To the woods!

When we first arrived in Ballina township we called into the Information Office – most large towns have such a place, it is where travellers can get information about the town and district and even learn where to stay, where to eat and any special events that might be happening during the time of their stay. The helpful young lady who rushed to our assistance gave us quite a lot of help and insisted that we should visit Victoria Park. Apparantly, before the timbermen, who were chasing the red cedar, had destroyed most of the natural rainforest, a tiny parcel of 8 hectares had been secured from devastation as a reminder of what the country once was. Both Colin and I are nature lovers so this was definitely on our “to visit” list. Actually, it was not just the timbermen who destroyed the natural bush, the government did too – they sold much of the tree covered land where the cedar had been taken, for people to farm - on condition that they cleared it of bush.

We had Victoria Park to ourselves. A timber boardwalk has been created to take you through the small patch of rainforest without touching the ground.

The reserve is actually larger than the 8 hectares of rainforest, and regeneration in the area surrounding that remnant of forest will increase its size in time. Large rainforest trees often have what is known as “buttress roots” They are very shallow penetrating which means that in ultra strong winds the massive trees will topple over and cause a domino effect with their fall, forcing over other trees.

At last I managed to get a photograph of myself! I had to set the camera up and work out how to get into the shot and persuaded Colin to press the button. For some reason we had to have three tries before he actually managed to press the button firmly enough for the shot to be taken! No, I was not inside the rainforest where we were asked to stay on the boardwalk, this tree was on the very edge beside the carpark! The rest of the rainforest is behind it.

Another place that our helpful Information Ofice girl told us about was Summerland House. Actually my tour guide son had told us about it only a week earlier and recommended that we try to visit. Anyway, we did visit. This is a farm that is worked by handicapped people and is obviously a very productive and successful farm. Avocados, macadamia nuts and hydrophonic tomatoes are the main crops grown and a tractor tour of the farm was a real eye opener to the success of the place.

As well as the farm there are shops where gifts can be bought, farm grown groceries can be bought and a nursery where plants can be bought.

I would have loved to have bought a few of the plants that were here – they looked so strong and were not expensive either. Maybe we could call in again on the way home. Its four days before we pack up to leave this caravan park (which is deserted now the weekend is over!)

The evening light was beautiful when I looked out of the window of our cabin back at the caravan park so we hastily jumped into the car to get to where we could see the sun setting over the water. It was dazzling bright and not good for photography so I waited until the sun dropped out of sight. The clouds were beautiful so I contented myself with a shot of them. Driving back to the camp again the tiny clouds overhead and in the East were reds and yellows. It makes you feel good to see the beauty that nature can provide!

We intend to head South tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the weather stays as good as this!

AJ