Day 310 Green Lake, Blue Lake and the Ferry

Sunday 6 November


Ian & I were up at 4.30 am to photograph the sunrise. I got some nice shots from the balcony but when I went down to the beach I was assaulted by horseflies and had to beat a rapid retreat.  Ian found this highly amusing as I went running up the beach, arms flapping! We couldn't get back to sleep after all the excitement so had a leisurely breakfast and several cups of tea before packing our bags and tidying up the apartment.  We had a quieter day planned today with just two lakeside stops and and the trip home on the ferry.

Dawn from our balcony

                            

Sunrise over the sea

The Hotel & pool in morning light

A short trip down the beach took us to the start of a 2 1/2 Km walk to Lake Wabby.  It started with a steep climb in hot sun through soft sand.  We were worn out before we had started! It was a long  hot slog, mostly uphill through sparse woodland until we came out onto the sand blow.  




This is a huge area where sand has blown inland, the path disappeared and we had to follow poles in the sand until we crested a rise and saw the lake.  It was beautiful! Yellow sand on one side and rain forest the other.  The green water contains catfish that we could plainly see swimming in the shallows and a flock of cormorants were sunning themselves on an overhanging branch.




  We were hot and sweaty so got straight into the water to cool off. Ian and I swam back and for as it's not very wide.  The water was clean but not clear and you couldn't see the bottom once you were just a few feet from the shore. We loved it but unfortunately so did a lot of other people.  It was still lovely but it would be even nicer to be there alone.

We took the easier path back to the car, avoiding the sand blow.  Gareth cleverly spotted this monitor lizard sunbathing in the undergrowth.




We had lunch in the car which was surprisingly cooler than the beach and then we drove in land to Lake Mackenzie. It was another long drive with some very soft sand but we didn't get stuck.  It's quite amazing how the forest changes as you drive around with different types of trees and bushes, different heights of trees and densities of undergrowth. It's all growing out of sand but why the differences?  One very obvious change was a large area of burning.  The trunks were black but the leaves had all turned orange-brown, many still on the branches. Any low undergrowth had vanished revealing the white sand. It was a three coloured landscape, white, black and orange and very dramatic to see.

Lake Mackenzie finally came into view. In contrast to Lake Wabby, it was blue with crystal clear water, fine white sandy beaches and woodland all around. I had a lovely swim though the other three decided to keep dry.  There were a couple of dingoes prowling around, one snatched some orange juice from a nearby cool bag that had been left unattended. 

All too soon it was time to leave. Our last slow and bumpy drive through thick soft sand that you wouldn't think the car was going to get through and we arrived at the ferry landing place.  We were beaten back by sandflies so retreated a little way into the forest to await departure time. 

Ferry Home

On the ferry home we had our final excitement of the day when a couple of dolphins crossed our path. After dropping off the 4x4 we got home, cooked a quick meal and then bed. It had been an absolutely brilliant weekend!