natural grandeur | alligator gorge

A lovely sunny morning walk in Alligator Gorge this past weekend. There was more water in the creek than when we last visited, burbling over the rocks in some places & still pools in others - reflecting the grand walls of the gorge. With rich colours, beautiful scenery, some lovely flowers, a profusion of butterflies & a gentle breeze - it made for an altogether lovely outing.

a walk in the (national) park | Alligator Gorge

We had gorgeous weather over the Easter weekend & spent Good Friday exploring Alligator Gorge. It was the perfect day for it - mild & a little sunny, with a nice breeze - & we thoroughly enjoyed our wander, listening to birdsong, enjoying nature & being awe-struck at the magnificent scenery.

After enjoying the views from the look-outs, we ventured down the stairs into the gorge, walked along the terraces, followed the path (&/or creek bed) through the gorge - marvelling at the vast, layered walls (& the trees & grasses managing to grow there) - & climbed back up to the top for lunch.

It was an altogether lovely way to spend the day...

more photos from our walk over on Kathryn's blog...

a potentially prickly encounter...

On our way down Mt Remarkable, we had a rather special encounter.

We hadn't seen that much wildlife other than a few birds, until we spotted this prickly fellow, just off the path. It was very shy at first, but once we stood quietly for a while, poked it's head out. The sound of the camera seemed to spook it, so I watched & waited a while between shots. I probably could have sat & watched it all day, but the hot drinks we had left in the car were calling us, so eventually we moved on.

a little further on, we also spotted another local...

on Flickr

reasonably remarkable...

As I mentioned here, we recently decided to attempt the Mt Remarkable summit hike.

It was a 12km round trip, which took us about 6hrs (+ a lunch stop at the summit). The weather was gorgeous - cool & sunny with a bit of breeze & we were well fuelled by home-made pasties, biscuits & flour-less chocolate cupcakes. Although the view at the summit was obscured by trees, there were plenty of opportunities to gawk at the surrounding farmland along the way. While it was not precisely a gentle afternoon stroll, I enjoyed it very much.

All these photos I took on the way down (which is when I carried the camera), you can see some that Kathryn took on the way up here.