Lithgow

A cold (5 degrees plus wind) night, but thankfully we stayed dry. Left Lithgow and headed up a one way road on a whim, turning out to be one of the best days we've had. Taking a rough track off the road for a walk, we found an area of huge Aboriginal significance by accident and was strangely not signposted. Under a huge overhang of cliffs are the outline prints of hands - some large, some really small ones and in red and white paint. They haven't been fenced off and there isn't much information on dates etc, but was a fantastic find.
From there we drove further into the park area and went for a walk along a long gone railway line. This snaked up the side of a steep hill and rock face finishing at a 600m long tunnel through the rock. The whole thing must have been a feat of engineering and sleepers, rails and reinforcements can still be seen in places. The tunnel also held a large number of glow worms, so turning off the torch made the tunnel look like the night sky. We returned via an old coaching road carved through the hills, again a massive task.
We left the paved road and continued on rutted and potholed gravel/mud tracks to the end of the road. Along the way we encounterd our first kangaroos and wallabies in the forest and by the roadside. Also spied a wombat, a massive ball of fur! Spied plenty of bird life including various species of parrot.
So far we've also seen a snake (plus a huge dead one on the road) and funnel web spiders.
The wild bush camp is in a clearing surrounded by gum trees and cliff faces, absolutely stunning. A group of wallabies wandered by and we watched them boxing while we ate our dinner.
Another cold night, but with the nearest street lights 40km away the stars are out.Read more