A day off from the bikes, and finally we were going to climb Mt Warning. We had planned to do so some years ago, and had stayed at the Mountain Retreat campsite near the base of Mt Warning. Unfortunately, once we had booked, we found out that the walk was closed due to storm damage following cyclone Larry.

This time, the track was open, and we headed off under sunny skies. We had a toilet stop at a little picnic area where kookaburras perched calmly near the carpark, unperturbed by human visitors.

The car park to Mt Warning was pretty full, and there were plenty of people on the track. We set off at 10:20, hoping to be quicker than the five hours recommended for the 8.8km walk. It was a long, long, steady climb and we stopped a few times for water and to enjoy the view. There were a number of warning signs advising the dangers of hiking the mountain after dark, and recommending to turn back if you were passing the sign after a certain time.

The last 400 metres was almost straight up and we appreciated the chains to make the final climb to the summit. There were a few viewing platforms and bush chooks to keep us company over lunch. We took a few photos to post on Facebook, as a reminder of our last ascent almost 20 years ago with Georgie, Graham and Bryony on our honeymoon camping trip.

There seemed to be a few clouds building up and the visibility was a little hazy as we started our descent, using the chain as a support to almost abseil our way down. Reversing down seemed much easier than clambering down front first.

It was a fairly easy, though long descent, and we were pleased to see the car park. Our total time was around 4.5 hours, including lunch and photo stops.

We stopped off again at the little picnic area to visit our kookaburra friends and have an afternoon tea of grapes, chocolates and water, before heading into Murwullimbah for a few groceries, petrol and ice creams near the river.

This time it was Jonno's turn to cook dinner, using the open fire to bake potatoes and corn and BBQ marinated steaks. Delicious.

Dessert was yoghurt and the blueberries purchased yesterday which we decided were definitely activated after their time in the panniers.

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