It’s evening at Wye River Caravan Park. In holiday mode, nearly everyone has a glass of wine or beer in hand – barbecue tongs or serving spoon in the other. Neighbours chat until they discover that they know someone in common. The sound of children at play evokes memories of old Jaques Tati movies. The screams of delight, laughter and shouting diminish as in age groups, from youngest to oldest, kids go down for the night. Then later, one by one, camp lights go out until all is still and quiet – except for the gentle crash of surf onto the beach.
Away from my work environment, I allow my mind to be still, and I sleep like Rip Van Winkle, until the horrific bellowing of koalas mating in the tree beside us. This ups my heart rate to around two hundred. Later, in the early hours, I am woken by a scuffling in our annexe. I have been told that kangaroos investigate the park by night. I try to get out of bed quietly. Undoing tent zips is never a quiet thing but I manage it quickly for the sake of surprise. Snapping on my torch and springing into the annexe, I come face to face with a kangaroo taller than me trying to get into our soft esky bag full of fruit. He appears to have been making off with it, as it’s three or four metres from where I left it. He’s loath to leave but I tell him there’s plenty of food for him in the forest and with a haughty look he gives up.
On Tuesday morning it’s time to depart this magical spot. We rise at dawn to a cacophony of kookaburras clattering through the rainforest. There are stirrings in the park – the crunch of gravel as an early riser makes her way to the amenities block with towel over her shoulder and toiletry bag in hand. We sit in our open camper kitchen eating my home-made muesli – organic oats, almonds, walnuts, seeds, dried fruit. Blissfully I draw in long draughts of the fresh mountain air.
Packing up our Cape York Adventure camper is quick and easy, and we’re on the road by 8.30 heading north. Twenty kilometres up the track we leave the main road to drive in to Barramunga Falls. Pristine. Like being in Nature’s cathedral. Water trickles and sparkles over rocks worn smooth with time, through magnificent tree ferns and beneath towering gum, beech and spruce trees. A kookaburra sits on the soft damp path in front of us – a yabby almost half his size in his beak.
It’s in the nature of waterfalls to take our breath away. They beckon you to come and swim in their offering – the pool at their feet. We didn’t. But we sat for a while. It’s wonderful to be with someone with whom you can be silent.
Soon we’ll be out of the mountains and onto the open road – country roads where you can see to the horizon, through small towns that invite you to contemplate their history. The diversity of the Australian landscape never ceases to thrill and amaze me.
In my next blog I’ll tell you about some of the country people we have met along the way. If you ask and listen, they all have stories to tell.
I am happy to tell you that ‘So Big The Land’ is at last available as E-book. Go to Amazon Kindle for details.
Till next time,
Sue
PS – Photos to follow