All the bad karma behind us, what a difference a bit of sun makes to the view. So instead of heading straight to the forest, we stop off at at Sawtell beach for the morning to catch some rays. I wander off with the camera to try and capture a specific image I have in my mind for a canvas trio whilst Cait and the kids get into the ocean.
Just before lunch we wave goodbye to the bejewelled bellybutton babes and head for the hills along the "Waterfall Way". It's a stunning drive winding through the steep forested roads up to 767 meters (2500 ft.) where the road suddenly plateaus, disgorging us from dense forest to a lush green grass prairie. The reason for the amount of debris on the road during our accent becomes apparent when we pull up at the nature reserve "Dorrigo Rainforest Centre" and get out of the car. It's windy, very windy! In fact, there's a chill in the air from the wind so we have to don jumpers before lunch. Speaking of which, lunch was delicious and accompanied with spectacular views provided by our elevated vantage point.
This is the view from the Skywalk before the trek through the forest. The platform was 21m above the ground. The trees grow to 30-45m.
So we start the walk. For all we know we were deep in the wilderness spotting various wildlife (nothing obviously deadly to Tom's disappointment, but entertaining birds that sound like someone tuning in an old wireless) then after about an hour we pop out to this.
A mowed lawn, paved area, free electric public BBQs and toilets! We feel conned. Nice views though. Sarah was lured here with the promise of chocolate as she was moaning she was tired. We shared out a bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk (3 dollars, that's about £1.80!) and it tasted different to that back in the UK, but not in a good way. It hardly tasted of chocolate. Tom couldn't resist the attraction of a button and turned on a BBQ, whoops (you can't turn them off again and it has to run its course).
The BBQ area....
....had a wild Brush Turkey walking around it. Does it not know it's Christmas and it's walking around a kitchen???
We walk back and make our decent to Bellingen where we're staying at another YHA. This one is very different. It's like a cross between a hippy commune and a Buddhist training camp. The building is an old wooden affair set on a hill, stilted on one side. One of the rooms seems to be in the garden as there's a 4 poster bed surrounded by various living furniture on the grass covered with a tarp. All the rooms are connected by a porch/walkway around the building. Camouflaged amongst the tie-dye tapestry are beardy-weirdies, also in tie-dyes, who only betray their positions by the flapping of their flares. I suspect there is plenty of free love flowing around the halls and those suspicions are largely confirmed when I look at the landing walls. They are covered floor to ceiling in pictures of past residents - all in the buff! Tastefully done (no naughty bits showing). Here's the tally and a few examples...
I'm not sure whether to embrace the culture or poke it with a stick. I finally decide to admire it from afar, I have to concede they seem a happy bunch.
We book ourselves into a "full moon canoe" trip, so with time to kill we take a stroll through the town. There's still an intense heat in the sun as we wonder about. Tom reckons, and I agree, it looks like the wild west. Something to do with the buildings and the 1st floor fanned verandahs. Look what we find..
...not Bannister and Wheatley (which still trades, well done Les and George) but still a Wheatley seed firmly planted in this penal colony.
On to the evening entertainment - canoeing under a full moon. Together with 14 or so others we're picked up in a minibus and shuttled to what was supposed to be an outdoor pursuits centre. It's basically someone's house. A beautiful house forged from an old wooden-built church. The gardens are well crafted and we're lead to the waters edge by decking and mood lighting. There we join others to make a group of 28, hop in canoes (1s, 2s and 3s) and we all set off upstream in the dark. The moon and stars provide sufficient light to just be able to see what we're doing. In addition, we all have a glow-stick wristband in case we fall in. It's a cloudless night, the water is warm and the vista is amazing. For anyone who has read Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn it was like traversing the Juliffe on Lalond (bugs included). The kids (and parents) were loving it. 10 mins in and the guide does a head count, well he does several because his method was hopelessly flawed. Final decision - 3 people missing already! (as you'd imagine, it's quite hard in the dark). The guide paddles back and recovers them and we continue our adventure. After some time we turn up a much slimmer tributary. Overhanging trees not only block out all the moonlight, but also become a hazard for exposed heads. The river gets really dark at this point and I hang back (I have Sarah, Cait has Tom). In front of me stretching out in the darkness I can just make out the neon colours of the wristbands and the odd scream as a low hanging branch claims another victim. We paddle to a moonlit atrium where we're given a crash course on the constellations before starting back. Emerging from the tributary we recover the moon's brilliance and I realise just how dark that part of the river was. By now we we're on our 3rd headcount, well actually our 15th or so. At this point I have a FFS moment and offer the guide a much better method of doing it, even without any illumination. An hour in and the kids are getting cold. We paddle back and get a Champagne reception. 3 glasses later (I dunno, I must have a pretty face) we're on the bus again back to the hostel. In short and in keeping with present company, 'groovy'. No photos, 2 reasons. 1) it was dark, 2) it was wet. However, here's a pic I took of the moon a couple of nights ago.
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A remarkably thorough report on the nudists.......where are your contributions:-D
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