Twin Falls Loop Trail

The main part of the Springbrook Park centres around the Twin Falls loop.

The wet season is probably the better time to be there because the many waterfalls around this escarpment weren't running.

The trail descends through the dry eucalyptus forest and through the two crevices above. Once we exited from the second crevice we were suddenly in the cool rain forest and looking up at the waterfalls & escarpments we had just been walking along.

We reached the pool at the bottom of twin falls, but the Twin Falls was missing a leg. This seemed to be a theme for a few of the other cascades & waterfalls in the area.

The last waterfall we came to is called Blackfeller Falls. I'm not sure that you can call things that anymore because of the whole political correctness thing, but that's what they're called.

Time for a couple of arty shots now.

Eventually we climbed the switchbacks to the top of the plateau. We stopped at the top of Blackfeller falls (below) to look out over the Gold Coast. The haze had the better of us, but we we still able to make out most of it.

We jumped back in the car & headed back to Brisbane. That night we took mum & dad out for dinner at a flash restaurant to thank them for looking after us & lending us mums car that week.
The next day we were on a flight back to Perth.
Next trip, Thailand!

Natural Bridge

This little gem is the payoff for the pleasant walk through the forest past the dragon. I remember being in this cave when I was in primary school (at night to see the glow worms).

The loop takes you back to the top of the bridge. The top side of the little waterfall isn't nearly as phogenic as the cave.

Water Dragon

At the start of the Natural Bridge track, we nearly trod on this guardian of the forest sunning himself.
He's an Eastern Water Dragon (I'm pretty sure). Pretty fierce looking don't you think? Not really. These guys were often hanging around in the back yard when I was a kid. He's a close realative of the more famous frill necked lizards that you'll see in the tourist brocures that hang around in the desert.

Springbrook Rainforest

Tuesday - Springbrook National Park

Breakfast was included with our hotel room so we stocked up our energy reserves with a very nice buffet before packing up our gear and checking out.

We headed South to Muwullimba so that we could take the scenic drive into the ranges. It's some of the most picturesque farmland I've seen. We didn't loose sight of Mt Warning for long until we crossed the border into Queensland. Maybe the Rocky Mountain Foothills near Calgary are a rival but very different. The road was a bit twisty but nice & interesting. The only blight was the local drivers not paying much attention to double lines on blind bends.

We did make it in the end. Our first stop was Natural Bridge. It's in a differnt valley to the main part of the park, but was along the way.
There's a nice shortish loop through the temperate rainforest that takes you down to the bridge.

The rainforest was full of birds including the noisy catbirds that make a sound just like when you pull a cat by the tail. (Or maybe country & western music.....)

Kingscliff

The rest of the afternoon was spent meandering our way north through the many little townships along the way. We arrived at the hotel in Kingscliff about 3.30 & kicked back for a couple of hours before going for a walk along the beach.

The sunset over Mt Warning from out hotel balcony was quite the sight. The smoke from the sugar cane fires turned the sky orange.

We managed to catch up with some of Kerri's relatives at the local Thai restaurant for dinner. They live in one of the near by rural communities.

Byron Bay & Brunswick Heads

We finally dragged ourselves away from Cape Byron & checked out the Byron Bay township (above). It was just a bunch of shops & restaurants. Not what I'd call overly spectacular. Depends on what you're into I guess.

Next stop was Brunswick heads. We had lunch at the Hotel Brunswick Heads (above). Nice place to chilax over a feed & a beer. Apparently it can be very popular on the weekends, particularly Sunday Afternoons.
After lunch we checked out the beach & heads just near where we had lunch. The weather had turned pretty windy & unpleasant by that point.

Dolphins & Humpbacks

The first thing that caught our attention in the water at Cape Byron was a pod of dolphins going about their business. I found out later that this pod is a regular sight around the cape.

Not long after we were watching the dolphins I spotted the tell tail water spout of a humpback whale. Mum had mentioned she had seen some the previous weekend off Stradbroke Island (due east of Brisbane) & that we should look out for them.

It wasn't just one whale either. There must have been at least 15 that we saw in less than half an hour. It was a steady procession. Unfortunately the whales were at least a kilometre off shore, but with the bright sunshine, binoculars & my zoom lenze, we could see them well enough.

I did manage to get a couple of shots of tail flukes, but I promise to try to get some better ones when these ones Western Cousins pass by Perth in a few weeks.

Cape Byron

Monday - Northern New South Wales

Monday morning we nicked off with mum's car and headed South toward the New South Wales (NSW) border. We did organise a hire car replacement for her & dad. Hire cars have charges for high mileage so we left the hire car with them.

The Gold Coast Highway is now a multi lane carriageway all the way south of the border now. The latest section now cuts out from Tugan south to Tweed Heads allowing us to cross the border under an hour & fifteen (with peak hour traffic in Brisbane).

Cape Byron was our first target for the day & we managed to get there in well under 2 hours. I can't remember ever being there, although I may have as a youngster.

For those not in the know, Cape Byron is the most Easterly peninsular of Australia and the photo above is the most Easterly point on the most Easterly peninsular. I guess you could also say that the Cape Byron Lighthouse is the most Easterly lighthouse in Australia.

Cape Byron has great views in all directions including looking North to Brunswick Heads & Mt Warning (above) South to Lennox Heads (below). The Northern Rivers area of NSW has some absolutely magnificent beaches and awesome climate. If I didn't have to work I think somewhere along this hundred or so kilometre stretch of coast would be pretty high on the list.

There are also some great views across Byron Bay & back to the Byron Bay township.

River Fire

Saturday - River Fire

On the Saturday, we went & caught up with a mate (who I won't name because all my other mates may well get their noses out of joint because we slipped in & out of town without visiting) for lunch. Next time clan. I promise. That night was a family and family friends seafood feast at mum & dad's. Enjoyable & delicious at the very least.
Just before dinner, Kerri & I wandered up the road to the Toowong Cemetery for a nice outlook over the city for the fire works spectacular to come. We weren't alone. There were at least 50 living people (and the usual residents) with the same idea just in the small area we were.
Back in the day..... there used to be a fireworks show every year that included fireworks set off from barges on the Coronation Drive reaches of the river and culminated in an F-111 flying low along the river & performing a dump & burn on the way out. Back then it was called the FM104 Sky Show.The current era version involves fireworks being fired from barges & buildings from the Storey Bridge to the Regatta, but still involves the F-111 dump & burn. The current version is called the "River Fire". We were lucky enough to be in Brisbane on the weekend when the River Fire was on.The F-111 Dump & Burn is unique to this particular aircraft. For those not in the know, the F-111 has the ability to do an emergency dump of fuel from its tail that is then ignited by the exhaust of the aircraft. When they do it at night its quite the sight. The last one I saw was at RAAF Pearce near Perth, but it was a day time affair. This year there were two & they lit up in clear view of us despite being some kilometres away from us. It was no less spectacular.This year was the last time the F-111s will close the show because the government/RAAF are retiring these old war birds that first saw service in the Vietnam war. They were a key instrument in the gulf wars but are now a maintenance nightmare & will be replaced in the next few months with Super Hornets. After briefly buzzing the city they headed straight toward us & over our heads & into the stratosphere. As we were walking back to the house, we could smell the burnt Jet A1 in the air. All very exciting & not just for me. It was one of a few unexpected bonuses from the trip.