We eat , we pack up , we hitch & drive out to empty the tanks in town - all down the main road through the shopping centre - no not really , found the dump point & did what had to be done . Chatted to Garry & Robby ( back in Moss Vale ) about the snow , you all have our sympathies , we are not missing it one little bit !!!
Off toward Darwin we go , after about 20 kms , we catch up with an army convoy driving anywhere between 50 & 90 klms/hr - their Hummers were varying the speed all over the place , making them hard to overtake when you are 16m long - you need a bit of extra road to complete the manoeuvre , fortunately we got past most on overtaking lanes - shame they were about 20klms apart though !!
Arriving at Pine Creek , we utilised the amenities before heading out to Pussy Cat Flats - that's the name of the racetrack , golf course , and camp ground , and is about 2klms out on Kakadu Hwy . We pulled in and were directed to our site , they guided us in - a new experience for both of us - Lyn reversed into place without a bother !!
Set up & a Bbq for lunch , we headed back in to town ? ( another place no bigger than Penrose - probably smaller ) and headed up to the lookout . The view was over the Enterprise Mine Pit - it is now full of water and 135m deep , 250m wide , the water was a beautiful deep blue .
There were other mine shafts at the lookout as well , dug by Chinese Miners - it would have been very hard work , digging the almost perfectly vertical walls through rock , but there are certain rewards when you are gold mining - mainly if you find some !!
The views to distant hills were good also .
From here we found our way to the tip , then out to Lake Copperfield - the water supply for the town. Not a large area of water by any means and was down on normal levels .
After negotiating the very rough track into the lake , we headed out to Umbrawarra Gorge - can't have enough gorges I say . It was a 23 klm drive - 21 of those were dirt / gravel & rock , in reasonably good condition - some corrugations & some better than the highway .
Arriving at the gorge , we checked out the notice board - there was 250m of great walkway , after that you're pretty much jumping up & over rocks , beside the creek . We decided to walk down the first section - I had my all terrain swamp thongs on , Lyn had her leather all terrain sandals - it was only a short walk after all , what could go wrong ?
The grevillea was out & flowering and looked stunning in the afternoon light , there were parrots flying around and plenty of small birds as well .
The end of the path didn't take long to find , the path continued through an area where there was a spring flowing , fortunately they'd put down some rubber matting to walk over . The walking track shrank , and the grass was brushing your legs as you walked . It was a pleasant temperature beside the creek , walking amongst the paperbarks , grevilleas , gums & wattles , much nicer than it would be in the open areas above us . The track got close to the creek and allowed access to the sand & water & rocks . The vista was improving with every step .
The rocks had a semi gloss type of appearance - polished , but not to a high gloss , and were orange coloured . The water was crystal clear with hundreds of fish swimming around - anything from 10mm to 250mm long .
We continued on , the place was just inviting us to go further and further - whats around the next corner ? then the next ? what's there ??? One water hole led to a rocky area , then another water hole , grassy edges & trees one side & rocks & sand on the other . Around the next corner came the largest waterhole with a large rock wall on the right , a sandy beach on the other and a 50m expanse of water. On the top of the rock wall was a lone tree , weeping branches pointing to the water - maybe just trying to reach out & touch the water .
Then there is the rock , all layered and weathered away looking like it should just crumble away .
We dragged ourselves away reluctantly , it was 4:15 and we still had to get back to Pussy Cat Flats - the bar at the golf club opens at 4pm and they have a kitchen that serves meals as well .
Rock hopping our way back to the track was interesting , the all terrain swamp stompers were performing exceptionally well .
This is one of the places you need to come back to and examine more closely for longer , next time in our all terrain water shoes , you can camp here at the end of the road - there is a campground . There is aboriginal art up in the rocks above as well - we didn't have time to find it today though .
We cruised back to the park and had a couple of beers , and chatted to some of the others staying here as well .
What a great day it turned out to be !!!
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