A beautiful day for walking and 22 walkers enjoyed the day.
The briefing was held in overcast conditions in the car park in front of the North Star Hotel. Morris Minus was awarded to Greg Kelly for his vociferous support of the leader when he challenged the group to cross those creeks last month. The theme for this weekend was "Xmas in July". Dean Mortimer's flag was a red Xmas stocking, which he hoped would be filled by the end of the walk.
Robert Alcock got into the Xmas spirit with his decorations.
After the rain last month, Robert Alcock and I quickly revisited the Melrose swing bridge to compare the level to last month. The level is much lower now and the flow is much more sedate.
The main group moved off to see some of the Melrose highlights and when Robert and I caught up with them, they had just finished hugging a tree.
Then it was time to hit the road for a while.
Mount Remarkable still loomed in the background, but was not so imposing as we moved away from Melrose.
Its early in the day and Morris Minus is looking relaxed and comfortable with Greg Kelly.
Morning tea was on a rocky slope, adjacent to this magnificent tree.
More beautiful mid-north scenery.
Our one and only water hazard of the day.
Fortunately, no-one got wet as we were all lined up waiting for a laugh.
This road would have been very tough going last month in the rain.
Approaching the ruin where we had lunch.
Somehow it all went wrong for Morris Minus after lunch.
As usual, Mary Cartland could not resist going out of the way to cross stiles, even when an open gate beckoned.
After walking 17.9 km, a cosy gathering completed another excellent day on the Heysen Trail.
