Newnes Forest Glen

 I love ferns and none more so than the ones in the glen at Newnes where the glow worm tunnel starts.

Wingello State Forest and Morton National Park

A lovely weekend camping and hiking in The Wingello Forest on Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday afternoon, we passed through Bundanoon to visit The Morton National Park where we did a beautiful, short but steep walk to base of The Fairy Bower Waterfall.

Highlights included ...

• Lovely people. Jo and Wendy always seem to attract a laid back, friendly group.
• Hiking along a road with pine trees on our left, and indigenous Eucalyptus forest on our right.
• Beautiful spring flowers still out in force, including some beautiful red ones I'd never seen before.
• The tranquil camp site set in the pine forest with light filtering through.
• Wendy's delicious burritos - she always makes the best camp food.
• Two wonderful encounters with red bellied black snakes, including one swimming across a lake and showing off it's beautiful red belly.
• Yellow tailed black cockatoos in the forest close to camp and getting to photograph them in the air.
• Beautiful cloud formations on Saturday evening.
• Adventurous bundu bashing and clamboring down the walls of canyon to reach a pristine river for a refreshing swim.  Well done, Joe, for finding a way down!!  I felt like an early explorer, going where no-one had gone before.
• An invigorating swim in a beautiful pool at the top of the Fairy Bower Falls. Getting munched by a couple of hungry leeches was a small price to pay!
• A gorgeous walk with great views to the base of the falls. The old forest trees with their gnarled truck and roots were stunning.
• A delicious pizza in Bundanoon.  Food always seems to taste particularly amazing after a camping trip.

All in all, another fantastic weekend!! 

First day hike (Wingello Forest)

Pine forest on our right, Eucaplytus on the left.

Nice wide paths so we could chat while we walked.

Both red flowers above were new for me. So gorgeous.

Nature sure does love yellow.

Some lovely textures on the trees.

What would a pine forest be without pine cones?

Evening stroll to find yellow tailed black cockatoos

Yellow tailed black cockatoos that proved hard to get close to.  Thank goodness for my 400 mm lens.

Beautiful cloud formations.

Camp life

The camp site was set in the trees. A very tranquil place.

Second day hike (Wingello Forest)

Here we are in a beautiful and very secluded river after venturing off path and climbing down a canyon to get to it.  The water was gorgeous.

How beautiful is this snakes red belly?  I'm seen 5 snakes on my last 4 hiking trips!  Not that I'm complaining, I love them.

Hiking to Fairy Bower falls (Morton National Park)

The beautiful rock pool at the top of Fairy Bower Falls. The water was seriously cold!

Hiking down to the base of the falls.

At the base of the falls, enjoying some pristine rain forest.

Weekend at Barrington Tops

I spent a wonderful three days exploring the world heritage-listed rainforests of Barrington Tops, about 250 km's from Sydney.  The first two days was with a Meet Up group  (Sydney Explorers), the third day by myself.

Highlights included:

• The great place where we stayed (Wangat Lodge) set in the tranquil forest, teaming with wildlife.
• Ken, the wonderfully friendly, passionate and knowledgeable proprietor of the lodge who took us on some stunning walks, and regaled us with some great stories.  Ken had a gorgeous little daughter, and their close, loving relationship was beautiful to watch.
• The lovely, chilled out group.
• The first day hike (22 km) to the top of Carey's Peak through misty forests and our elation when the mist magically cleared for a little while at the top so we could enjoy the vista.
• The gorgeous flowers and leaves along the way and the changing vegetation as we gained altitude.
• A bracing swim after the hike that felt more potent than a trip shot of espresso coffee!
• A really fun game of table tennis with Maj-Britt.
• An early morning hike on the second day which was a bit like a treasure hunt as we searched for bottle tops to show our way.
• Ian's great navigation skills.
• The beautiful reflections in the river, along the way.
• A freezing, but exhilarating swim in a forest pool that I don't think had ever felt the sun.  I screamed like a little girl when I hit the water!
• Great fellowship and conversation around the fire in the evenings and on the tranquil patio during the day.  
• Some lovely heart to hearts with Elna, a fellow South African.
• Adrian and Rudi, wonderful characters, who made me laugh a lot.
• Great spiritual discussions and some wonderful laughs with Maj-Britt.
• A fun hike guided by Ken. The highlight was the enormous fig tree in the forest, which some intrepid adventurers decided to climb.
• Lying on the helipad at night as a group, and looking out into the vast night sky, filled with awe at the beautiful stars. On the final night, when I was alone, I went back and spent hours doing the same.
• A fantastic discussion with Ken on my last night over a glass of port, about life and death, religion and spirituality, music and poetry, nature and wonder.  Ken gave me a collection of poetry by his recently deceased friend and it's inspired me to start writing poetry again.
• A fantastic hike at the Williams River on the final day, through pristine rain forest.  The highlight was sighting of Regent's Bowerbird.  I've only seen it once before.

