Nope, not talking about money. Nature. I arrived in Australia's Gold Coast Tuesday morning. Technically a suburb called Hellensvale. I'm staying with a full-of-life-lover-of-nature-real-life-Xena-princess-warrior, Leena. I met Leena last August when she surfed my couch. We became fast friends and promised to take a road trip together when I finally made it to this beautiful place. And here we are.
Our plans got messed up a bit due to the floods down south so we spent an extra day at home doing some re-planning and packing. Our itinerary goes something like this: Helensvale-Carnarvon-Emerald-Winton-Mt. Isa-Tennant Creek-Alice Springs-Coober Pedy-Wilpena-Adelaide-Melbourne-Narooma-Picton-Blue Mountains-New Castle-Natural Arch-Brisbane. All this in just 19 days!
We spent yesterday enjoying some of the local sites. We trekked through a palm grove at Tamborine Mountain and did a tree-top walk at O'Reilly's. After my experience in New Zealand I've just about given up on trying to describe my daily views but I'll give you a teaser. Mile-high (well, not a mile, but you get the idea) boyong trees with trunks as large as houses. Roots that look like walls. I crawled in them and hid from the world. Big, tall, skinny palms that look as if they shouldn't be able to support themselves but somehow do. Trees that twist around other trees and suffocate them until they die and disappear - sounds horrible but it creates effect. There were also these little knobby trunked palms that I called Dr. Seuss trees. I'm not sure where he got his inspiration but it must have been from Australia.
The tree top walk was literally a tree top walk. A bouncing suspension footbridge 30+ meters above ground among the tops of trees in a rainforest. We had the place to ourselves and were quite happy to go around the short bridge path twice and climb to the top of a mega-high tree. I wish I could claim that I climbed the tree organically but a ladder with protective fencing was provided.
Then there were the animals. At least fifteen wallabies. I would have guessed they were kangaroos but Leena assured me they were wallabies. They were hopping through the rainforest and on the sides of the roads, as common as deer at home. There were also cows. Sounds common, but these were different. They must be a different breed than what we have at home and they roamed the mountain sides - no fences. This means they stood in the middle of the road and fed their calves and did their thing as we attempted to pass. There was a goanna and bush turkeys and all kinds of birds, including parrots! I felt like a kid experiencing a zoo for the first time. There were also some icky things like the leech that attached itself to my ankle. Gross. I may be a backpacker but I'm still a girl.
Oh, and I can't forget the breathtaking mountain-top views of the Gold Coast as we were driving. Like a painting.
Leena was quite amused by my "holy sh*t" reactions to the trees and wildlife and views. I can't imagine growing up having this place as my literal backyard like she did.
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