Leeches Suck

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Bye bye Brisbane, hello Lamington National Park. As it was only a short drive over to the Park we had a bit of a sleep in the day we were leaving Brisbane. With my trusty navigator by my side we merrily headed out of Brisbane with a slight detour to a scenic lookout over the city. The views were pretty spectacular but the sun behind the thick layer of clouds was in the wrong spot so we didn’t get any decent pics.

As we had the opportunity we decided to make a quick side trip to Surfers Paradise of the Gold Coast. Perhaps get a bit of surfing in, maybe catch some rays, anything beachy and relaxing. Some bad planning on my trusty navigators part got us stuck in morning rush hour traffic in Brisbane and towards Surfers Paradise but this was only a minor inconvenience after all we are on holiday and have all the time in the world. When we got to Surfers Paradise it was nothing like what I expected. It is much more developed than I imagined with countless tall complexes and hotels. The weather was a bit dreary but we decided to brave it and headed onto the beach. The beach is a long stretch of golden sand with dozens of lifeguard stations dotted down the beach. We weren’t actually able to go into the sea due to ‘Stingers” being present. I think the lifeguards just put out these signs when they can’t bothered working and feel like having a lazy day. In the end we lay on the beach for a while and then went for a walk around the shops on the hunt for some bargains on surf clothing after all this is Surfers Paradise. Needless to say there weren’t any and all I got was a pair of slops.

I then instructed my trusty navigator to set a course for Lamington National Park. Just after lunch we arrived at the Binna Burra campground of the park, great. Unfortunately we were staying at the Green Mountains campground. After consulting her maps and charts my trusty navigator confidently told me that our campground is only 10km away, great. What my trusty navigator failed to mention was that to cover this 10km meant we had to back track 26km and proceed 36km up the windiest mountain pass I have ever seen. This ‘scenic detour’ as we will now refer to it added on about an extra 2hrs onto our trip. But in the end it was all worth it. When we finally got to our campground the sun had just broken through and it was a perfect afternoon in the mountains. We enjoyed putting the tent up in the sun and took the opportunity to dry off some of our clothes and equipment. We then decided to have a well earned, relaxing lie down in the afternoon setting sun. This proved to be so relaxing that we didn’t get back up and were asleep just after 6. I know, it’s a hard life.

The next morning we had some big plans to go for a walk in the park I am glad to say we did. We duly set off at 08:30 and did an 11km walk through the rainforest and past waterfalls. It was a really good walk and we got to see and experience so much more of the native wildlife. This includes spiders, bright blue crayfish and my personal favourite, blood sucking leeches. These little suckers lie in wait for you to pass them by and then they pounce onto your shoe or sock and then stealthfully clamber up your leg before latching themselves onto some part of your anatomy. We had attempted to clear them off as and when they attached themselves but after our last creek crossing we decided it was best if we did an additional examination to see if there were any we had missed. I had missed 3, 1 on my stomach and 2 on my back. I am now, more than ever, convinced that everything in Australia either wants to kill you, poison you or suck your blood.

One of the best things about the campground is that it is very secluded and quiet. There were probably only 4 other camp parties there. There was also an abundance of wallabies roaming free around the campsites. Sandra had endless enjoyment at watching a baby wallaby hoping around at full pace. The campsite wasn’t as rough as we had expected. There were hot showers, composting toilets and a picnic spot a short stroll up the road with electric bbq’s where we could do dinner. All in all we really enjoyed Lamingtons. It is a beautiful part of the world and a great place to go to get away from everything.
Next we head back to the coast and Coffs Harbour - or if I leave it up to my trusty navigator, hello Outback.

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Photos

Treetops walkway
View from the top of a huge tree that Billy climbed (via steep stairs)

Billy standing next to a rather large tree
On our 4 hour walk

Green lobster
On our 4 hour walk

Comments

[Marilie]

I am so travelling with you! Wanted to show the kids some pictures, so we were dissapointed not to find any......hopefully soon!!! i love the whole idea of going to bed at 4 in die afternoon!!!!! Dream come true...just that once!!!!! Enjoy!!

[Ross]

Thanks for the beautiful postcard we received today,it shows the three faces of Fraser Island so well. Bon voyage Ross and Julie.