This was a short flat walk along a ridge line with an aboriginal engraving site and the promise of a view.

After not having slept all night for no real reason I decided to go for an early walk. I had been looking at my geocaching app and found this one which was only 8km long so I figured I’d give it a go.

After a 40 minute drive To Duffy’s Forest I pulled onto a road that my 2wd couldn’t handle so I reversed and parked 100m further away from the trail head. On the way in I saw two kangaroos standing behind an incredibly accurate “wildlife ahead” sign! They bounced off into the bush before I could get a picture.

The first trail, called “The perimeter trail” was filled with extremely loud cicadas. There were a few joggers out too. I soon turned off to connect with “The long trail” which had a few mountain bikers on it, then after about two kilometres from the beginning I joined the “Cowan Trail”, which seemed to be mostly populated with spider webs…

Oh my gosh there were a lot of webs! I basically spent the next two kilometres whipping them away with a stick and yet I still managed to end up with a couple of spiders on me. Thankfully they were mostly little things as the larger ones were easier to spot. It was clear that no bikers had been through this way yet this morning and I was definitely the first along this way today.

There were some lovely wildflowers out and I though that this year would likely turn out to be an awesome wildflower year given all the rains we have had.

I came upon the Spirit Rock engraving site and was a little disappointed as I couldn’t really make out any of the engravings. There was a barrier and a note requesting that the site not be touch so I respected that of course. The tree shadows cast lines everywhere but I could make out a few lines and shapes that seemed different. I stood on a rock and slightly climbed a tree to get a better perspective! I found a fish engraving and something indistinct nearby.

For some much better pictures please check out a fellow bloggers images at hikingtheworld.blog

I left the site and carried on along the trail. I startled a lace monitor lizard and it climbed a tree. It blended in so well with the tree that it was impossible to photograph from where I was standing. I love those things. I headed the final few hundred meters to a rocky knoll with a lovely view an sat on the rocky ledge and had a fruit selection for lunch. I could see Apple Tree Bay in the distance and Bobbin Head was just out of sight.

I started to explore the rocky knoll but there were way too many spider webs so I headed back down and decided to head back.

The walk back was completely web free! I guess I’d collected enough on the way through.

Soon enough I was back at the car. Not far off I could see another monitor lizard crossing the road and heading into the bush.

All up is was a nice flat and short walk, perfect for a bit of morning exercise. The engraving site was a bit of a let down as it was hard to see anything but the view at the end made it a walk worth doing. I didn’t end up looking for the geocache that pointed me to this area but maybe I’ll come back again one day and have a look.

Check out the YouTube video of today’s walk! https:/YouTube Video