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‘You’ll be fine, Sandy.’ Graysen held out his hand to help her up the last steep pinch over a couple of large boulders the size of small trucks.

When she had her breath back, she managed to speak. ‘Are you a mind reader too?’

‘No.’ He chuckled. ‘I was starting to wonder if I’d made the right choice too. I was wondering if I should have saved my energy for Brinkley’s Bluff tomorrow. Come on. We’re at the fork now. I’ll stay with you as we climb.’

Graysen and Sandra took the lead, Zed and Miska were between them and Andrew who was bringing up the rear today.

After three days of walking, Sandra fell into the swing of striding out. Zed and Miska had pulled out telescopic walking poles from the kit bag he carried on his back and she felt good that she was walking without the help of poles. It built her confidence. Plus, every few hundred meters, Graysen would hold his hand out, and the feel of his warm fingers was better than the best walking pole you could buy.

‘Look.’ Graysen stopped suddenly and lifted his camera. ‘A diamond dove.’

‘Aw, what a cutie.’ The little fluffy bird seemed to be posing on the branch for them.

The track turned into a switchback to let them ascend the three hundred metres to the top more easily. Every fifty metres or so, Graysen would pause and lift his camera to capture the incredible views, and then ask Sandra to hold the lens and the caps as he switched over to his zoom wide angle lens.

‘I hope I’m not holding you up,’ he finally said.

‘No, the opposite, it gives me a chance to take a breather and enjoy the view. It’s absolutely awe-inspiring, isn’t it?’

‘It is. I have some amazing shots today.’

‘Will you show them to me tonight?’ Sandra burst out laughing. ‘Oh dear, I don’t mean in your tent, though.’

Andrew finally caught them up and waited for Zed and Miska to join them before he described the panoramic view, giving them a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vista.

‘South of us is the Heavitree Range and further ahead you can see along the Chewings Range to the west. The highest peak over there is Brinkley Bluff that we’ll all climb tomorrow.’

A huge gust of wind buffeted them on the razorback ridge, and for the first time on the trek Sandra was a little scared as adrenaline rushed through her body. She stepped back from the edge, automatically grabbing for Graysen.

‘My God, that was a bit scary,’ she said. Graysen stood behind her and his broad chest protected her from the next gust.

He put his big camera back in the camera bag as they began a steep descent down a small gully.

A variety of birds flitted in and out of the rocks, swooping into the occasional pool surrounded by lush vegetation.

Andrew called for a rest as a huge flock of budgerigars surrounded them, chattering and chirping, the movement of their wings disturbing the air as they flew past.

‘The walking gets a bit easier now. You’ve done the hard yards,’ he said.

‘I think the descent was harder on my knees than the climb up,’ Sandra commented. She and Graysen had fallen behind Zed and Miska and Andrew.

‘One more little climb to Cycad Creek, but trust me, it’s well worth it,’ Andrew added.

By the time she and Graysen had reached Cycad Creek, the others had gone on ahead. More birds drank from the pools along the creek floor. Two more flocks of budgerigars swooped past, and Sandra looked up, widening her eyes as the wind from their wings lifted her hair.

‘Sandy!’

She swivelled around as Graysen called her, wondering what was wrong, and then smiled as the shutter clicked on his camera.

He lowered it and walked over to her. Lifting a hand, he reached up and brushed the loose hair from her cheek.

‘That is one of the best photographs I’ve ever taken,’ he said, as his hand cupped her cheek gently.

‘The budgerigars?’

‘No, the expression on your face, the angle of your head, your hair around it like a halo. It’s perfect.’

Sandra stared at him and her heart seemed to quiver. It seemed natural when Graysen lowered his head and slowly brushed his lips over hers. Her fingers tingled with the need to lift her hand and touch his face, but her lack of confidence held her back.