Betka loop

The walking group went to Betka for the Tuesday outing.  Some members had checked the route and opined it was perfectly safe - at least as far as any walk in the bush is "perfectly" safe so a few signs were ignored.

Doing the loop along the River first it was apparent that the level of the River was high enough to flood part of the forest.

Possibly this dampness was responsible for the number of mosquitoes along this stretch.   Had the Red Cross trapped and processed the insect life I think they'd have got several litres for their blood bank!

Epicormic growth was well evident.

A large goanna was seen but as I was at the back of the pack I failed to get a photo.  Presumably it is finding some carrion to feed on.  Caroline Jones was at the front and got a great photo!

We then moved on to the cliff tops, where the old joke about "the view would be great if they got rid of the trees" had been implemented.  It was felt that the Melaleucas would not regenerate and some musing followed about what will happen to the area.  Bulldozing was one suggestion which I feel to be unrealistic,

This was the site of one of the lookouts.  I suspect some of the infrastructure had been tidied up as I remember a metal fence here.

On the way back we found this collapsed bank where a wooden retaining wall had burned.  Definitely not worth blocking the entire walk for this.

 This is the remains of the first lookout along the track.  Strands of melted plastic are all that remained: again someone must have tidied up all the metal railings.

Several helicopters of various designs had passed over, moving between the airport and the Howe Range.  A lot of water bombing was happening over there,