Goat House Cave

Pre breakfast walk while the girls slept was up Malabar Hill. From our lodge we headed towards Ned's Beach. Before arriving at the beach, we veered left through the palm trees to arrive at a boot wash station. Doing the right thing, we brushed and dipped our shoes then began to climb up across the grassy field. Leaving the field behind, we followed the spur past Pooles Lookout. From here the track was rough with rocks and roots. A short time later we arrived at Malabar Hill and revelled at the glorious views. To the north the ridge line continued to Kims Lookout and further to Mt Eliza while to the south, the twin peaks of Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower were beginning to gather the clouds!

The return trip was back along the same track and much quicker! We had a dip at Ned's and then returned to our accomodation to prepare for the next activity of the day - Goat House Cave walk!

After breakfast and showers, we packed snack and water, jumped on our bikes to peddle to the trail head some 4kms away. Bikes are the main mode of transport on the island. Surprisingly most of the locals have vehicles to help with their daily work activities or just to get around. A pleasant ride past the airport and a few residents; we found the trial head easily and parked the bikes in the racks. 

Goat House Cave was to be a tester for my knee to see if it would be able to cope with the much more strenuous Mt Gower walk. Advertised as a grade 4 walk 4km in distance with 400m ascent, the Goat House cave is located on the eastern face of Mt Lidgbird. 

The track begins on wooden boards through a dense section of palm trees. Once emerging from that the climb begins. We had a breather at the track junction on Smoking Tree Ridge. From there the girls just took off! We encountered the first of many rope sections. these large ropes are designed to help stabilise and pull yourself up the steep and rocky terrain. 

Emerging from the lush canopy we had arrived at the base of the cliff line. Initially we skirted along the base before negotiating more ropes and scrambling up cliff like sections! Finally though we made it to the cave and could enjoy a rest and soak up the awesome views. Around the corner we spotted Balls Pyramid in the distance.

The trip back was much faster and the ropes were very useful as a brake. At the bottom we were all very sweaty and stinky and opted to stop for a swim at Cobby's Corner. It was only a quick dip though as both girls were eager to get back for snorkelling and to hire SUP's at the main lagoon!

Snorkelling and supping at the main lagoon did not disappoint. We saw turtles and sting rays plus lots of fish and nice coral! Andy and the girls hired SUP's. At one point they had drifted so far out I thought they may need rescuing, however they managed to paddle back and once on shore happily recalled their adventure.

Hoping the sunset would be a good one set out on a post dinner walk. Past the jetty and towards Old Settlement Beach we found a little bay to explore and paused to enjoy the moment.