22 Feb SURROUNDED BY WATERFALLS
Wow! Nightfall wilderness camp is surrounded by waterfalls, cascading down from Lamington National Park.
As I stand looking out of our partly built ‘staff tent’, the cliff-face opposite is steeped in swirling mists. Torrents of white water dramatically gush down the exposed rugged escarpment. The thick tangled forests are a phenomenal blend of deep, saturated, green, blue and brown hues. The rocks glisten wet.
The mist creates an air of mystery – one moment all in front of us is wiped out by white cloud and you might be forgiven for thinking our landscape was flat. But as the mist parts, it reveals our ‘in-your-face’ gorge setting – the cliff opposite towers more than 600-metres above Nightfall. At times like this it’s breathtaking and given that the rain has forced us to stop work, I can’t help just pausing to admire the changing beauty of this raw Australian wilderness.
The wind is loud now, rumbling high in the forests above us.
It’s reassuring to remember that Nightfall’s sturdy tents sit deep in the valley, protected and also well above the banks of Christmas Creek.
It’s been raining and drizzling for days – – a big hindrance to ‘building Nightfall’. I can’t wait to get hold of a monocular telescope – imagine the hours which could be spent ‘exploring’ the cliffs from the warm coziness of my tent. Ah, yes, there won’t be any tents unless we get back to work ‘building Nightfall’!
photo: our spring-fed ‘waterfall’, after rain (it’s too wet to take the good camera out today). We’ve yet to see this ‘waterfall’ dry up, although after long periods of without rain, it is reduced to a steady trickle, falling 30+ metres from the top of its little south-facing gorge — also home to a rare sooty-owl.