Memorable Day!

It's not been often recently I've had the chance to spend a day walking in one of the nearby National Parks after heavy rain, after all, it's not often recently we've even had heavy rain. So even when I awoke and heard the wind threatening to tear the Gold Coast apart at 4.15am this morning, it didn't take me long to decide to go out and ride against it toward Springbrook regardless. Like most headwinds, it didn't seem so bad once I got into the ride and developed a rhythm (even if it did slow me down just a touch), and it wasn't long before I started the climb.

Of course, Springbrook is a great climb, and it was worth noting that despite the sun gradually moving higher into the sky as I did this, I managed to lose 7 degrees in temperature on the way up. Eventually I got to start the walk at 7.55am -- the 17km Warrie Circuit (it would be 19km after the detour to Twin Falls pool). From the first steps I could hear the sound of tumbling waterfalls, and I knew this would be a memorable day. So it proved, although the spray of the first waterfall I walked under was freezing!



I've posted most of these pictures into a slideshow using Yahoo photos (there are 25 in all), which can be viewed here. Perhaps I'll reveal some more in coming days. However, there are a couple of things I want to note this evening:



This particular waterfall wasn't considered worthy of a name by those who named all the others in the park. However, it's remarkable not just for it's beauty, but also for the fact that it now looks exactly the same as it did in 2002, when the rainfall was considerably less than what it has been recently, and all the other waterfalls were drying up. I'm not quite sure how this happened, but it did somehow. It's also the wildflower season, and with the higher than usual rainfall last month, there appear to be some different ones blooming.



A couple of other shots from the day:







Incidentally, after the walk I headed for Best of All Lookout (which I've posted pictures of in previous entries). It's worth noting that at around 2pm, the temperature there was still only 11 degrees C. So much for Queensland being hot all the time! As can be seen from the pictures, the forecast sleet didn't eventuate this morning, and I'm not so sure I'm happy about that. Photography is always easier on overcast days.