My last post was about a recent walk in the rain through lush subtropical rainforests in mountainous country. This week I’m dragging you back 15 years in time to Porcupine Gorge, a walk my young family did in hot, dry open country, 1500 km north-west of Brisbane. Continue reading
“Are you made of sugar?” I smiled as I remembered these joking words from my childhood while my little green car struggled valiantly up the winding, slippery mountain road, her windscreen wipers squeaking in protest. No, I wasn’t made of sugar. My body composition is about one third fat. Rather than melt in the rain, I’m more likely to float away. Continue reading
I looked into the security officer’s brown eyes and saw compassion and uncertainty. My offspring had warned me this would happen but they’d predicted it would take place in a park, not a busy shopping complex. Continue reading
What do Keats, drunken pygmy possums, a famous Harry and the TV series, Mad Men, have in common? Well, for a start they’re all mentioned in this blog post. Usually I temper my imagination when writing hiking commentaries but this week I’m exposing you a little to the convoluted workings of my mildly extreme brain. Continue reading
Where have I been? Walking in circles for weeks lost in the Australian outback or lying paralysed in a hospital bed after falling off a cliff whilst taking a photograph of an ant? Maybe I’ve been spending my $70 million lotto winnings or perhaps working undercover for ASIO? Continue reading
I’m a walking pharmacy at present due to a mystery illness which has my face resembling a deformed purple potato and feeling as though I’ve lost a few rounds with more than one karate king. Continue reading
“O Binna Binna, Binna Burra, wherefore art thou, Binna Burra?”
Ever since my last trip to Binna Burra, the eastern side of Lamington National Park, I’ve been in love with this unique and incredibly beautiful region. It’s part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which includes the largest section of subtropical rainforest in the world. Despite how impressive this sounds, in the tempestuous early days, I wondered whether my relationship with Binna Burra had a future. What were my early fears and how were they turned into infatuation? Continue reading
Halloween is being celebrated in some parts of the world and creepy spider images are often featured. This gives me a perfect excuse to share pictures of my much maligned eight-legged garden friends along with a backyard news update. Actually, the real reason I am writing a creature post is because my Lamington National Park walk photographs were poor quality and I’d like to revisit the area to improve on them. If you like blood sucking parasites and reading about lycra man suffering stay tuned for that story. Continue reading
I’ve been blogging for a year! How did this happen? It’s only due to the kind support of my readers, friends and family so thanks all! It’s been a rewarding venture and enabled me to meet wonderful people from all around the globe. Will there be another year? I have no idea. I’m grateful for the last twelve months of interactions though and especially thankful to those experienced bloggers who gave up their precious time to impart advice and encouragement to a technophobe.
In keeping with a celebratory one year blogging theme and since I haven’t a long hike to write about, I’m sharing a virtual party with you. I’ll also be adding a few reflections as is common when one reaches a milestone. There may even be another survival story going back hundreds of years if you stay awake for the ending… Continue reading
If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll be familiar with my adult children, the Professor and Tough Cookie. I do have another child though, the Strummer, who has so far managed to avoid having his pictures plastered over the Internet. His lucky streak ends with this blog post though. I think it’s only fair to his siblings that I share a survival tale involving him. It’s a tale involving a tail. Continue reading
Regular readers know I’m a sufferer of bark bliss, fungi fever, lichen lust, moss mania, and insect infatuation. These distractions mean walking partners need to be passionate about the same interests, have the patience of a saint, or be content to charge ahead without me. Today I reveal my rock rapture, another distraction which contributes to the torture of walking companions. Continue reading
I’ve joined a choir. I’m sure my friends who’ve suffered through my attempts at singing in the past are open-mouthed at this horrific announcement. Before anyone dislocates a jaw, I’ll reveal it was unwillingly done and we hope to disband soon as our combined efforts are not at all pleasing to the ears. Our little household has been moaning, groaning, coughing, snuffling and snorting along with thousands of other Queenslanders afflicted with the imaginatively named Brisbane Influenza.
We’re on the mend now but I haven’t had a chance to go on long walks. Rather than not post anything I thought I’d share more discoveries and oddities from my short wanders around the university grounds in August. Continue reading
Had I known there might be crocodiles on my walk I would have taken precautions. In a scene from a famous UK “reality” TV show, celebrity contestants swam through a crocodile invested swamp with marksmen ready to shoot any creatures that attacked. However, the location used for that episode was in Springbrook, inland from the Gold Coast, about 100km south of Brisbane, and a guaranteed crocodile free habitat. It also happens to be the topic of this post. Continue reading
