Tuesday 5 March 2013 - Porcupine Gorge National Park (near Hughenden)

Tuesday 5 March 2013 - Porcupine Gorge National Park (near Hughenden)

Today was long and hot. For some reason the heat really got to me, even though we spent most of the morning in the car, which is air conditioned. We had left the campsite by 8:30am and called into Winton to fuel up, then drove the 214km to Hughenden, where we stopped at a rest area for lunch. Afterwards we called into the town itself, picked up a few groceries, filled the water tanks and did a load of washing. As seems to be the usual for driving days, the girls were trialling, with Yasmin making demands and Sienna either screaming in her car seat or getting up to mischief when she’s out of it. My patience was paper-thin because the heat was sapping all my energy, plus a dehydration headache had set in too. Poor Glenn had to pick up the slack – he well and truly earnt his beer treats today! 

Once the errands were complete, we drove about an hour north of Hughenden to Porcupine Gorge National Park (thankfully all us girls had a sleep on the way). It was still stinking hot when we pulled up and again, Glenn did most of the work in setting up. He strung all the washing up (more beer credits!) and then we went for a wander. There’s another couple here (strangely they pulled up right beside us – hope they’re early risers!) and they told us the gorge walk was tough going. We went and had a look but decided not to attempt it in the afternoon, planning instead to go first thing tomorrow. It’s a 2.5km return trip walk, but is estimated to take 1.5 hours and is advised for a medium level of fitness. Obviously Glenn and I would be fine, but we’d have to go at Yasmin’s pace and be prepared to carry her if she got tired. With Sienna in the backpack, this is not something we want to attempt if the weather is likely to warm up quickly. 

Tonight we were visited by some bettongs (bandicoot kinda critters), one even carrying a baby in its pouch. The flies aren’t quite as horrendous here as they were at Bladensburg, although at dinner time they were a little too friendly. But it’s quite a novelty to be sitting outside after dusk right now with the computer on and not be bombarded with bugs. For the last five nights we couldn’t use any light apart from a candle, unless we wanted the little blighters crawling all over us. But there’s no creek or water source nearby and not much else to do, except the gorge walk, so we’ll probably head off pretty quickly.