Warrumbungle Walkabout

In the lead up to our Big Lap, we have some great shorter holidays to take in the Aussie countryside, as well as fine tune our rig.

The  Breadknife from the Grand High Tops

One such trip was to the Warrrumbungle National Park in on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, west of Coonabarabran.

The local wildlife was not too perturbed about us joining in their part of the world.

Local emu on way into the Warrumbungles. We are not emu sed. 

Enjoying a drink on the road from the overnight rain

The one noticeable omission we that we duly noted regarding the fauna was the absence of snakes and koalas due to the damaging fire storm of 2013 which saw most of the park destroyed by fire; followed by heavy rain bringing about 10,000 years of erosion over a three week period.As a result, on our Grand High Tops Walk of about 6 hours, we did not see a single snake or koala.
(We were told by Rangers that only one koala was known to have survived the fires).
There was lots of evidence and sounds of goats, one lone kangaroo, and one fellow trekker.

From the Grand High Tops lookout the vast western plains can be seen disappearing in the distance.

Don with the western plains in the distance

Carrol and our starting point in the far valley beyond the Breadknife

The trek up to the tops was a walk in the park despite being mostly uphill, due to the path being very well re-made; with steps up most of the steeper sections.
The walk down by the longer western tiers was not so easy, with much of the track not having yet been rebuilt, and a careful watch on each step being required.
Needless to say, we kept up with our water and nutrition and after 29,000 steps, made it back to complete the circuit.

Our camp was waiting for us on our return, sharing with multiple birds and kangaroos.

Warrumbungles campsite 

We learnt from this trip to the Warrumbungles is that we can be off the grid for up to 4 days without the need for power or water. The solar panels would recharge the batteries during the day, however water is the main constraint due to cooking, drinks and showers.

A beautiful part of the world. Well worth the trip!!

Until next time, as we continue to prepare for the Big Lap.

Cheers, Don.