I'm sitting in a queue in the stone bath house (ablutions block is far too crude a term here) at Ellenbrae Station campground. People are sitting around the huge donkey wood fired hot water system waiting their turn.
My pores are filled with dust, fingernails are black, feet and shoes a testament to the sooty land and dusty tracks I've covered today. My denim shorts are brown and my hair tied back; 3 days since my last shower. We gather at this place as strangers and sit sharing the same old snippets; the information of travelers ... one young couple from western NSW have only 6 weeks and clearly are trying to travel too far in the time they have. Another couple from Balmain are returning after 20 yrs to fill in some gaps including Mitchell Falls in a hired Apollo that is not insured on that road. Is it worth going to El Questro given the holiday season? And there are questions to me about the Munja Track - is it as bad as they say?
We all look in awe and comment on how clean peoples feet are as they finish their shower. True, the facilities are inadequate for the 20 or so people in the campground but we wait patiently.
Then it's my turn.
For just a few minutes I luxuriate under the low pressure but deliciously hot shower and do my turn reappearing to the awaiting audience. My feet are clean, at least for the next 5 minutes as I stroll back through the dust to our campsite by the ghost gums.