On our own.

It was very sad saying farewell to our traveling companions - in the 5 weeks we’ve had together, we've had so much fun, seen so many things, probably eaten and drunk a bit too much and learnt new things. So it’s very strange to be here in this little town of Almaden  (population last census 41) all by ourselves with only a couple of horses and lots of birds for company. Needless to say, it was a quiet night sitting by our campfire. 

Today we travelled the 30 odd kms to Chillegoe and spent the day there exploring. The Guinea fowls still wander the streets and we checked out the old smelters which are idle and in disrepair now. In the early 20th century, copper, lead, silver and gold were smelted here in what was very up to date technology and engineering. Sad thing is, they never made any  profit from the money invested, but they did open up the area and construct rail routes - some of which are used in tourism today. 

We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the balancing rock which is really amazing - as are the rock formations around.

The caves are a huge attraction at Chillegoe, and we set off with our  torches with every intention of going in at least one - but unfortunately, we didn’t read the map properly and missed the one which may have suited us (it was 15km out of town) . Then when we saw the remaining 2 which were self guided, we both rejected the idea as the entrances were pretty hard to access as you have to scramble over huge boulders and it looked dark and scary! So no cave exploring for us, but we did enjoy the walks. 

Tomorrow we head east towards Atherton where we’ve booked into what looks like a very pretty spot,  with lots to do in the area. Maybe it won’t be quite as quiet there for us! So from Almaden we sign off till the next chapter. ❌❌❌❌❌

This cactus tree at the entrance to the park is very unusual - those are spikes all up the tree - I thought they were fairy lights!