Swimming with the frogs

Leaving Richmond Range National Park I headed towards my next destination: Basket Swamp National Park.

Passing through Tenterfield, a small rural town I took the time to wander the main street and admire the architecture.

On my way out of town I saw a tyre shop that appeared to need a customer and so called in to have the front right tyre balanced… closer inspection showed that I actually needed a new front tyre…

Several hundred dollars later I had two new Maxxis all-terrain tyres on the front and the best of the worn tyres became my new spare. An unplanned stop, but very worthwhile.

Following the guidance of google maps I headed to the national park along a road that in reality did not connect to the road but ended up on private land. Not the 1st time it had happened to me this week.

The unexpected detour provided me with an encounter with this magnificent creature which flew past me and graciously perched nearby while I fumbled to get my telephoto lens out in time.

Backtracking to get back onto the correct road I took the time out of the hot day to stop and wander

along the trail to Thunderbolts Hideaway.

Basket Swamp National Park has a beauty of its own.

There was not water flowing over the Basket Swamp waterfall while I was there.

But I did enjoy meeting a few of these delightful creatures sunning themselves on the rocks.

I imagine the waterfalls would be a popular water hole with the locals when it is flowing.

On the track back out of the park I detoured to this little waterhole that I could see from the road. What a find.

A hot day, a not-too-stagnant-looking pond = a swim.

I loved the location so much I decided to camp the night beside the waterhole which I named ‘frog pool’.

While chilling in the afternoon I almost made the most of the opportunity to ‘fix’ some of the wiring I had set up for my ‘house’ batteries.

As the sun set and the stars came out the night became saturated with night sounds…

No big views, no rain forests, not a massive tourist attraction, and yet my time spent beside frog’ pool is a treasure.