Holidays part 3

Getting our man down felt like a huge effort so we stayed at the picnic grounds for lunch. Out injured man wasn't up for a big drive as he was in a lot of pain so we stopped in Doona State forest near Coonan.
It was fantastic to see this small remote community rallied and organized to say no to coal. When we made camp in the forest a security guard payed us a visit to tell us that we were camped in the middle of some exploration tran-sects that made up a grid looking for coal and gas and that security was keeping an eye on the machinery they were using. He must have been concerned by a bus load of ferals turning up in 'his' forest.
We were more concerned about the well wing of our injured man at that moment, but we had a lively camp fire conversation about coal and the damage of mining. We did see a wild Koala and I don't ever recall being in a place that supported wild Koalas so I claimed it as my first.

We moved on to Coonabarabran and stopped for a quick geology lesson at Crystal Kingdom, which was a small geology display that highlighted the features of the Warrunbungles which was our next spot to camp. It was interesting to see the local crystals from ancient volcanic actions and gave us a little understanding of the area we were heading to.
The Warrunbungles were spectacular and luckily for us the weather was mild enough to undertake some of the walks available Mick was the most adventurous and went to the grand high tops walk after completing the tor circuit with us less speedy walkers. We copped well enough but should have started the walk much earlier than we did. There was water in the campsite creek for us to wallow in and bring the body temperatures back to manageable level. I did the swamp walk circuit which was a bit of a challenge for someone who likes to admire swamps from a boardwalk as I much prefer forest walking.