Sunday 19th July 2020
Well it was a beautifully warm and cosy night in our little cottage. We woke to very cold temperatures this morning, only 3.4°C with ice on the car and frost on the grass. Very chilly.

After a lovely morning of sunshine and relaxation we headed on our day of exploration at about 9.30am. We drove to Dangarsleigh where we are going for a very long walk in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park along the Salisbury Waters Trail.

The track starts from and returns to Dangars Falls picnic area. Veering off the McDirtys walking track we went to Mihi Falls lookout, then Macleay Lookout, then went down a very steep descent (about 400m down over 2.2km), where you get to see the unique dry rainforest up close at Salisbury Waters where we enjoyed our picnic lunch. It was too cold for a swim in the crystal clear pool but we loved the breathtaking views of the gorges from the ground up. After our lunch it was time for the tough climb out, my first big uphill hike since my heart surgery, I counted the steps up allowing myself a break to catch my breath every 100-150 steps, it was a tough slog. Once at the top we enjoyed a beautiful walk along the ridge line of the gorge, had a snack with a beautiful view and then took the side track to Sarum Hill lookout. We only left one lookout uncharted as we were running low on daylight and decided this was the closest to the start should we ever return to complete the walk – this was McDirty’s Lookout. Maybe we will see you next time.

We also went to Rock Wallaby lookout, Dangar Falls Lookdown and Falls Lookout. All in all it was a very enjoyable day and I believe my heart is in pretty good shape, albeit lacking fitness. We hiked 18.42km over 5:50 hours gaining 893m in elevation it was a tough walk.

We then headed back to our little cottage again arriving just on sunset for a lovely home cooked meal by me!