Rainforest with a view

Woken by the birds again this morning , quite a pleasant way to be woken up - we listened to them for about an hour , drifting in & out of sleep . Up for breakfast , and then pack up & hitch up , before wandering over to the house . Gordon suggested we go for a drive up Yarrahapinni Mtn to the lookout, so we jumped into the car & headed off . We had always had the thought of going up the mountain , but had never got around to doing it . It is 500m above sea level at the top and was several degrees cooler , but the views were magnificent !! The drive up was through some amazing rainforest, with trees reaching to the sky - some ( there were lots ) over 30 metres tall - there were flooded gums , hoop pines , white beech , rosewood , turpentine , bungalow palms and many others , and this was in a forest that had been logged as recently as 1999 . There were steep ravines full of bungalow palms and other rainforest species , so thick you couldn't see the ground below . Here are some photos - one looking at South West Rocks again and the rest in the forest - with some tree huggers !!!

  The views from the lookout and towers stretched out in the distance , along the coastline to the south & southeast , and up to the mountains of the Great Dividing Range - absolutely amazing !! Back to the photos .

Flooded Gums

 Hoop Pines

Lyn & Meredith hugging a rather large Flooded Gum

   It was amazing to see how much water was running down the creek , seeing as we were basically on top of the mountain . We wandered around a rainforest walk where this Flooded Gum was , there was also a picnic area in amongst all this splendour - it made you feel good to be alive - good for the soul !!! 

 Back down the mountain for a cuppa , before we head north again . A big thank you to Gordon & Meredith for their hospitality and showing us Yarrahapinni Mtn !!!

 This afternoon we headed to Grafton for 4 nights . We found a caravan park that is absolutely awesome - up to date amenities , manicured lawns , gardens , hedges , pool & tennis court , and the cost ????? try $22 a night for a powered site - how good is that !!! It is also an over 55's retirement place , and also has units to stay in - if you need to stop in Grafton , I would recommend this place HIGHLY :- The Gateway Village , it is only 3klms from the centre of town on The Summerland Way.

 Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as we did taking them - another memorable day in our adventure .

 Here is todays map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z3uwp0IUF5HE.kO8mHbqQ6sOQ