After recovering from my jet lag and cold/cough, Australia became more enjoyable.
We drove south to New South Wales to visit a friend in Byron Bay. Byron Bay is an artsy, hippy, alternative living, green town with 9000 residents, however the small town sees over a million visitors a year. In my opinion, it's a lovely town but more touristy than hippy/alternative. There were so many tourists there, that there was a traffic jam along the main street. Thankfully, our friend lives very close to the town center and we parked at his house for a visit and a stroll through town.
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| Pretty winding road to Byron Bay |
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| The countryside in Australia is just so gorgeous |
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| A wonderful welcome! |
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| Jeff's patio. So relaxing and beautiful |
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| Across the street from Jeff's |
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| I was told this is a macadamia nut tree. Lots of blossoms that had a soft fragrance |
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| Gorgeous purple flowers |
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| Jeff. I was showing him my GoPro and he was quite fascinated with it |
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| Tony, Jeff and me |
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| Byron Bay |
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| Someone doodled on the beach! Amazing work of art. |
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We drove to Brisbane to visit Keith and Rita, some good family friends. We spent quality time with Keith and Rita, spent the night and the next morning, Rita dropped us into the city (Brisbane) where we met up with Ceri and Luke.
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| Brisbane marina |
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| I cannot begin to explain how beautiful Rita's garden is. It's her "baby" and it shows. So many flowers and trinkets line the garden. |
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| Me with Rita and Keith |
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| I wish I could have captured exactly what I saw. This really doesn't cut it. The beauty of the colors and the spread out showers on the horizon back lit by the setting sun was a spectacular show. Little curtains of shower.....shower curtains. |
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| Shower curtains lit up by the setting sun. So beautiful. |
Today, we drove up into the mountains to Springbrook and saw Purling Brook Falls. The photos do not do the view any justice. The drops were deep and the heights were breathtaking.
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| A nice welcome to Springbrook |
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| The tree canopies were so tall and beautiful |
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| "Best of All Lookout" and it sure was the best. This view is so vast and the naked eye can see beyond what the camera lens can capture. |
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| Looking to the right of "Best of All Lookout" |
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| Ceri and Brendan and I at the lookout |
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| Left to Right: Me, Ceri, Brendan, Tony and my mum at the lookout. |
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| Purling Brook Falls. I honestly couldn't capture the vastness of the falls and surrounding cliffs and deep valley. You can see the tops of tall palm trees; the wall face makes them look tiny. Standing looking out onto the valley put things into perspective for me. Everything became quiet and made me think how insignificant I am in comparison to the earth and it's beauty. All of us, the earths creatures, nature, plants, trees, bodies of water all make up the beauty of this wonderful planet. Sorry....it just took my breath away. Great place to visit. There's a full hiking trail that takes you down to the bottom of the falls.....next time..... |
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| A local of Springbrook |
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| A massive fallen tree. I took a photo of the trunk alone, but there was no reference, so I climbed up. Big, isn't it. |
Later on, I went with my mother to take Bella (their dog) for a walk. We went to a different place near the water. I stood on the division of New South Wales and Queensland and saw the most magnificent sunset.
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| Grungy stairs. My mother and Bella. As you can see, I take after my mother with my love of bright colors. |
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| One foot in QLD, the other in NSW |
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| I believe this is Rainbow Bay. |
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| Sunsets....they never get old. No filter. |
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| DBar all lit up for the night. A popular hangout bar/restaurant/art gallery and lookout. |
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