Up another mountain

The wind has abated a tad so Brian went for a walk along the beach. I stayed in bed! The sun was out so we decided to check out the mountains, lookouts, waterfalls and walks in Springbrook. It is only 30kms from the turnoff at Mudgereeba but the road is very narrow and winding through the mountains. It just keeps going higher and higher with a sheer drop and hardly any guard rails. I was keeping my eyes fixed to that road and got a little sweaty the higher and steeper we got. There were even a few sections that were only one lane over little wooden bridges with a drop that went forever. We drove through Springbrook and another few kms to Purling Falls. It was a lovely picnic area where a few walks originated. Some were affected by landslips due to the amount of rain they have been having up here, so we chose to stroll the 100 metres to the falls from the car park along a moss covered path through the rainforest. We arrived at a lookout that ends in a massive drop with a waterfall plunging over a sheer rock face. There was also another walk to the other side of the falls that crossed a beautiful creek that burbled over smooth rocks before starting its journey towards the edge of the waterfall. It looked like a perfect habitat for platypus although we didn’t actually see any.

Next stop was a lookout that claimed to be and called “The Best-Of-All lookout”. It was about another 4 kms up the mountain and about 2kms further on, the temperature dropped to 8 degrees and the clouds enshrouded the mountain. It was only a 350 metre walk from the car park but it took a little bit of time because the rainforest was just so spectacular we were stopping constantly to take photos. The highlight had to be a group of 1000 year old Antarctic beech trees whose roots and trunks were gnarled and totally covered in thick green moss. Just amazing. We eventually arrived at the lookout and the best view will have to be seen at another time. The cloud was so thick, it was a total whiteout. Back to the car in a light drizzle that could have been rain or just the cloud and decided lunch at the Springbrook General Store was the go as it was nearly 2pm and we were hungry. We weren’t certain we could get anything as it was a Monday and not a lot of people about but they ‘could make some toasties and a coffee for us’ which was just fine. We ended up spending an hour chatting to the two ladies serving there and they had lots of photos of the local fauna they wanted to share as well as some stories. One lady was from Texas in the good old US of A and the other originally from Victoria but were now definitely locals. It was good fun. Why is it that it always seems much quicker returning from these trips? Anyway, were back at the van by 4.30, Brian walked to the shops and I snuggled up in my blankie and read my book for a while.

All the snaps => click here

A snap of the day

 

 

Judy admiring the view from the Best-Of-All Lookout, Springbrook, Qld