Rainforest magic

Today I remembered to take my tripod with me when we packed the car for a run up the Numinbah Valley to a beautiful spot known as Natural Bridge. This is the other side of the mountain to the Purlingbrook Falls and is in the Springbrook National Park. To you international readers of my blog this will mean nothing, so I apologise for the confusion! I will make up for my blank statement by showing you why I love visiting this side of the National Park.

f/9  1/13   ISO400  26mm

This wonderful display of several different types of epiphyte (air feeding plants) is in the entrance to Natural Bridge and most people drive under it without even noticing it.
To take my photos today I had the camera in full manual control and increased the ISO to 400 at the start of my photo taking. I did not notice that I inadvertently change this back to 200 part way through the day!

f/5.6  1/5  ISO200  18mm

There are some truly beautiful sights in this piece of rainforest and after all the rain we have had during the last few weeks the creeks are running well. Thanks to the slow shutter speed the water splashes have been smoothed out but the speed of the running water is shown better this way. This part of the park is filled with draping vines of all thicknesses. Anyone with a good imagination would love to be here when there are no other people around!

f/5.6  1/15   ISO200  18mm

This photograph shows why people love to come to this park. The water that was shown in the picture before this one rushed over the surface and has cut a hole through the rock to fall ten to fifteen metres into a rock pool below creating a most spectacular sight. It is possible to walk into the cave that has been carved out over the centuries by this falling water but the spray was so great today that I stayed out in the open and tried several different vantage points. It is difficult to find the right setting to accommodate the brightness of the water and the heavy darkness of the cave and rocks - this is the sort of challenge I enjoy!

f/5.6    1/15     ISO200   18mm

Leaving the thunder of the water behind me I then walked through the rainforest to make my way back to the car and was brought to a stop by these magnificent splayed roots, rainforest trees are very shallow rooted and balance their massive size by spreading their roots out like webbed feet on tip-toe. Although my eyes were well accustomed to the lighting under the trees the camera needed plenty of time for each picture which shows just how dark it really is.

f/5.6  1/40   ISO200   26mm

My last picture tells a story of persistence - the pattern is caused by the roots of a fig that had been scraped off a birds beak as a sticky seed and attached in a branch high in a rainforest tree. The host tree is still encased in these roots but eventually it will be starved of nourishment by the strangler fig and will die leaving a hollow centre within the network of roots.
Using the roots as a good anchor point, several epiphytes have become lodged in this web and enjoy a wonderful view over the treetops.
The rainfall up here in Springbrook National Park is quite a bit higher than that of the suburbs along the sea front only a few kilometers away, so close but so different.
AJ