Mar 2007

Purlingbrook Falls

From Brisbane we rented a car and explored the area. First stop was Springbrook National Park, this place was lovely and we weeved our way through rainforest on a little windy road to Purlingbrook Falls. This was really pretty, we also visited the Natural Bridge which is home to glow-worms and bats! After a quick pitt stop we headed to the Glass House Mountains - a collection of 18 extinct volacano summits, it provided very dramatic scenery. This part of Queensland is better known for the never ending fields of pineapple(!) and Steve Irwin's Zoo (which we didn't visit!) We camped here for the night before hitting the road once more.

Nic enjoying the pool at our YHA

A giant reefa

Enjoying Bribane's botanical gardens

Commuting home - Brisbane style!

We said our goodbyes to the farm, we met great people there and was sorry to leave! Back on the train we headed towards Byron Bay ready for a few relaxing nights - or that's what we thought! We arrived on a Saturday at 9pm and the place was heaving! We made ourselves at home and spent most of the days down the beach using courtesy body boards. The waves were fantastic - biggest we've experienced, David even has the cuts and bruises to prove it! We had a couple of day trips including Lennox Head where we met up with a couple we spent time with on the farm. It was a really nice day eating, drinking and soaking up the goodness in a fresh water lake, stained brown from the tea tree (very good for your skin don't you know!) Another trip was to the renowned Nimbin.....the smell as you walked down the street reminded you of Amsterdam. The only difference was no-one was whispering in your ear "cocca, ex-ta-c" instead they were saying fancy a smoke? maybe a cookie? Great. We resisted the temptation and declined!

We left Byron Bay bound for Brisbane - we really hadn't planned this very well and only had one day and just about two nights before we would leave again. We spent the whole day walking around soaking up the atmosphere.