Day 19: Murraytown to Block 9 Road

Sunday 29th July 2013

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"Its such a perfect day,
  I'm glad I spent it with you."
                 from Perfect Day, a song by Lou Reed, 1972.
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The usual gathering for the morning briefing.

The theme for the weekend was Xmas in July, so Dean Mortimer offered this cryptic statement for the second day of the weekend:

In keeping with the theme, these are Carol's

Greg Kelly pondered at length about awarding Morris Minus.

John Pratt was a multiple-nominee and would like to think he won the award for his meritorious collection of information regarding Grey Box trees in the area.  More likely John was the recipient for his other nomination, being his notorious driving.

Either way, Morris looked very comfortable with John.

The weather was glorious and we soon enjoyed the scenery.

Ruin near Murraytown

Mount Remarkable still featured in the background even as we got further and further from Melrose.

More beautiful scenery along the trail

Morning tea was on the side of the road at a pretty junction.

As we moved off after morning tea, there were many eyes on us.

Once more, Mary Cartland shows us her stylish ways.

The biggest decision of the day - where do we have lunch on such a perfect day?

Some thought this was the perfect spot.

Others wanted to wait for the rest of the group.

The two camps weighed up the options.

Then it was decided.  We stay in this quiet corner of the forest and enjoy the sun.

After lunch, we were such contented walkers that Dean Mortimer broke out into a smile.

We were such a happy group of walkers on this beautiful day

A quick regroup at Sugar Gums Lookout and Dean took the time to explain the significance of the site.

We skirted the forest areas and admired the many tracks in and around the trees.

The walk today covered 18.2 picture-perfect kilometres on a gorgeous, warm winter's day.
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After the walk, just a little way down the road, I happened to see this lace monitor crossing in front of my car.  It climbed the tree to escape me as I tried to photograph it.

Dinner at Wirrabara Hotel 27th July 2013

Friday 26th July 2013 - Taralee Orchard group dinner

There were 11 in the group who stayed at the 2 cottages at Taralee Orchards in Wirrabara Forest.
Xmas in July theme.

Saturday 27th July 2013 - Wirrabara Hotel


Relaxing at the bar before moving into the dining room.

Day 18: Melrose to Murraytown

Saturday 28th July 2013

A beautiful day for walking and 22 walkers enjoyed the day.

The briefing was held in overcast conditions in the car park in front of the North Star Hotel.  Morris Minus was awarded to Greg Kelly for his vociferous support of the leader when he challenged the group to cross those creeks last month.  The theme for this weekend was "Xmas in July".  Dean Mortimer's flag was a red Xmas stocking, which he hoped would be filled by the end of the walk.

Robert Alcock got into the Xmas spirit with his decorations.

After the rain last month, Robert Alcock and I quickly revisited the Melrose swing bridge to compare the level to last month.  The level is much lower now and the flow is much more sedate.

The main group moved off to see some of the Melrose highlights and when Robert and I caught up with them, they had just finished hugging a tree.

Then it was time to hit the road for a while.

Mount Remarkable still loomed in the background, but was not so imposing as we moved away from Melrose.

Its early in the day and Morris Minus is looking relaxed and comfortable with Greg Kelly.

Morning tea was on a rocky slope, adjacent to this magnificent tree.

More beautiful mid-north scenery.

Our one and only water hazard of the day.

Fortunately, no-one got wet as we were all lined up waiting for a laugh.

This road would have been very tough going last month in the rain.

Approaching the ruin where we had lunch.

 

Somehow it all went wrong for Morris Minus after lunch.

As usual, Mary Cartland could not resist going out of the way to cross stiles, even when an open gate beckoned.

 

After walking 17.9 km, a cosy gathering completed another excellent day on the Heysen Trail.