We packed lunch as well as plenty of snacks. The weather looked good - dry and cool as we began our journey. The small undulating single track was rough underfoot and it wasn't long before we made our first stop to play on a rocky outcrop.
Next Adam's Lookout, the platform which provides fantastic views of the steep limestone cliffs of Bungonia Slot Canyon. A truly impressive sight. At the lookout we vowed that we would return to complete the Red Track - a 3.8km walk through the Slot Canyon that comes with an estimated walking time of 5 hours. Might need to wait for the girls to be a bit bigger for that one!
Onwards we trudged with the incentive of visiting Mass Cave which wasn't too far away.....although we didn't know exactly how far that was. The girls we getting tired and hungry by this point. Thankfully a few songs and a game of In my awesome zoo... got us by and we soon stumbled across the sign showing the detour to the cave. Clambering along the small track we arrived at the grate door of Mass Cave.
The path into the cave was steep and slippery. Holding tightly on to the chain rope we descended. At the bottom we emerged into a small cavern a popular place in the 1950's for church services and weddings! Despite the sun filtering through several cracks above, the girls weren't really happy about being underground. As a result, we were in and out very quickly!
Continuing on we took the first picnic table we saw at the David Reid carpark. A short lunch break was essential if we were to complete this loop. Post lunch, another detour to another lookout via the Molly O'Neill nature trail. This 250m trail is named after the amateur botanist who passionately dedicated herself to exploring and researching this area. The numerous information boards kept everyone entertained for this short trek to Lookdown Lookout.
The Lookdown Lookout is a narrow walkway jutting out from the edge of the plateau high above the Bungonia Gorge. Can't say that I really enjoyed looking through the floor grating to the long drop below. The girls thought this was hilarious making me go out for a second look!! To the left, the other end of the Slot Canyon was just visible. To our right were superb views over Bungonia Reserve to the Ettrema Wilderness area in Morton National Park.
From here our route took us away from the gorge and into the dry eucalypt forest in search of koalas. Unfortunately none were to be seen although we did venture off track for the last time to explore Grill Cave. At the mouth of this cave Ella managed to brush her hand on a stinging nettle bush. Needless to say she wasn't very happy. Inside Grill Cave, it was dark as there were no cracks in the roof to let sunlight sneak in. Despite this the girls were much more willing to explore deeper. We resorted to using the light on my phone to explore this cave descending one at a time down a ladder. It was slow going making our way around in the dark amongst the slippery rocks. At the top of the second ladder trying to peer down we realised the phone battery was rather low. Not wanting to be stranded without any light source we to turn around and head back out.
It was a short hike back to the campground from Grill Cave. By my garmin the round trip was 9.5km and had taken us just under 5 hours! With not much of the afternoon left, we relaxed, Andy introduced the girls to frisbee golf before showering and cooking dinner.
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