Australia is a long way away from home for me, of course it is. In fact (and to clarify the rather vague title of this post), my journey, pretty much door-to-door, is a whopping 16, 435 km, or 10,212 miles from home (...for the benefit of my international readership ahem, home is Norwich in Norfolk in the UK). It's a long old way. It is, pretty much literally, on the other side of the world (as if you didn't know that).
The thing is though, it really only takes a couple of days - slightly less actually - to get from one place to the other. Which isn't really very long is it? Not considering how much distance gets covered.
It's definitely far away then, but it isn't very 'long-away' (..which to my jet-lagged sensibilities has a decidedly cod-aboriginal twang to it. Did I mention that I have jet-lag?)
So, jet-lag. Goodness.
I was exhausted when I arrived (which we already know is pathetic because it doesn't really take that long to get here, and the actual getting here mostly consists of sitting down. I mean how hard can it be..?). And it was a deliberately planned evening arrival (I did my research), and I stayed up until a really normal bed-time of 11pm-ish. This jet-lag thing was not going to be a problem for me, I'd sleep like a baby for sure.
Yeah right. I slept like a baby until 3.30 am and then BANG. Wide awake. Middle of the night. Not the slightest inclination to sleep. Oh well, I decided not to panic.
Nelson had the answer. We'd go and spend the day sight-seeing, and that way I'd not be able to give in to the overwhelming urge to lie down and pass out in the middle of the day, thus prolonging the process of body-clock adjustment which is precisely what you don't want to do.
So up into the hills of the hinterland that is Springbrook National park it was, in part to get some cooler temperatures as it was an incredibly hot day - unseasonably hot at 38+ degrees, due to Northerly winds bringing hot weather. Now this idea, that Northerly winds are going to bring hot air is so disorienting to me.. North equals cold, it just does. It wasn't cooler though - if anything it felt more like we were getting closer to the sun. But the views. Oh my.
This is Purling Brook Falls - knitters please note the spelling, though I suspect that it is just a coincidence.
This here is a place called Natural Bridge, where the combination of different rock layers has meant that the water has eroded a large hole from above....
...and created a cave beneath, which is full of bats and glow-worms, except we didn't see the glow-worms, it being day time.
And here are a few views from 'Best Ever Lookout'. It seems that the Aussies have a very 'say it as you see it' approach to place names. Again, my camera can't quite capture the way the landscape and the sky feel overwhelmingly monumentally vast. Apparently it was a rare treat to have such clear views, and that normally all you get is either a wall of mist or a great flat sea of cloud cover.
This is Mount Warning, and is the central remnant of an ancient volcano. It is also the first place on mainland Australia to receive the rays of the rising sun each day. It is an important site for the Bundjalung people, their cultural tradition forbidding the uninitiated from climbing the peak. The National Parks and Wildlife Services advertise this and do not encourage climbers, but there are no regulations that expressly forbid it either.
There were other things too. Truly delicious cake and tea was taken in Dancing Waters cafe, where the owner said she had actually visited Norwich way-back-when, and belly-laughed about having enjoyed her 'trip' there! Can't recommend it enough, just in case you're ever up that way.
We took a little look at the Hinze Dam.
We stayed out, up and at 'em all day. I stayed up until gone 10pm. I slept like a baby.
Until 2.30am...
...on the plus side, it was nice and cool.
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