Seeing The World My Way by Tony Giles

Author:Tony Giles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tony Giles
Published: 2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Brisbane

On waking around midday, I quickly packed and caught the bus for the very long journey to Brisbane, Queensland’s capital city. I arrived at a large transportation centre, which was busy and confusing. I didn’t know the way to the hostel, so took a taxi. The hostel was a strange building; the reception was a round shaped area and this disorientated me more than once. The hostel was disappointing, as it was in a poor location and, although it was near the transportation centre, it was far from the city centre or any food outlets. They had a café, but that closed early. There were few people there and all the reception staff were offhand, except for one guy. I did two excursions. The first was an all-day city tour which included a visit to a sheep farm where I purchased a money pouch made from a kangaroo’s testicle! My second trip took me to a rainforest national park some way from Brisbane. I was collected early, along with two girls from England and a couple of other guys. The guide was an unusual man with a strange, high-pitched accent. He asked us all questions like where we were from and what was our most interesting travel story? I told the tale of having my flip-flops exchanged in Melbourne.

We drove out of Brisbane for about two hours, along some mountain paths that wound through a small village where we stopped for breakfast. I felt the twists of the mountain as we ascended, and noticed the change in altitude as the air became fresher and cooler. The village was small and quiet. At the national park we walked down approximately two hundred rough steps that varied in size, onto a trail that took us through the rainforest. We saw a couple of spiders sleeping on a large leaf; luckily, they weren’t Black Widow or Red Back. We didn’t see any snakes, but I suspected there were plenty around. The rainforest felt moist after the day’s heat and humidity. The terrain under foot was soft, dry earth and twigs. The trail got tougher as we encountered rocks and boulders. We passed a stream and eventually came upon a number of large boulders and rocks that led to a large waterfall. I had to climb over the rocks and negotiate my way around to a good seat. Some of the rocks were rough and large, several were wet and slippery – the area smelt earthy and natural; it was a peaceful place.

We stayed for about ten minutes enjoying the tranquillity of the waterfall before heading back. Once we were near to the top of the trail where the steps began, the guide left us so that he could set up lunch. The rest of us found a rock pool and dived in. There was a small waterfall at the far end, but I just stayed on the edge, not wanting to get my hearing aids wet. We had lunch in a park and returned to the city, stopping in another small mountain village for ice cream.

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