Yungaburra Hotels
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Yungaburra, Tablelands
Entry 33 of 43 | show all | print this entry |
Thursday, August 16, 2007
I was off to the Tablelands early in the morning with On the Wallaby Tours for the next 3 days and 2 nights. Bart, our guide/driver was awesome...hilarious, informative, fun, energetic and definitely a bushman at heart! He was clear from the start that at no point should anyone be looking at their watches or stressing about anything. We would get to where we were going when we were good and ready!! He took us on several bushwalks and pointed out trees, ferns and other vegetation that was poisonous or medicinal. We went to see the Cathedral Fig Tree which is enormous! It started as a seed that landed in the canopy of the host tree and when the time was right, it started to sprout roots. Yes, from the top down. This climbing fig tree uses its host to grow and eventually "strangles" it with all of its vines and roots. Once the host tree dies, its nutrients continue to feed the fig tree. Eventually as time wears on, the fig tree selects another nearby host tree and continues to spread itself. Quite amazing to see. This tree is about 500 years old and it has already consumed about 4 trees already. I could only get the tree in sections in my photos, it's tooooo huge!
Can't forget lunch! It was very good!
We also visited some volcanic lakes and visited a number of waterfalls. The most photographed falls in Oz is Millaa Millaa Falls. Yes...I took photographs of it! You are allowed to swim in the falls, but it was raining and cool, so naturally I declined! Off to Mt. Hypipamee to see the v-shaped crater. It had this really thick green moss-like surface. This crater was created by the high heat emanating from the earth which instead of an eruption it disintegrated the rock in a cone shape. We had an opportunity to throw a stone into the crater and hear the "plop" and see the green moss-like surface separate for a few seconds, only to seal up again as if we had never disturbed the surface...kind of freaky!
Dinner Falls was next, not that exciting to be honest, I saw more spectacular waterfalls in NZ.
On the Wallaby Lodge was beautiful, definitely the best hostel I've stayed in on this trip! Super clean, friendly staff, great food, amazing environment and quiet, except for the surrounding wildlife! Following afternoon tea we went platypus viewing. That was cool, but they are nocturnal animals so we only saw them swimming along the top of the water.
After dinner, I spent the rest of the evening in a bean bag chair right next to the wood burning stove in the sitting area and found a copy of the new Harry Potter (The Deathly Hallows). What luck!!!! I haven't read the 2 previous books yet, but what they heck, I had some time to read...something I hadn't done since I started my travels!!
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