camping at Paluma

When friends invited us to join them after the New Year for a bit of camping we jumped at the chance. It was a chance to turn the stubborn return of hot dry weather into a bonus.

we use our fantastic VW camper to it's full potential way too seldom.  I am not really big on NYs resolutions, but we  really should get away a lot more in 2013. 

I also resolve to harden up and overcome my terror of mountain biking.  Look how lovely, but I wimped out after just a few kms! 

While it is pretty hot down on the coastal plain (32-33 C) it was only around 27 in the high rainforest, and the sky was so blue! I gave Scott a nice pair of binoculars for Christmas (the cheap ones he got from Canadian Tyre 30 years ago are shot) so we were able to confirm sightings of 4 new birds against our rather loosely documented life list. We date and locate birds in the margins of the field guide we bought when we first arrived in Australia as tourists, but we are not systematic about it.

We went for a fantastic hike, and I swear I saw 6 or more different orchids.  We will be returning a few times in winter hoping to see some in bloom!

Lots of damaged big trees remain a legacy of Cyclone Yassi, but the up side is canopy plants brought down to ground level for admiration

We tried to imagine how long it must have taken the field crews to clear this trail. It must have been heartbreaking for the Parks Staff to see so many down. 

I don't know if this is an orchid or a lily, still trying to find a good reference book...  may have to cheat and ask a  friend

Thanks to the new marked trails we safely found our way to a magnificent lookoff .  I'll admit my legs are sore today, but it was so worth it. 

 So that was a lucky bit of timing before the Monsoon trough makes its way down to our region. The hike would have been difficult to dangerous in wet conditions. I rode my MTN bike on the bikeway today to try and start to make friends with it. Small beginnings.