Muttonbird Island

Walking out along the jetty

Can just barely see one of the Solitary Islands in the distance..

Dorrigo National Park

View from the Skywalk

We were really excited to see this red-necked pademelon from the walkway!

Ebor Falls

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

Point Lookout

It was so cloudy when we arrived at Point Lookout you couldn't see much past the few trees below. Every once in a while the clouds would open up just enough to see the hills below, but not much more than that.  Despite lacking the view we'd been hoping for, it was beautiful and a magical sight.

Alma Park Flowers

Wollomombi Gorge Walk

This wallaby tried to hide from us... to no avail.

We went out early Monday morning to Wollomombi Falls and took the walk up and around.  It was a really beautiful day, and we saw wallabies, black cockatoos, numerous skinks, and a king parrot.

Dangars Gorge (née Dangars Falls)

Our first day of vacation took us to Dangars Gorge.  What would have been an unbearable, half hour drive along the 15-kilometer unsealed road in the Berlingo was actually enjoyable in The Kluger, our rental vehicle.  We saw kangaroos from Dangarsleigh Road and rosellas, kookaburras, and wallabies as we approached the park via Dangars Falls Road.

Dangarsleigh Gorge

Unfortunately, we were looking forward to Dangars Falls but there were no falls to be seen.  There was a bit of water in the river far below and we passed through and over what must be the river that leads to the falls, but that wasn't more than algae-thick puddles among the rocks.

Bunya nuts (pt. 2)

Raw bunya nuts ready for roasting

Each nut requires a bit of bashing before it cracks

The trick is to hold the nut so it doesn't go shooting across the room

The trick is also not to hit your fingers.

All for that tiny little crack in the shell

The second part of our bunya nut saga would be when we had to crack them, roast them, and finally shell.  It's not as easy as you may think... the shells are pretty tough and even after roasting aren't that brittle, but we managed somehow.  It took a couple more hours, but when you eat them, it's totally worth it!

Roasted and shelled (and subsequently frozen.)

The verdict on roasted bunya nuts:  They are so tasty.  So tasty.  Sooooooo tasty.  They're delicious straight from the oven and seem sort of like a potato and chestnut hybrid.  A bit starchy - the texture reminds me of plantains.

For our first bunya dish we added chopped nuts to sautéed mushrooms and braised them with New England Brown Ale.  We've also added them to our minestrone a couple times, which is really good.  I've been making bunya nut pesto for the Keeping Place which is so tasty I want to eat it with a spoon.

The only sad thing about our bunya nut adventures is that we only have about 370 grams left in the freezer ... when we run out, we run out.  Bunya nuts aren't commercially produced or very common in these parts.  It might be worth taking a trip up to Queensland someday and look for some roadside stalls or try out some local markets.  Who knows - we might get lucky.

It's Friday!

Jacky Lizard (Amphibolurus muricatus)

It's going to be a spectacular week. ٩(♡ε♡ )۶

Apsley Falls

Apsley Falls, east of Walcha.  We stopped on our
drive back from Port Macquarie.

Shear slate cliffs

White flowering shrub on both sides of the gorge

The stairway down to the viewing platform of the falls

A close-up of the white-flowering shrub (smells so good!)

There is a second drop of falls after this pool, but we didn't
take the walk to get the vantage point.  (Next time.)

Throwback to the 90's (make that the 80's)

Reid and I like to joke that Australia is like the US in the 1990s.  There are still way more phone booths, travel agents and video rental stores than you would ever expect, and the internet stops working sometimes when it rains.  Over Australia Day weekend we actually found something to prove us wrong: it is only just 1986 in Australia, because Cool Ranch Doritos have only just made it to this continent.  (We bought them of course.) ;)

And they were delicious.

Oxley Highway / Thunderbolt's Way / New England Highway

It's a beautiful drive over the Great Dividing Range towards Port Macquarie and back again.  It was a sunny drive there, but a cloudy (and then rainy) return.  The highway takes you through Cotton-Bimbang National Park, where the trees are charred from fire in several areas.

The most surprising thing for us was seeing a field full of deer outside of Walcha ... I think we were even more amazed to see them than when we saw any kangaroo or wallaby.  It was very unexpected!

Port Macquarie Breakwall

Sunday evening after dinner we took a stroll along the waterfront.  It's a popular activity for people to paint the rocks along the breakwall--actually on out way out we saw two or three different groups painting rocks.  It'll be interesting to come back and see if we can recognize any new paintings!

It was hazy along the coast all day, but the hour just before twilight was really beautiful and surreal.  The sky on the way back was really striking.

Looking toward Town Beach