The days following the end of the Bright Open were marked with rain and wind. Flying was not at all an option, though this rest from sailing the skies was welcomed by Nina and I. We rested our wings for a few days and decided to discover a few of the area's finer points. On the first day of rest the ice cream shops were investigated, followed by the local swimming hole, followed by a favorite destination Rock Salt, the best "Fish and Chips" shop in all of Australia. On this evening a plan was also devised for the following day to come. We needed to see new lands, find new adventure and exercise, and we did. The following day we rode our borrowed bikes 20 kilometers to Mount Buffalo. Mount Buffalo is an Australian national park that, a high mountain of granite and its flat topped upper plateau covered in lakes, forests and granite monoliths. After an hour ride, at the entrance to the park at the base of the mountain, we gave our bikes to a park ranger named Rudi who kindly drove them to the top of the mountain for us. From here we hiked an area classic, The Big Walk. This hike climbs the northeast face of Mt. Buffalo for 1,000 meters over 9k of winding trails. The hike was casual and brought us to our bikes at the top of the mountain after 3.5 hours of walking. From here we got back onto the pavement and toured the top of the plateau. I enjoyed a nice swim in a crystal clear mountain lake full of trout. Nina enjoyed 18 more kilometers of biking after a miscommunication led to our losing each other, oops. After casually searching for each other to no avail for about an hour, we each rode our bikes down the mountain on a curvy paved road (this is why we had our bikes trucked to the top). The downhill ride was 30 minutes of trilling twists and turns and as fate would have it it brought us back together at the base. A half hour more of pedaling brought us back to the caravan park and to the end of our journey.
The last few days have been filled with a few small flights, naps in the hammock, spider viewing (saw one today as big as my hand no joke), reading, slacklining, swimming, walks, good meals, tea and Tim Tams. If you have never had a TIm Tam you really must come to Australia to try one; they are chocolate biscuits that deliver an indescribable array of flavor that just begs you to have another. I will surely have to give away all of my clothes before I leave Australia (April 22) so that I will have room for a few kilos of them in my luggage.
On another note, funny story, I called my parents today. Who would have thought that it was a different time in Virginia than in Australia? Well apparently the time is quite different there, its 9 hours ahead, or 15 hours behind really. I still know they enjoyed hearing from me though, even at 2AM, OOPS.
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