that for those who wanted to see the waterfall, it would be a challenging hike. Well, I can confirm it was very challenging, at around 50 meters from the waterfall I slipped on a wet rock and went face down. And these rocks do not bounce, luckily I did not break anything but did hurt my knee a bit. However, I made it to the waterfall and was able to clean myself up and put a few band aids on the scratches I sustained. I expect that tomorrow it will really hurt 😒.
For the afternoon we all were booked on a champagne tour, after a bit of confusion about what tour group was booked for that afternoon, they solved it by taken 8 of us in a small tinny and follow the bigger boat. The boats took us over the Chamberlain river through an enormous gorge with steep cliffs on both side. At the end of the gorge we stopped for our champagne and nibble.
And we also had a change to feed the archerfish that are here, amongst many other fish species. but the archerfish were the main attraction. They are famous for “spitting” or shooting jets of water to hunt. They use their mouths like water guns to knock insects off overhanging branches and leaves, hitting targets up to two meters away with deadly accuracy. The fish here are conditioned by the rangers, and many tourists, to hold out a pallet of fish food and wait till the archerfish actually hits your hand. Then drop the pallet as a reward. It was another amazing site.
Here are a few pictures of the day:
