Springbrook Lyrebird Retreat

... a humidifier, mist-spraying devices and attentive 'keepers' who collect small flies in big nets everyday by swooping it through the tall grass outside in the grounds and then painstakingly attaching a fly to each glow worm's system of sticky silk webs. Did you know that a glow worm is actually the larva of a mosquito-looking fly? They produce the light as a by-product of an energy-creating bio-luminescence process, which occurs in their kidneys and the light helps ...

... background... it was magical.

A short drive away way Purling Brook Waterfall, we walked down to the huge falls where the path leads behing the curtain of water... very cool... then up the other side. Around this area there are lots of lookouts... to many to choose from, luckily one was named "Best of All" so we went there.

... day on saturday and just lazed around, went for weekly shop blah blah. Most of my free time ive been spending walking to the beacho, along the beach to the shops, just enjoying the chilled outness!

Today me and Jen decided to go on a bit of an explore! We rented a car for like.. a hundred and something $ so just over 50 quid and head into the mountains. We went into the Numimbah valley which is ...

... 15$ a night for camping, and since the tent we had been borrowing was on it's way to Byron Bay, we opted for the unknown. We were picked up in town that afternoon and whisked away to a farm in between Nimbin and Lissmore. The specialty of the place was cactus and succulents which Jo, the owner, sells in local markets. The place was already pretty full of workers but since we really wanted to stay they ...

... of (but not dispatch) canetoads and suggested letters to the local government protesting about habit destruction due to development. The hippy stopped playing his guitar and came in to explain to us how the profits from the shop partly went to those who made the products but mostly went to funding protests and court cases. He then asked where we came from and this was the first sign things might be a bit odd. After we said "England" said "welcome ...

... in a metal box provided - quite funny as the box and all the Avos would be gone in a blink). The forest was beautiful and the views from the plateau lovely. We kept driving inland through the mist to Lamington National Park which was even more spectacular. We relished the views and vegetations and were glad we made the detour before heading south to the Gold coast.

Well a nice little day trip out to the countryside was in order..........got picked up by the bus driver, we collected a few more travellers (21 of us in total) and our driver said the first thing we do is go to the bottle shop for booze to drink on the bus and at lunch, along with very loud party music........One of the other girls and I just looked at each other and laughed as she ...

... ist eine angehobene Plattform von Schmutz geformt als Kreis das mit einem Beschreibungsbrett eingezäunt und markiert worden ist. Nebenan war eine grosse Wiese in der wir versuchten, einen Boomerang zu werfen, was wirklich schwer ist. Er muss so geworfen werden, dass er zurueckkommt. Viel Glueck! Ich habs mal so halb geschafft, muss noch maechtig ueben. Wir fuhren dann weiter nach Lismore, eine eher langweilige ...

... that's the one we did - it's quite cheap and you get on the bus outside your hostel, drive to Nimbin via a country pub with loads of Maccadamia nuts you can eat or take with you (I'm not sure if you were really allowed to take them but I did..), and spend a few hours in Nimbin. After Nimbin the bus driver takes a detour to Minyon falls, a world heritage forest and some place owned by a hippy called paul recher which is described as ...

... the world's 10 most venomous snakes was a bit scary as there was only a small piece of glass between us. Apparently, the most venomous snake's poison can kill over 100 people with one drop or bite! Feeding the Elephants was great, their trunks are a bit sloppy and they certainly enjoyed the food they were getting - a fantastic experience. It was also amazing to see the tigers playing with their keepers. They are apparently still wild, but as they are used to ...