Thursday, 29 August 2019

Elachbutting Rock Trip–Day 3

Last night was considerably warmer that the first night when I almost shivered in my thick Fairydown Everest model sleeping bag. I bought this bag before we were married and usually I overheat in it, but nights in the desert can get bitter.  The dry air and lack of vegetation allow the daytime heat to rapidly dissipate.  I also tend to rise at first light in an effort to cook and eat breakfast prior to the arrival of the flies.  Yes… I don’t like sharing my breakfast!  Of course that means dinner is usually eaten after dusk.  So two meals a day! 

Today we visited three different rock locations.  The largest and most interesting was Baladjie Rock beside Lake Baladjie.   Rather than take all three vehicles I travelled in my brother’s Toyota.  He could scratch his paintwork bashing through the scrub Smile

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The first feature had some interesting gnamma holes.  A gnamma hole is a cavity formed in hard rock which can sometimes contain water.  The Australian Aborigines would know the locations of the holes and use them as a source of drinking water.  Something the early European explorers and settlers adopted.

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This particular rock wasn’t particularly high but then the terrain was so flat it still made an acceptable survey point.

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Looking west back towards the pastoral land

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And to the east vast areas of not much

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Various interesting rock formations create by wind and rain

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Lake Baladjie is a salt lake.  In the winter it contains water with a significant level of salinity, whilst during the summer it would be a sea of white salt

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Janet went rock climbing

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On top of that large boulder held in place by weight and friction.

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More interesting shapes and colours in the rock formed by the climate.

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That evening I managed to give myself food poisoning….. Have I mentioned I’m a rotten cook?


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