11.01.2023 from Washpool NP to Bingara

Surprisingly, we don't hear as much bio noise in the national park as in the towns, the laughing Hans wanders around our little spot and disappears, it quickly becomes pitch dark.

The next morning we visit the Granite Outlook and look out over the forests once again. We continue southeast. In the town of Glen Innes, standing stones are announced and indeed the descendants of the British who immigrated from ancient Celtic areas to Australia have erected runestones here that indicate the summer and winter solstices and are suitable for celebrating traditional festivals. They also wear skirts in traditional colors, they say.

Here we have internet access and real English Breakfast Tea, served in a teapot with a woolen cover to keep it warm.

We continue on to reach the Gwydir NP and reach the dam that impounds the Gwydir River, a massive project.

Later we learn that the Gwydir NP is only a protected area, a wetland that the Australian government has acquired from private hands and is still building as a conservation area for birds and other endangered species.

In Bingara there are several camping sites, but we decide on one with an adjacent pool, lie in the water and cool off, it's 34 degrees in the shade.