The Gara Gorge trailhead is about a twenty minute drive outside Armidale. The road drops you off next to a lake and a rocky stream where the trail begins. We saw one other group of early hikers; apparently there are platypus in the lake. We'll have to come back sometime and try to spot one.
We sighted our first wallaby: startling one as we drove into the park. We saw another shortly after we began our hike. It watched us for a while before bounding away. It was a little bit magical to see one in the wild.
We saw our first invasive species as well--a giant beautiful red fox. Along with the feral goats, they're a bit of a problem for the native wildlife. (However, we did not see any goats.)
The trail and the walk was incredibly beautiful. The eucalyptus trees don't provide substantial shade so even in the forest the ground is blanketed in grass. The large boulders everywhere felt like ancient statues, covered in lichen. Except for magpies and the breeze, it was completely silent. Even though the scenery wasn't that similar, it reminded me a lot of our trip down to the Smokey Mountains last year--for some reason the temperature, the humidity, and the lush green felt familiar to that area. Much more peaceful, however--a good place for forest bathing.
We met a pair of professional nomads on our way out. We stopped and chatted for a while: beginning with the unseasonably warm weather and impacts of global warming (according to them, ten years ago it would have frosted by now, mid-April). Once they learned we'd just relocated here, of course they recommended all the places in the New England region we need to be sure to visit (only one of which I can remember now). They were very personable and seemed like really interesting people. They've been on the road since 1978.
Wollomombi Gorge was a good hike to complement the Gara Gorge trail: the hike itself was not quite as beautiful but the views of the gorge were breathtaking. It was also a bit more strenuous--a lot more hiking up and down the gorge slopes.
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| You have to cross private grazing land before you get to the park. |
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| Wollomombi River from the first overlook of the gorge |
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| Wallabies: exceptionally cooler in real life. |
We were coming up a hillside when the birds in the trees suddenly started calling the alarm. I thought they were just warning everything to our presence when a wedge-tailed eagle flew right over us--low, just above the tops of the trees. Other than that, we saw more of the same: Shy crimson rosellas, magpies (everywhere), and these cute little (tiny!) gray songbirds with a golden belly.
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| Crossing the river |
Most surprising of all, we saw an echidna! Just on the side of the trail, it was sleeping next to a log. We couldn't believe it. Took some photos and some video before heading off to the last lookout point at the end of the trail. It was still there when we came back, though it had moved a couple feet back. I never thought I'd see an echidna in the wild. Even though they're found in every part of Australia, I don't know how common they are--maybe this was just the first sighting of many, or maybe we'll never see one again.
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| What an unusual creature. |
Gabby, looks really very, very nice. If you remember I was down there in the Summer of 1995. I flew down from Guam, I didn't spend much time in New South Wales (is that where you are at?) I spend most of the month I was down there in either Adelaide, riding buses across the outback near Uluru, (Ayer's Rock then, Uluru? Now, but MOST of my time of course was either on buses or trains in Northern Territory and Queensland, I went all the way to Darwin) and then the Gold Coast. Of course I went alone and though I took many, many pics - they were NOT digital and the Internet was just beginning so I couldn't share as readily. Hope your husband's job is going well. By the way, I took the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide, is that still running? Could you check it out? Dita wants to either take a boat to Alaska or go to Europe and do a cruise out of Copenhagen, but that is next year. Be safe, seen any interesting SNAKES yet? Australia is supposed to have some really bad ones, hopefully maybe not there!
ReplyDeleteYes, we are in the northeastern side of New South Wales--about a two hour drive to the coast and two hours from the Queensland border. We are planning on going to the coast next weekend for a two-day trip since Friday's a holiday. I did check and the Indian-Pacific railway is still going--that would be really neat to try out if we get around to it! We definitely want to check out Queensland sometime and the Great Barrier Reef this winter, as well as Northern Australia whether in the Northern Territory or just northern Queensland. We're also definitely going to plan a trip to Tasmania at some point--never going to be closer than right now! And of course we want to see Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth eventually... it's a big country so I'm sure we'll only ever see a fraction of it. We have not seen any snakes of any kind yet! I have heard they are not too common around here and even less so in town, and we are living in a neighborhood. We did see a big spider but it was a harmless one. There's one kind of poisonous spider that's more common around here but it's usually only around in the summer, so we timed that right!
ReplyDeleteA boat to Alaska or from Copenhagen sounds really awesome! Sounds like a great trip and fun to plan!