Day 126 – The Rainforest, Australia

June 12th, 2019

Today we decided it’s time to venture out from the resort and see some of the surrounding areas.  After breakfast we packed a lunch and started out to Dorrigo National Park.  It was about an hour from the resort at Coffs Harbour.  This park is a World Heritage Site because they have preserved this tropical rainforest in Australia.  There is a pretty skywalk we went on to take a few pictures. 

After the skywalk we did a 6k trail that was a nice loop with several waterfalls deep in the rainforest.  There were a few things that really stood out to me.  First of all, it was the sounds.  They sounded exactly like a CD or audio clip of calming rainforest sounds.  The sounds of all the birds was amazing.  Even before we got to the rain forest, I was enthralled with all the beautiful birds in Australia.  There were so many species we saw flying around.  Big ones, really pretty colored ones, they are just all over. 

The second thing that stood out was how dark it was on the trail.  It was a brilliant, sunshine-filled day; while walking in this forest, the canopy of the trees was so dense it was like walking in the dark at times. 

When we started the trail there were signs saying be careful touching things because there were numerous bugs and plants that could hurt you.  Several plants would sting, and others would latch onto your clothing or skin.  There were pythons, and flesh-eating beetles, and leeches!  Luckily, we made it through the trail unscathed!  I definitely didn’t risk touching anything.  It was kind of eerie because we could constantly hear things in the brush that we couldn’t necessarily see, but all our other senses would tell us there were many unseen things there.  Or all a sudden, some big flapping bird would be right by your head.  The rainforest was definitely alive and filled with things moving around.  Most of what we saw were Australian turkeys walking around or these other big birds that looked like a cross between a turkey and a peacock.  The trees were absolutely giant, and the waterfalls were very pretty.  It was a nice hike and when we finished, we had our picnic lunch.

After lunch we drove to another waterfall called Dangar Falls and walked down to the bottom of that one. 

A lady at our resort was telling us about an area called The Promise Land that is supposed to be really pretty.  Who wouldn’t want to go to a place with a name like that!  I put it in our navigation, and we had a really beautiful scenic drive through The Promise Land.  I felt it lived up to its name as it was full of beautiful hills and trees and the greenest grass I have ever seen in my life.  Brendan made the comment that the grass looked like anti-freeze and it really did!  It was practically glowing.  There were also rivers and streams we crossed like Never Never Creek (What great names!).

We made our way back home to the resort and rested a bit before we got ready to go back out to the little downtown of Coffs Harbour.  On one of my walks through town I saw a sign for live Jazz music on Wednesday night.  We went down there and got a nice table and glass of wine and listened to the live Jazz band.