Tuesday morning we went for a walk up to the Salt Caves Picnic Area - again the wildflowers were amazing along this walk). The picnic area is quite new and has a toilet, covered picnic tables, barbecues and a water tank. Also checked out the Salt Caves. Apparently, the early settlers used salt from the caves to salt meat but we didn't see any evidence of salt. The Ranger at the Interpretive Centre in Baradine later told us the caves are nothing like they once were, having caved in in more recent years. There's also a bit of a debate about whether the whole story of salting meat from the cave is fact or fiction.
From Salt Caves we headed down to Dandry Gorge. A good dirt road although some of the creek crossings have been washed out requiring a little caution. The wattle along this road was absolutely beautiful.
On first arriving at Dandry Gorge we wondered what hit us after hardly seeing a soul in the forest so far. There were cars everywhere. Apparently, Stanthorpe Lions Club do a tour each year and this year they just happened to be travelling through the Pilliga. We spent some hours in here at Sculptures in the Scrub where a number of sculptures have been set up along the escarpment.
It’s all very tastefully done and no doubt will be a great drawcard. The wildflowers again impressed – hundreds of varieties everywhere. The only disadvantage of the wildflowers is that they are not so good for my hayfever.
We continued to crisscross the park on reasonable gravel roads - washed out in places and timber down in others requiring detours - and eventually finished up on Tuesday night at Pilliga Artesian Bore, north of the Pilliga Forest area. We enjoy a nice soak in the afternoon and again the next morning (need to be careful of the very slippery bottom in the pool). . A lot of money has been spent doing up the spa - toilets and a cold shower all at no cost.
