Mt Tamborine

After visiting my friend Robyn in Southport, she suggested I visit Mt Tamborine. It's about 50k s from Brisbane, has waterfalls ( I love waterfalls!) and a skywalk through the rainforest.

The drive up there is really steep. On your way up from Southport you pas the St Bernard's hotel which  Robyn suggested I would go and have a beer in their pub. The name of the hotel came from the owners love of the breed. At the moment they own two an adult and a pup. Because if left Southport rather late and needed to secure a campsite I reckoned I would have the beer on the way down the next day, not realising I wouldn't be going down the same path. But if I am ever back in the area it will be on my "must do" list.

Up on the mountain there are two main campsites, the Tamborine Mountain caravan camping ($10) and the Thunderbird park campsite ($14). The first was fully booked so I went to the second and got a spot. Now here is where it gets confusing... While I was studying the ground map at the reception of the Tamborine Mountain caravan park (where the map led me) a lady came asking what I was looking for. She turned out to be the owner of the T. M.C.P. And explained that the previous owner of all that land had sold her the front and the back to the Thunderbird park...obviously she wasn't very happy about that. Her amenities were in the middle of the park while those of the Thunderbird were right across of her reception...

The Thunderbird park has a fancy restaurant, bar, bunckhouses, camp area and of course a park. They offer horseback riding, mini golf, thunderegg fossicking, tree top challenging, laser skirmish, bush walking etc.. 

None of which I did...

The Cedar Creek river ran behind my camp spot, so I decided to walk the path next to it looking for a rockpoole deep enough to have a swim. Found one not very large but deep enough. I overheard so e people talking about the Real Cedar Creek river waterfalls at the Tamborine National park. 

The parking area at the entrance was very tiny and lots of people park their cars on the main road a bit further up. In hindsight I should have done the same. 

The road to the parking area is very narrow and while trying to get out of the way of a car crossing me I hit a low wooden fence. I stopped not knowing what I hit, but a croup of teens coming from the other direction encouraged me to ceep driving. To their delight and great joy I did and ended up with a piece of wood stuck in the frontside of Dory. 

Once down I found a parking spot but the day was lost, my mood was least to say foul. The place was filled with people so I turned around and decided to give the skywalk a try. 

When I arrived at the Rainforest Skywalk and saw that it costs $19 I skipped that as well. 

Cedar Creek behind my camp spot.

The Tamborine National Park with its beautiful waterfalls.

Trial Bay Gaol

Trial Bay Gaol is situated between Port Macquarie and Goffs Harbor.

Between 1863 and 1866 89 ships went down and 243 lives were lost.

In 1874 parlement decided there was a need for a Harbor of refuge and a breakwater needed to be created. In 1889 three years after the Gaol was build work started, it became a public works prison. The prisoners also assisted in sea rescues. When after 17 years the breakwater still wasn't finished, the Gaol was closed. All that was valuable, even the roofs were taken when they left the building. 

In 1915 during WWI it got reused as a internment amp for people of German descent who were feared to by enemy sympathisers. At first they stayed in tents and wooden sheds.

The prisoners ran businesses such as a fruit shop, barber, plumber, etc.. There was a hospital run by Dr Max Hertz who is Australia's first specialist in infantile paralysis and congenital deformities.

A large barn was home to the camp orchestra, a brass band, 2 folk choirs and a German theatre that had a new production each week ( in total there were 56 plays). They even had their own newspaper. The grounds of the Goal became a place of recreation for the locals, who were unaware of the Goals history.

In 1918 after the war a caretaker was installed and the Goal was once again stripped of all it's movable buildings and materials in 1922.

The entrance to Trial Bay Goal!

The hospital and kitchen in 1915.

Solitairie confinement.

These utilities were recovered at the breakwater in 1922.

The bakery.

How the cells of the prisoners during WWI looked.

They even locked up Kangeroos!!!! ;) The one on the left has a joey in het pouch!

The view from the Goal.

Ku-ring gai Chase National Park

When I asked around what would be worthwhile visiting when in the Sydney area, a friend suggested Ku-ring gai Chase NP. I googled it and saw a beautiful waterfall. Being a fan of waterfalls I decided to go. The entrance fee is $11. It is quite big park so that is why the price is higher than the normal $7 in NSW. The first thing I noticed is that unlike the parks I visited in WA it is not very well indicated where the main visitor office is. But I found it and since if was planning on camping in NSW NP I wanted to buy a multi park annual pass for $45. That according to the NSW national park website covered all parks in NSW except the Kosciuszko NP. According to the lady at the visitor centre that pass did not cover the Sydney area parks (such as Ku-ring gai Chase). And she didn't have them for sale neither. So I decided to buy the $64 one and, get this, I got a refund for my entree fee to Ku-ring gai Chase...

I asked for a map of the park, unlike in other parks there were none on display. 

There was one trail I was interested in, a short one that led to some aboriginal sights. After looking and trying to orientate myself the only trail I found was near the boat area to the top of Mt Ku-ring gai.

