In Search of Battleship Spur.

So.......this time last week we woke up at Big Bend to find that in the night another camper had arrived and set up his hammock a short distance away. It was he that we had heard snoring in the night.While we were cooking bacon for breakfast, the woman in the white hat who ignored us yesterday came over to say 'hello' and say 'Sorry' that she hadn't said hello yesterday but she had been keen to get her tent set up before dark.She had a bowl of black Chia seeds and powdered milk and we were having bacon and English muffins. She said she and her husband were going to head up to Battleship Spur and we said that was where we hoped to get to as well."See you up there," she said as she wandered off. Not long after the hammock guy wandered over and introduced himself. He was called Nick. It seemed to be a common name around these parts.He seemed to be eating gruel so we offered him a 'bacon butty'."Awesome" he said. Nick said 'Awesome' a lot.....he was easily impressed.He had arrived late the day before and walked down much of the gorge in the dark with just a head torch to light the way. He was moving from Townsville to a new job in Sydney but was taking his time by visiting and photographing different National Parks on the way. He was heading back out and on to Toowoomba later that day.We told him to try and visit Girraween near Stanthorpe......it sounded 'Awesome' to him.After we had breakfast we set off for Battleship Spur. Battleship Spur is part of the Great Walk, a six day trekking trail around the Carnarvon National Park and from the Carnarvon Gorge brochure looked like it started at the end of Boowinda Gorge, a side gorge of the main gorge that we had not yet explored.As it was still early Takarakka campers had not yet made it to this end of the gorge so we walked into Boowinda Gorge alone. It is amazing what the power of water can create as we followed the twists and turns of the gorge and its smooth and towering sides. It was hard going as under foot were loose rocks and boulders.The first 1 km of this side gorge was spectacular but we kept on going, looking out for the path out of the gorge and eventually came to a a spot where there was a fork and were unsure which way to go. I headed up a narrow gorge to the right to check it out, but it was eventually blocked by deep pool. So we both headed up the left fork but that eventually became almost impassible and overgrown so we turned back deciding we must have to go up the right fork after all. We went up the left fork together but when we got to the pool again we were pretty sure it was not the right way so headed back up the right fork again and tried to press on further. We found some wild raspberries which were very tasty but no path out. The gorge was shallow now and the creek was lined by the forest. We did consider just making our own way up the side but were worried about finding our way back. We decided we must have missed the path out but couldn't imagine how or think of any places we had passed where a path up the side would be possible.We started to head back. I was so disappointed that we had missed out on getting to Battleship Spur because I was sure that there would have been a great view back up the Gorge from up there.We stopped and had our lunch in a rare sunny spot as the steep sides often meant that the sun did not reach the bottom.We had not been going long after our lunch when I spotted some odd foot holes cut into a rock on the left.....and then I spotted the small orange arrow on a tree......this was the way up! It looked like it was up a steep overgrown gully....and it was!We set off up it and had hardly started climbing up when we met the white hatted woman and her fella coming down. We told them we had missed the path and had carried on another 2 kms up Boowinda Gorge. They said that they had met some other people who had done the same thing. We asked how far it was and she said it was a steep climb and would take us about an hour to the top."See you later," she said as she continued down.At the top of the cold steep gully we came out into the warm sun and forest. There was a sign warning how the walk ahead was only suitable for those with a high level of fitness and that there was no water until the next camping area 13 kms away. There was a short, round woman sat by the sign. I was amazed that she had made it up to here let alone trekked all the way in from the Visitor Centre. She said her 16 year old son had gone on ahead and said he would be back in half an hour. We said we would tell him to hurry up if we saw him.We set off through the trees and the path slowly climbed up. It was a good path up here.....it was a pity that they had not made it clearer at the bottom.Will and I were both quite tired after our lengthy foray up Boowinda Gorge and we were resting on some steps when the 16 year old lad came past. He looked hot and sweaty."How far did you get?" I asked."Oh, I went about 3 kms further on and then thought 'stuff it!'"He ran off down to his Mum.....they still had a 10 km walk out again to the visitor centre.A bit further on we met two young lads, one was English and the other American, they were coming down too."You've done the worst of it" said the American lad."No, they still have a fair way to go," said the English lad. He looked at his phone and said, "We left the top about 40 minutes ago." They looked so fresh and clean and smelled wonderful.......we felt like stinky tramps.The path went ever up and we were amazed that many of the steps were made of pre-formed concrete that must have been flown in by helicopter to make that path. I was getting more and more weary so we stashed the back pack under a Macrozamia tree and carried on up.We came to a large metal ladder attached to a rock and climbed up. The spur was getting closer. The path followed a narrow ridge where the hillside fell away on both sides. We still had to climb up above the upper escarpment, the path up it had more pre-formed concrete blocks and there was a lot of damage to the path caused by feral pigs. Eventually the path levelled out as we got over the last slope. We still had a short walk to go. We found another sign saying that the next campground was 10 kms off to the left but we went right and finally arrived at the top of Battleship Spur.The view was fabulous and it was amazing to see how small those towering gorge walls looked form up here. It had taken us 2 hours from when we started the climb up.I was knackered to say the least. We still had to go all the way back but I was pleased that we had done it and the view was worth the effort.We didn't hang around too long at the top before heading back down the way we had come collecting the back pack on the way.I had been hoping to see an echidna, as I have not seen one yet here in the wild in Australia. Will was looking out for one and said that we should try positive visualisation and he said "There will be an echidna over this next hill."There was!.....a big one, but by the time we reached it, it had crammed itself into a small hole to escape us.Finally we came to the steep gully down back into the Gorge. It was hard going and I could not remember when I had felt so tired before......and we still had over a kilometre walk out of the gorge on those loose rocks and boulders.I was so pleased to see Big Bend again."Ah, you made it!" The woman with the white hat greeted us."Michael and Rowan have joined us in the camp, you will see them when you go in. They slept last night up on the Spur."Michael and Rowan, father and son, turned out to be the people the guy we met at Ward's Canyon on our way in, had said were heading off to the next campsite on the Great Walk. They told us that was what they had intended to do but they had missed the way up like us and had gone up Boowinda Gorge as far as we had. In the end they decided to pitch their tent at Battleship Spur and came back down today.Michael was very laid back while Rowan cooked their tea. It turned out Rowan was Steiner educated. They had boil in the bag meals......they were amused that we had brought bok choy and fennel with us as part of our meals.Melanie, the white hatted lady came over to chat too. She was a language  teacher in a girls school. Will and I went off to get our meal ready then went back to sit with Michael and Rowan. Melanie had returned to her tent.We were all in bed by 7.30 pm. The forecast was for frost in the morning.