Thursday 28 March 2019

Springbrook - Views, Waterfalls and Fungi.

Tuesday 26 March

This week saw new faces hiking with the Gaiter Girls, so it was wonderful to return yet again to Springbrook, to share its sensational beauty.

Another early start to beat the heat and humidity, was definitely worth while.


At just after 7am we were on the mountain and decided to visit the 'Best of All Lookout.' [yes, its offical name]. It was actually cold and misty as we got out of the car, making me concerned for the view we might not see. My fears were ill founded.

The walk in .....


The views ...



As we drove up to the lookout carpark, the Pademelons were enjoying grazing on the side of the road.
I've never spotted so many as on this occasion. They are marsupials, and belong to a smaller sized family to the wallaby.




Coffee was next on the agenda, beside a babbling stream, leading to our 1st waterfall and views.



The short walk to this view, revealed flowering Wild Ginger and Native Lily or Cunjevoi.




Refreshed from our cuppa, we took the short drive to our starting point for the Twin Falls Trail.

The trail views .....






The amazing fungi ....












The birds .....

Crimson Rosella Parrot

I have to be honest, but this parrot was snapped 2 days previously, but I did want to include him - the Eastern Rosella Parrot.

The closest sighting I've ever had of a Lyre Bird, sadly blurred.

The discarded skin of a python, possibly of the one I have seen in this area previously.

A busy, drain clearing Park Ranger we passed, was able to inform us that this beautiful skink was a member of the largest sized skink family in the world. We saw numerous ones sunning themselves.

Tiny blossoms of a rainforest tree.

We were very taken with the bark of these Grass Trees, one burnt, the other untouched.

The accidental photo I quite like.

The waterfalls .....

 


Twin Falls

Above the Twin Falls



As you might of guessed, progress along this trail was rather slow, but 11am saw us driving to our final trail of the day, which would take us down to the spectacular drop of the Purling Brook Falls.

Above

Below

To the side, as we followed the circuit to climb out of the gorge.



What a shame all of our group were unable to be wowed, every step of the way, by nature's magic hand.

It was hot and humid, but nowhere near as bad as if we had taken a lowland hike. Respite came when the canopy was dense, making it quite bearable.

I am pleased to report that rain fell Tuesday, finally bringing cooler temperatures to our area of SE Queensland. I am also delighted to report that vast areas of northern Australia have finally received drought breaking rains through the combined efforts of Cyclone Veronica in the west and Cyclone Trevor in the north. Of course, not without some damage, but I believe this event has been hugely welcomed. If only southern Australia could have some relief.

Finally, I apologise for being unable to visit your wonderful blogs at present. It's definitely my loss, but my laptop is with Apple for repairs. Very frustrating having to wait for the Mac to be free for use .

I would love to read your comment.

17 comments:

  1. Another wonderful outing! Love the waterfall and the views from the "Best of all Lookouts." And the pademelons are so cute! Hope your computer gets fixed quickly.

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    1. Thanks Linda. I agree about the pademelons. Just as well I had zoom lens, as they scuttled away very quickly.

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  2. What a marvellous hike. Love the waterfall!

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    1. These falls never fail to captivate me.

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  3. I am blown away--- so many wonderful things--- the pademelons are new to me---I'd like one for our back yard. And the fungi!!! And ... and... and... a lot of wonderful things, Helen.

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    1. Yes, it was truly amazing Bill. It was wonderful to be with friends who had never visited before.

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  4. Another wonderful walk. Cunjevoy, I had forgotten about those as we don't see them down here, I remember the flowers have a beautiful fragrance. The blue mushroom is also a surprise.

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    1. There was no noticeable fragrance to the Cunjevoy flowers, but their spreading growth here was impressive. I agree about the blue mushroom. Such a surprise to see.

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  5. Another fabulous walk, Helen. I was especially interested to see the Pademelons a creature I consistently failed to see, despite being in several areas where they were present. In fact when we left Inala in Tasmania the people there expressed surprise that we hadn't seen one. I guess I will have to wait till next time!

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    1. Don't feel bad about no sighting of the Pademelon. We often hear them but never set eyes on them in the rainforest. It was wonderful to see so many beside the road so early in the morning.

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  6. wow! I was wowed by your photos, what fascinating flora and fauna, those fungi looked like it had landed from space!
    xxx

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    1. It was amazing to keep on spotting new fungi. Slowed the hike considerably.

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  7. Wow! That lookout view is just amazing!

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    1. It is rather hard to beat! Mt Warning is the main peak. On the short walk to the view one passes Antarctic beech trees of approx 2000 years old. Mind boggling isn't it!

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  8. Fantastic views, cute animals, coffee breaks and waterfalls... what a day! I should have known that also your fungi are much more colourful than ours. :) The blue ones are really pretty.
    I'm happy to hear you have had some rain and lower temperatures!
    Happy April!

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  9. That sunrise was the harbinger of beauty after beauty on your hike. Gorgeous photos! I'm glad Australia got some rain to combat the drought.

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  10. Beautiful flora and fauna images especially those weird and wonderful fungi.

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