The first day was supposed to be a leisurely late afternoon stroll into the Loddon River from the Lyell Highway - arriving before dark - which became less leisurely as bus-mishaps delayed us, leaving us to start at 7.30pm. Close to the start of the walk, we crossed the Franklin River (pictured left). The Franklin has become a symbol in Australia of survival of the bush from corporate greed and rampant "progress". It and the Lower Gordon River were going to be dammed - but after many protests - the decision got overturned. We were to return to the Franklin - which curls west and then south around Frenchmans Cap - when we walked out from Frenchmans northwards over the Mary Creek plain.
Things have changed a bit on the track. The bridge over the Loddon is no longer a log and a wire (tricky when the river is up a metre or so). On the right, you can see the log at the back spanning the width of the river. The wire has been removed. The bridge is now a suspension bridge, shown below.
We arrived at the Loddon River just on dark, bumping into Glen and Jenny and their kids who had also arrived just minutes before us. So we all scrabbled around in the dimming light to find some tent sites before catching up with each other and then going beddy byes.Index Next
As seen on Andrew Purdam's Bushwalking Treasure Box blog.
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