Madam later claimed to recall something about heading back along the road, something I seemed to have missed, since after the second crossing of the creek the information panel visible from the stepping stones seemed only scrutinisable from the creek, and would have involved some degree of levitation.
Now, there may well have been a trail that led back along the opposite bank, but if such a beast existed we missed it and, having forgotten references to roads, found ourselves climbing a trail that led to a vaguely defined hilltop end with no clear way forward, so it was a case of back down and along the road back to the car park.
That was about enough bushwalking for one day, so from there we retraced our tracks as far as the turnoff to Siding Springs Observatory, making the ascent to the ANU astronomical outpost and taking a turn through the associated museum that was far short of what you'd need to grasp a firm understanding of what was on display.
There was a choice of the lift or four flights of steps if you wanted a squiz at the actual telescope, so we took the easy way up and the pedestrian descent, which brought us back to the vehicle at the right time to head back to the Poet's Cottage before the afternoon sun became an issue.