Dec 2, 2014

Rainforest Adventure Tuesday

So the Tuesday bike-ride-cum-playground-visit adventure had mysteriously failed to send Lyra to the Land of Nod. Although she was showing definite tendencies next door's building site, combined with three-doors-down's building site, put paid to any peaceful slumber and so once again it fell to the gentle automotive caresses of the car to see her right.

This Tuesday we had time on our side, so instead of a totally pointless round-the-houses there-and-back-again type trundle I thought we should go and visit my favourite tree up at Mount Glorious, and hope that Lyra would be willing to do the walk.

By the time we were a quarter of the way there Lyra was asleep, and she slumbered on as we negotiated the switchbacks of the mountain road underneath the wild eucalypts, the occasional wild garlic perfume working its way in. I started to worry that she wouldn't wake up at all, but I dealt with that when we arrived at the car park at Maiala National Park by driving over the speed bumps quickly and the resulting jolts brought her back to the land of the living. When I told her we were going to see some dinosaurs, well her eyes lit up and she was raring to go.

If she had been wearing cotton socks, I would have blessed them - not that I'm qualified - as she oohed and aaahed at the ancient trees, negotiated the stone rainwater channels and toddled down the staircases which take the walk down into the valley and into the belly of the rainforest.

We listened to the sounds of the birds, calling out to the catbirds, or maiowbirdies as they will henceforward be designated.

We climbed over the sprawling roots and hung from the dangling vines.

We followed the calls of the catbirds until a Lyra-squeal startled them and they flew, three in formation, away between the trees, their cries a cross between an angry cat and a starving baby.

We passed some German tourists. "Guten tag!" we said, and they replied with something incomprehensible.

We arrived at my favourite tree and spent two or three minutes exploring its amazing root system, and the dried-up riverbed that runs beneath it before hopping across the stepping stones and carrying on up the other side of the valley.




As we ascended the other side, we were privileged to see as sight that you don't see very often. I held a finger to my lips, Lyra on my hip, as we watched a little forest wallaby called a Pademelon on the path ahead of us, looking right back at us before hopping away into the undergrowth, a rhythmic crunching of leaves marking its course into the wild.

2 comments:

  1. I love old figs :)
    Was this on the Greens Falls circuit at Maiala?

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  2. The rainforest circuit at Maiala, Greene's Falls is for another day when we have more time on our hands

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