On the sign it said 2,7kms so I slipped into my sneakers, got my camera and some water in my backpack and off I went. 

After an hour I had only passed one more sign indicating the way, and had not seen anything worthwhile. The trial just kept going up and up. It was fairly hot and the sun was directly above the path. After about two hours of walking and having reached what I thought the top or almost I had had enough. When I saw two paths ahead, one going further up and one down the choice was easily made.

There were no signs and after about 1km the path stopped...not feeling like going back up I decided to go through the bushes and reckoned I would get back on the main path down. This was not the case. I spent about 4 hrs climbing up and down the mountain through very thick weeds over rockes and through water, even swimming while trying to hold my backpack out of the water. I fell down at least 20 times. I had the good reflex to drop on my ass to minimize the harm or not to fall down the rocks in a hole. I was wearing shorts, they got torn on the back and my shins got bruised and cut so did my arm. 

I kept going following small rivers to a dead end, climbing up the mountain hoping to reach a path. 

When I finaly heard a car and looked up and spotted the road I was close to exhaustion. I dragged myself to the road and walked another 4kms to where my car was parked. I changed into my swim shorts and slipped into the water to clean my wounds. I could feel my legs burning. I think it is safe to say I will not be doing anymore hiking for a while.

Don't get me wrong the park looks very nice. It seems perfect If you want to go canoeing, have a boat or a jet ski or just like to have a picnic and enjoy the sun reading a book on the lawn. But if you ask me don't go there for a hike...

On my drive out of the park I did see a possum at the side of the road. I slowed down and stopped. I got out of the car and was stunned when the possum was actually running towards me. When I turned on my flashlight I sadly turned around and disappeared into the bush. I am told that is a rare thing to do for a possum to run towards humans.

Jenolan Caves

Having  been to the Blue Mountains last year and seen the Three Sisters I was wondering where to go seeing I wasn't eager to drive into Sydney (went to the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour last year) . This time of year (end of December) it would probly be busy as hell. So I asked my Aussie friends for tips and My dear friend Kay suggested the Jenolan Caves. 

I camped in a free camp area in the Blue Mountains surrounded by a group of contemporary hippies who had been there for the last 5 weeks. It was a good area but the dump toilets were a health risk. The smell almost knocked you unconscious. 

Jenolan Caves is about 1h30 from the Blue Mountains and is still in The great Blue Mountains area. It is near a town called Ltihgow. A very narrow road gets you up to the reserve. A small Victorian town like place with a hotel and restaurant. 

The Jenolan Caves have 11show caves open to the public. They were discovered 9000 years ago and are aprox 340 milion years old, making them the the most ancient discovered and open caves in the world. There are 40kms of multi-level passages and are still undergoing active exploration. Since 2000 the Jenolan Caves are part of the unesco World Heritage. 

They are part of the culture of indigenous people. The area holds significative to the Gundungurra and Windjuri peoples.

I chose the Lucas Cave. The most visited of all caves, with massive chambers, the Broken Column and a glimps of the pure underground river.

The caves also get used for weddings and concerts due to its amazing acoustics. Two little girls gave a short but sweet performance singing Let it go and Silent night. I see a bright future in showbiz for those two! 

With my ticket ($32) I received a Jenolan pass that gave me acces to a self guided audio tour to the nettle Cave. The ticket is valid for 1 year and also gives you a 50% discount on the next ticket you buy, unlimited for one year!

Next to the entrance of the caves was a River walk trail, with blue water and 3 platypus who according to our guide were unlike most of its kind not shy. I had a look but sad to say still haven't seen a platypus so far.

Entrance underneath the caves. 

The Borken Column!

Massive chambers!

A skeleton of a wombat as a prop seeing all the real skeleton were removed upon discovery of the cave.

The Blue River. Sadly that day the platypus were hiding.

The indigenous culture link.

The hotel/restaurant.

Melbourne

Melbourne was just a very short stop. I really wanted to visit it seeing it has been rated the best city in the world to live in for several years in a row. But it was Christmas Eve and I needed to meet up with a guy who wanted to pay me $150 for Trevor.

So I drove right into the centre and took in as much as I could. I even got a haircut at a place called "Fight club". It was run by an Asian lady and for $25 she gave me the best haircut I have ever had, and trimmed my beard! She kept saying " Why you no cut your hair short, you so handsome" lol!

I liked Melbourne, as far as I can like a big city. I could imagine myself living in one of its suburbs. It made me think of San Francisco, well what I have seen and read about it on TV and the internet. It looks like a mix of modern buildings and authentic Victorian style buildings. I spotted a group of people having a yoga session on the grass, a man with ponytails and a skirt, homeless people on the sidewalks, families getting a picture of their kids on Santa's lap, etc... It made me think of a small town in a big city if that makes sense. Not as impersonal as Perth for example.

Shame I couldn't spent more time there. Maybe next time...

So far my favourite hairdressers!

Haircut and beard trimmed!