No and neither did I.
But let me begin with the start of the day.... my original plans were to walk to the summit of this stunning mountain: Mt Warning, you can see it in the distance in the pink light of dawn.
I was very disappointed to learn that the summit track is closed - a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, as the final part of the track requires climbers to use chains to reach the summit.
So new plan for the day was to head up over the mountain boarder into Queensland to trek in the Springbrook National Park instead.
I enjoyed the journey through the countryside, most particularly my stop at in Chillingham at Bucks Farm stall where I bought some gloriously huge fresh pineapples, local olives, macadamias and some of the amazing Kaffir Lime moisture lotion . If you are in the general area I highly recommend a drive out to this wonderful road side stall and saying hi to Anne who makes all the lotions herself (she is in the pic below). Thanks Anne, I love the lotion :)
The little village is very quaint & picturesque and very happy the boarder between Queensland & NSW is open again as they are on that route.
The drive from Murwillumbah and Queensland boarder through to Springbrook National Park passes directly through the village.
The natural bridge in the Natural Bridge National Park is easily accessible by a short walk along well formed trails.
The cave is home to lots (read LOTs) of microbats and I attempted to film them (not allowed to use flash in the cave). How fast they were flying was quite something.
Driving to Springbrook National Park felt like I was driving up the spine of the world.
A very scenic drive and worth doing just for itself. The views from the top, from the walking trails were expansive, stretching across the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area to the ocean in the distance.
I have too many wonderful pics to include them in all in this 'post' so I put only a couple here & have made a dedicated page for Springbrook National Park in my Gallery page...
The trail I most wanted to explore was a full-day walk according to the 1st sign I saw... then I saw another sign that said it was a 5-6 hour walk... that is not a full day in my opinion and so I decided I could achieve that before dark and headed off.
The number of warning signs at the beginning of the trail had me a little concerned... just a little.
There is even a gate across the trail with a sign stating that if it is after 11am do not start the walk. Ummmm, well it was 1.15pm when I was going to begin...
I admit I hesitated for a moment or two, but by my reckoning even a 6 hour walk would have be back before dark. I had torch, satellite phone, emergency blanket, warm clothes and ample water and so I decided to do the trail.
I figured if I jogged the flat & down bits and walked the up bits I might even finish the walk within 5 hours.... which of course I did.
The trail is essentially 7 km down, 7 kms up through stunningly gorgeous tropical rain forest, over numerous streams, past numerous waterfalls.
Thankfully most of the trail was under the cool cover of the canopy, but I still got pretty damn hot jogging the 7km down section and made the most of the opportunity to bathe as often as I could.
I don't think the trail needed to be rated as for experienced walkers. The trail was well formed, steady low gradient. I think the part that may be hard for some is the length, not the steepness.
The most amazing and unexpected event on the trail was when a crayfish walked out across the rocks in front of me as I was about to cross a small stream.
A 20cm long crayfish... not a little 5cm long one. Twenty centimetres I tell you!
What was even more wonderful was that it simply ignored me and carried on its way as if I was not there. I spent at least 20 mins watching this amazing creature.
Join me in meeting it here in this little video
I LOVE tropical rain forests!!
Check it out, stunning.
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