Rain Forest at Northern Rivers

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At last I'm catching up with myself; I'm recently back from Brunswick Heads in the Northern Rivers area of NSW, where I enjoyed sun, sea and R&R. I was recommended this hippy area by a friend of Darius', she was right, it was just up my street, and it's such fun to meet alternative minded people.

I found my lodgings via airbnb.com, a useful accommodation website, and landed with a delightful artistic woman with whom I got along very well. She provided me with space to be, gave me use of her verandah and living room as well as a bedroom for the week. I felt very much at home amongst her books, oils and crystals. She took me to 5 rhythm dancing one night, a joy after several months of none.

Her house was within walking distance of the rivers (pelicans!), the sea and the shopping area of this delightful small town, so I didn't need to hire a car, in fact I've been surprised at how easy public transport has been on this trip so far. Such joy to walk out in the early morning for a quick dip in the river, or a longer walk up the beach. One day I paddled up river on a small kayak, a guy called out for me to watch out for box jelly fish, apparently one had been sighted, and they should be reported. No sign though I kept a good lookout after that! And hoped the swimmers did too.

My hostess proudly introduced me to Alphonse the water dragon, a huge lizard who pops through the cat flap most days to try for the cat food. He is almost cat sized himself, though his lady friend is about half his size; we watched her basking in the rain in the garden.

The creatures up here near to the border with Queensland can be quite scarey, I didn't see and snakes or spiders, but lots of ants of all sizes everywhere, cockroaches are commonplace, as are little lizards, just how it is living in a rainforest..

There were several tropical storms the week I was there, most of them electric, but thankfully I missed the one which did such damage with giant hailstones. They were grateful for the rain after months of drought and as it was interspersed with hot sunshine and sea breezes it provided sweet relief. I managed to burn one day in my enjoyment of warmth after all the chill of Melbourne, and am currently nursing a peeling tummy. The ocean was so warm, the sand so soft, the wind gentle, disguising the strength of the sun.

The Pacific ocean was wonderfully warm, there were areas where I simply played in the waves, not daring to go right in and test the rips, and other safer little bays where I felt happy to swim. I was tipped off that it's OK to skinny dip if one walks far enough along the long sandy beach, so that's what I often did. And lay in the semi shade of a tree afterwards, mostly no-one in sight, just the occasional passer-by.

Brunswick Heads is a little north of the famous and touristy Byron Bay; apparently it's walkable along the beach but I didn't make it in such heat. The sand does go on and on, stretching it seems into infinity, bordered by rainforest, and everyday I'd be greeted by a bush turkey, sometimes a family of wallabies, once a dolphin.

Although Brunswick is a small town, there are a huge array of cafés, mostly organic or whole food, plus a very well stocked wholefood shop with loads of gluten free cakes, yum! I'm putting on weight, and tried to restrain myself somewhat by self catering much of the time.

Another delightful hippy town nearby is Mulumbimby with a farmers market. Fortunately for me my landlady was driving there in her be-starred van, so I hopped a lift and loved browsing the stalls boasting all sorts of rainforest goodies ranging from honey to garlic to olives, coffee, candles, clothes, tapenades and dips, loads of veggies, juices and smoothies of all sorts, plus several creative cafés. I couldn't resist the raw gluten free choc avocado cake, so yum., in fact my sweet tooth was hugely indulged that week with masses on offer, and I've really taken to soya chai, available all over. Vietnamese and Chinese food stalls abound, alongside the hippy raw or vegan cafés.

Mullumbimby also has a range of organic and wholefood shops, plus a good bookstore, a fun place to browse. I met an interesting woman in a cafe there as we sat outside drinking our juices. She has created a new way for folk to learn maths, and calls it pebble maths, she has a website, and very enthusiastically explained how she teaches kids and adults with pebbles, I was fascinated. Because there are some people who just get math, and others who simply don't. And she is helping the latter to find a way to get it. Wonderful, as maths is the basis for so much of life. In fact she has people flying over to visit her for lessons from across the world. Www.pebblemaths.org

All in all a most satisfactory trip, though an enormous thunderstorm at Coolangatta airport delayed my flight; I'm now safely back in Melbourne, checking out our veggie plants and discovering the local Community Garden...and the weather is at last warming up, summer approaches...

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