Detours

November 28, 2001-Highways and Byways
(photos:Platypus viewing,
Birds of Australia)

We had a fun day exploring the Hinterlands with Andy & Donna, the son and daughter-in-law of friends back home. It was kind of a dress rehearsal for the visit of Ron & Karen also friends from home. They’re coming in Feb. We’re so excited to be able to show people around.

We headed for the mountains & O’Reily’s in Lamington National Park. We’d heard that it would be an hour-long ride, but the people we asked didn’t tell us about the winding road. All they said was that it was scenic. We should know by now that scenic is a euphemism for “sharp curves on narrow mountain roads.” We picked our friends up at 11:30 AM since David had a funeral to do at 10AM.

We’d planned to be at O’Reily’s for lunch, but between the road & interesting things to see along the way, we didn’t get there until 2 P.M. First, we pulled off at a sign that directed us to an historic tunnel. We walked downhill on a path as David reminded us it would be uphill on the way back to the car. When we got to the end there was indeed a tunnel. It had been used for a tram that served a sawmill & was a storage place for munitions during WWII. It had a great echo & no bats. Continuing on up the mountain we literally gasped at the scenery.

David did a masterful job of negotiating the curves & I only urged him to move away from the edge once while Donna restrained herself & voiced what I was about to when she asked that he slow down. At that point we were in a 100km speed zone on a straight-away & he was doing 80km.

Our next stop was the Canunga Valley Vineyard where we thought we’d get a bite to eat before wine tasting. They didn’t really have any food to speak of so David abstained. The drinking & driving laws are very strict here. Andy & Donna stared tasting & I didn’t see anything I liked so I decided not to try anything. Along the way, I got tempted & ended up loving their port & a dessert wine. The bartender was quite a card. When we asked him to take our picture, he told us to pose behind the bar. Then he asked me to pour him some tastes. We ended up buying the port & our friends treated us to a bottle of the dessert wine. They walked away with a couple of bottles themselves.

The property backed to a pond where platypus live, so we strolled on over for a look. They’re very shy & even though we stayed behind the viewing fence, we only caught a glimpse of a turtle. The fence was really a screen with openings in the shape of platypus cut into it through which you could look. It reminded me of fences I’d seen at construction sites. On our way back down the mountain, we decided to stop for a look again since it was dusk. That’s a better time to see them. As everyone was looking through the holes, I crept around to the other side & stuck my hand through to poke Andy. I thought he’d jump over the fence. We were rewarded for our patience with several sightings of platypus bubbles. The water was quite muddy & they never surfaced, so we never really saw the animals themselves.

We continued our climb to O’Reiily’s, but thought we’d taken a wrong turn. We asked some workmen for directions & it was like a Keystone Cops comedy. One pointed to his left, one pointed to his right, & one pointed directly behind. We roared with laughter until it was explained to us they were all correct. There was a loop that we had to take & it was accessible from either direction & ran behind where they were. We were off once again & even though we didn’t think it possible, the road got narrower. When we got to O’Reily’s, we decided to investigate an alternate route back, but realized we were at a dead end & there was only one way down the mountain.

New Heights

As we got out of the car, exquisite tropical birds surrounded us. There were red & green rosellas, some black & gold birds, & ones we couldn’t even identify let alone describe. People were feeding them, photographing them, & shooing them off their heads. It was obvious the birds were part of the attraction. After a quick lunch at the café overlooking the forest, we headed for the trail leading to the tree top walk. The path headed off into the forest & before we could even get into a nature mode, we went by a power plant that served the resort. It wasn’t reassuring for what we’d hoped to be a day of pristine pleasures, but things improved quickly when wallaby hopped across our path.

The trail led to a skywalk bridge that circled around the rainforest & came out at the botanical gardens. I was the only one of the group who liked heights & thought the excursion was a kick. We came to a ladder that went up two levels to platforms from which you could look out over a huge expanse of the parklands. I love to climb & I was on my way up in a jiffy. The ladder was even enclosed with a mesh cage, so there was no need to worry. As I climbed, I came nose to frond with an enormous basket/crow’s nest fern. It was intriguing to get to look into it at that proximity. When I got to the first level I saw that I was on my own. All the wimps were back on the ground looking up at me. I then realized I didn’t have a camera with me so Andy offered to climb up with it. It was a major sacrifice for him & he didn’t look too happy. He did bring his own camera, so he has evidence of his heroic feat. Needless to say, he didn’t join me in the climb to level two. That was a good thing. The ladder to that level leaned back at an awkward angle. The wind started blowing & the ladder, mesh cage, and tree started to sing & hum. It was totally thrilling. At that point the groundlings called up to me that there were others waiting to climb. I invited them to join me, but my group was ready to move on. I reluctantly left my perch & scooted on down.

As we emerged from the rainforest (past the power plant) we saw a small group gathered around a ute (pick-up truck) that had a ladder going from the truck bed to a nearby tree. There was a man on the ladder fiddling with the tree & a woman on the ground holding a gray object in her hand. Evidently a baby bird had fallen from a nest & the O’Reily’s worker was clearing a way to the nest so he could put it back. He said that the grounds crew would watch the nest for a few days to be sure the parents returned to feed it. If not, they’d see what they could do to care for it. I thought that was really going out of his way.

Happy Returns

We wanted to get down the mountain before sunset, so we headed out. We’d passed an alpaca farm on the way up & decided to stop there to pet the animals. We arrived just as they’d been put away for the night, but they aren’t for petting anyway. There’s a gift shop where they sell items made from the alpaca wool. There’s also a café overlooking what I would have sworn was a painted backdrop. The sun was glinting at just the right angle on the valley & the tiny houses & cows looked like props. There was even a blindingly blue lake that reflected the crystal clarity of the sky & the few white puffs of cloud.

We stopped a few more times at the roadside. There was a big black cow grazing next to the road in unfenced pastureland. That accounted for road signs warning motorists to be prepared to stop unexpectedly. It was so big & so close that we wanted a photo of it. It looked directly at the camera & seemed poised to charge the car, but no worries. Cows are so docile. When we pulled away, we saw it wasn’t a cow but a bull. Whoops! Donna spotted some wallaby but we couldn’t stop in time to take a picture. We did pull over at a cemetery when I thought I saw a kangaroo. It turned out to be a cross marker with a wreath on it.

We dropped Andy & Donna off at their hotel so they could get ready for a cruise of the canals that night & pack for their 5-day stay in New Zealand tomorrow. We headed for dinner at Pasha’s, a Turkish restaurant near our apartment. David had an assorted plate of grilled specialties & I ordered a pide. It’s an unusual pizza type dish made on Turkish bread. I’ve never had anything like it before. It was excellent. That place is a keeper.

As I write this, David’s on the balcony listening to music from a pool party downstairs. They’re playing “Come On Baby Light My Fire” & selections from the Bee Gee’s. I told you it’s the 70’s here.

Toby