There was going to be a gathering of friends of Benge (Graant Benett) on the summit of Mt Hay. We were going to meet there to reflect on his life.
Before heading out to Mt Hay, I had travelled up the mountains with Digi Dave the previous afternoon, and we visited some lookout of Leura for some photos and went to Sublime Point for sunset.
Sunrise was poor – it was quite misty at our camp on Narrow Neck, but later at Gordon Falls Reserve which we had gone to fill up our water bottles, Digi Dave spotted some interesting flowers – they looked like orchids. We took a few photos and later found them to be the Cinnamon Bells Orchid. They had no leaves at all and need a fungi to grow.
Cinnamon Bells, or the Potato Orchid (Gastrodia sesamoides)
We then headed out to Mt Hay and joined a large group. We all reflected on Benge’s life. We later all headed to the Alexandra Hotel at Leura for a drink and dinner, and later camped just off the Mt Hay Road (thanks to Ross and Kalindra, friends of Benge, who have a property there). In the evening we sat orotund and shared stories of our trips with Benge. Many thanks to Bernie Kaltenbacher, Benge’s closest friend, for organising things.
Sunday was forecast to being a hot day – and indeed it was. Digi Dave and myself joined Wendy, Don and Elata at a local swimming hole in the mid mountains and ended up staying there most of the day.
More photos are on my website – Lookouts of Leura and Mt Hay and the Swimming Hole