Tuesday 27th August, 2024
We spent last night at the Albert Tognolini RA. We realise that it’s only the second time we have been there, our experience last time really stayed with us for a long time and made it seem as though we had stayed there many times in the past. We spent 2 nights there last time, but the pressure to get south for cooler weather means that this time we just stayed until around 11.00 a.m.
We stopped for a short walk at the lookout point over the Munjina East Gorge. The beauty of this place is that you actually drive through the gorge, then drive up the hill to have a view back through it whilst camping. The viewpoint gives a closer look at the road cutting through the gorge.
The drive to where we are staying tonight was through amazing scenery. We stopped at a couple of places to enjoy it. Then we drove down into a valley that was basically given over to mining. The red dust was thick on the plants and trees. Even where we are staying tonight we are aware of mines around us, though we can’t see them, just have the dust, and after dark, the lights on the horizon around us.
We arrived here at lunch time, but then decided to stay the night as it likely has the best scenery of the stops before Newman. We had quite a warm afternoon, then went to try out the gorge walk with another camper. She is a good walker and was able to deal with a difficult section of the path to take her into the gorge. We bowed out, but hung around and waited for her return, which was an opportunity to see some of the local bird life.
She and Stephen had spoken about walks in the morning at the Albert Tognolini RA, which is why she came over to ask if we would like to do the gorge walk here.
Photos from the Mt Robinson Rest Area
There are reports of dingos visiting this spot, so doing the walk with someone else seemed wise. However, as our companion walked most of it by herself meant that she was taking a risk. So far, we haven’t actually seen any dingos.
The camping area gradually got busier as the afternoon progressed, but there is a lot of room, and it doesn’t feel crowded.
We’ve been seeing wildflowers on this part of the trip, and they were especially lovely today.
