One article said this was a very difficult climb; another said it was rocky but only difficult for a short way and then flattened out; another said it was straight forward for most hikers. We called its bluff even though it was one for and two against. 

Just in case there was an issue I covered myself and added a couple of kms to my pre dawn walk. It was a 20km drive to the start on a now dried out dusty road. After so much rain I thought it would be torn up, but then again being mostly rocks prevents this from happening, especially when they are 800 million years old.

I call them tea trees but they’re not, they have a brighter green leaf and more bushier. They along with the ‘shrub height native pines’, accompanied us on the couple of kms to yet another “orange” mountain. Then gradually the path got steeper and steeper and….   It was a fairly good path initially but at times it took a bit of thought.

We came to a section not far from the top, similar to when I had my dizzy spell and I held back because the steepness would not have allowed me to sit, and that is what I would have needed to do. This time I felt great, and scrambled up in a safe way and got to a section that was flat and the path became much more doable. 

Going down was easier but required us to be a lot more careful. Back home and a walk to see the sunset from the top of the hill was a lovely end to an adventurous day. On our last night here it also gave me the chance to also see that the pound we were in was completely ringed by mountains – superb.

Now it’s out to dinner with our Balmain neighbours to swap stories on our adventures on the Flinders tallest mountain – St Mary.