Mountains, Tropical rain Forest, Beaches!

A decision to get the raincoats and pants on and a few layers as the temperature had a massive drop.

Yesterday 36°C today 9°C grey and drizzly, feels like being back home, then I look outside and see the daily reunion of the twenty something white parrots outside the window, the sounds of the birds and the squeaks of god knows what else is out there.

Grand Canyon loop is where were heading supposedly a two hour intermediate walk in a loop.
We start of going down in what soon becomes a Jurassic Scenery, the rainforest at its best with giant ferns and green and greens and more greens all over. All of this while we are climbing downwards towards a creek that streams down beside us. The trail here reminds me of a mixture of Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park mixed in with plants that could range from any 'The Thing' to Aliens type movies.

The walk down lasted for about one and a half hour and to quote a contrary in our case 'what comes down must go back up'. This was not a walk for an eight year old even less for four year old and although Matt only had a dozen j'en ai marre he got up way in front of all of us. Djudj once the challenges of crossing a few streams and climbing over rocks and trees and the way up lasting for over forty minutes needed creative motivation to carry on, as in ...imagine all the mountains would be edible, what would they be for you or songs as in un kilometre a pied and so on.
Anyway finally made it to the top three hours and Thirteen minutes later to find out there was one point five more kilometers to go, I left Matthew to wait for Val and Djudj and took a run to the car in the poring rain, the canopy of the rainforest not impeding the drops to reach us anymore.
What a courageous kids I have my quads were shattered after the walk and they took it like real men!

Of to Nelson bay we went. The coast in this part of Australia is characterized by bays and beeches one after the other. Funny enough we ended up in the area where i had been about fifteen years ago.
We visited Oakvale Farm where I was fifteen years ago and by judging the age of the kangaroos it looked like they where here a way back to.
The kids went crazy especially Matt when it came to bottle feeding the goats and petting the koalas was an amazing experience.
We stopped for an ice cream before heading on, I posed my camera on a table knowing I'd forget it and indeed I did. A bit of panic a phone call and to find out the camera was safe and sound at the farm.
On the way back home I saw a sign for Burundi beach which i had heard of and of to there we went to discover yet another amazing Australian endless beach.
A steep walk towards Tomaree head to reveal  views of endless ocean and beaches on the other side of the forest and into the new day towards a new destination we were.

Seal Rock and Sugerloaf Lighthouse, a short stop with yet again stunning views a light meal in a tiny village of which the name escapes me and on we went.

The beauty of traveling as we are doing now and this learned to the huge amount of miles we drove in the States is that we are only in the car for a few hours at a time, this gives (or should give) the kids less 'shpielkes' and thus (should give) more peace to the parents.

The scenery at our next destination changed dramatically. We were suddenly located in the middle of a rainforest, no more turquoise beach and white sand or so we thought.
The Eco cottages we were in where amazingly situated especially as far as night noise is concerned as you can hear here.
The gravel road leads us to a small river crossover where that road is set in a quite unique environment, it stunned us all to see and experience this morning walk.
We started of in a rainforest trail, a two kilometer trail leading us through a jungle where each thread was done carefully in order not to step on a snake. Val was really at ease especially when the mosquito's started hitting us. She had 'panic' written in her eyes and jumped at every stone i threw or at every branch or leaf that Matthew noisily stepped on on purpose. Julian stoic as ever at ease and loose just worrying about not falling over a dead branch. A brief encounter with a young guano (a big lizardy type on animal) and to Vals relief the trail ended. we crossed the road to get back to the car to walk up a sand dune trail revealing a green sea and Dolphins swimming by as we got there.
The kids collected shells and after a couple of hours we finally made our way back to the car, avoiding by five minutes the skies opening up to let down buckets full of water for the next thirty minutes.
A light meal at the local Chinese restaurant of Hawks Nest and of we where to see yet another set of beautiful beaches and one that marked the kids in particular.
Darkpoint is we were told the largest dunes in New South Wales and getting there after a short but steep climb we were amazed by the desert looking view we got. To great to describe for words I've let the camera shoot as the kids were climbing up and running down the dunes with a dark threatening sky above there head. If you look at the pics you will smile and feel a little of the joy they experienced.
It is amazing what nature does to people young or old, but again I stress the fact that we have so little of it in Belgium, worse yet we take so little advantage of what we have back home, I am talking for my family saying we but I know people know what I mean.
Being here again makes me see how little we are and how big a damage we are capable of making to this planet, and i am pointing the finger at me and the way i educate my kids to start with. The effort we need to make is one of shear action and not being lazy, because it takes little to make big changes.
I hope to read this passage again often and remind myself of this once i am back home in my daily routine.


Photo's!