Dirk & Nancy Down Under: 102.) Winter trails

A handsome Superb Fairy-Wren flashing his fabulous blue-accented plumage.

It's actually winter here in the sub-tropics. This is a good time to get out and about, because it's more comfortable when you're not dripping in sweat or wilting from the heat. We decided to head to Lamington and bush-walk (hike, for you Yanks) on the West Canungra Creek track (trail, for you Yanks). Here's some good instructions for making a decision about whether or not to descend to the depths. We decided we would prefer to take the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower, ergo we hiked a glorious trail!

The Superb Fairy-wrens were hanging out near the guest-cottages at the beginning of the track. No bigger than a sparrow, this guy was the fearless leader.

Here's a Lewin's Honeyeater. A machine-gun rattle is reminiscent of a Lewin's honeyeater call. These guys seem to be the resident honeyeaterof this area and there is some kind of Banksia blooming most times of the year.

A female White-throated Tree Creeper doing her creeping thing on the hunt for bugs

Here's a Red-Necked Pademelon. These little (knee-high) marsupials come out to graze in the grasses next to the forest edge, where you may see them at sunset and sunrise. The joey is tucked safely away in his mother's pouch.

For those of you who wonder, yes it gets cold enough here to wear my expedition down coat (along with the Billabong surfie girl hat). In fact, I'm wearing my *other* down coat as I'm sitting inside at night writing this (it's 17 C or 62 F inside).

This is the "Green" pool, very aptly named, I'd say! The rainforest, of course, stays green all year. Even the Antarctic Beech trees!

Contemplating the falls in the creek after a snack. This was the lowest point in the track, now we encounter many more pretty waterfalls along the way as we head on back up. It's really not bad, hiking up the Eiffel tower!

Artsy water photos--

Dirk's having fun taking pretty pictures of water instead of twitchy birds. [hey, at least the falls stays in the same place!]

Trying to learn the fine art of deep-jungle photography - high contrast but no light...

One of the lesser-known Australian fauna, here's a Triceratops we saw roaming the highways and byways.

Our friend Quinn paid a visit between the fire management classes he was in OZ to teach. We picked him up in Byron (where he surfed, hung out with Scandinavians, and biked a bit) and headed over to climb the desperate Mt. Warning. This is an arduous peak that many train for, only to fail at the steep "trail of tears" at the top. It's 4.4 km with a vertical of almost 1500 feet. Being the responsible guy he is, Quinn was *very* concerned with the time since it was almost winter and after 1 pm you *should not* go past the halfway point.

We tried to assure him it would be OK - we had headlamps and emergency rations just in case. Besides, firsthand accounts will assure you that Dirk is very experienced with headlamp tours...

Nancy and Quinn on the merciless "Trail of Tears" - there are also strong warnings not to ascend this bit in electrical storms - probably because of the heavy duty lightning rod chain they have installed as a hand rail. Fair enough, this would be a quite a sluicebox in the rain!

No picture, but Quinn was kind enough to indulge Nancy's current birdwatching obsession. We had shown him the common bush turkeys nosing around the carpark. Then, as we were descending the the mighty Peak (in the dry light), he casually pointed out a bird scratching in the duff off the side of the trail and modestly said, 'oh look, isn't that another of those turkeys?' Classic--Nancy took a double-take when she realized it was actually an Albert's lyrebird! To appreciate this, you have to look at the rangemap of Albert's lyrebirds--it's the tiniest spot on the map of Australia in SE Queensland. They must be tame with all the hordes hiking up Mt. Warning--not our experience of the lyrebirds in Lamington.