First day: 22 km hike to the top of Carey's Peak

Walking through the beautiful trees

Leaves of every shape and variety.

The spring flowers were still out in force.

This amazing hut is ticked away near the peak. It's in a beautiful spot, definitely somewhere I'd like to come stay sometime.

A beautiful rock pool near the hut.

Here we all are, elated at the peak.

Having fun on the way down.

Surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous woman.  Tough life here in Australia!

No hike is complete without a leap.

Having a bracing but wonderful swim after the hike.

Second day early morning hike

A restful hike through forest glens, following bottle tops.  The swim was one of the coldest I've ever had.  What a way to wake up!

Beautiful reflections in the water.

Coming out of the forest, into the sun, which felt amazing as we were cold from our swim.

Third day hike with Ken

Ken, our wonderful guide, is the friendly looking guy in the middle.

Playing around with Ken's magnifying glass.

Group photo in the forest.  What a beautiful fig tree.

Beautiful wildlife along the way.

Life back at the lodge

Third day hike at The William's River

Pristine rainforest.

Beautiful textures in the rain forest.

Old buildings on the way

Lockleys Pylon to Victoria Falls via Blue Gum Forrest (Overnight Camping)

Wow, what a stupendous weekend this was.  A pristine blue gum forest, gorgeous waterfalls, breathtaking outlooks, fun camping and an amazing group of people. Doesn't get better.

Here are just some of the highlights ...

• An exhilarating drive with Graeme (what a cool name, and spelled correctly too) in his brand new Land Rover along steep mountain roads to the start of the hike while he told us the story of how he rolled his previous Land Rover !
• The beautiful spring weather and the stunning flowers.
• The breathtaking views from Lockley's Pylon across the valley.
• The sense of achievement after the end of the gruelling, steep, hot hike down into the valley.
• A refreshing swim in the beautiful river and some fun leaps with Srini.
• The indescribably amazing Bue Gum forest. Serene and sacred, especially with the sun filtering through.
• The reflections of the trees in the river - like an impressionist painting.
• The setting sun lighting up the valley sides in a rosy glow in the later afternoon.
• The moon rising over the valley in the early evening.
• The elation after reaching our cosy camp site after the long hike.
• The cute family we camped next with three lovely young kids - almost made me want one of my own!
• The easy, jovial banter around the camp fire (linear fires rule!) and pigging out on all the chocolate that got handed around.
• A cup of red wine - how civilised!  (thanks Srini)
• Trying my one man hiking tent again.  Fine as long as I don't want to spread out!
• Walking along the valley the next day in the cool of the morning, enjoying the tranquillity of the river.
• The gorgeous series of waterfall and and cascades that is Victoria Falls - and getting to enjoy another leap.
• The relief at getting to the top after a hot hike out of the valley.
• A celebratory ice cream after a 6 kilometre hike back to civilisation along a fire-track. Ice cream has rarely tasted so good!
• Delicious flat head and a refreshing drink at the pub in Leura.

All in all, a wonderful weekend.

Tired, but happy at the end of the hike ...

Related links
My previous visit to The Blue Gum forest  (Jan 2011)
My previous visit to Victoria Falls  (Jan 2012)
Meet Up link