Rain in a Sunburnt Country

Most of the time so far we have felt that the country itself is parched. So many crispy eucalypt forests ready to become an inferno if …  So many signs asking us to take only 3 or 4 minute showers because of water restrictions. So many dry river beds with flood indicator signs warning that, at extreme times, the waters will indeed flow not just in the stream but also 1-2 metres above the bridge we’re on!

And then, it rained, stormed with all of the pent-up fury of a tempest held back for far too long. All night, our campervan shook and was pelted by the combination of wind and rain that finally, now in power, kept coming round again and again. The mob of roos in our campground didn’t seem to mind the rain and most didn’t make much of an effort to find cover.  

Finally, in mid-morning, blue sky prevailed  and the air was fresh, dry and clear.

We have very much enjoyed Girrawween NP, and we know a geologist and plant-lover who’d love it, too! This area is billed The Granite Belt, and that it certainly is! It also is “ a place of flowers” but I know that it will be even more abloom in a few weeks from now, after this blessed rain.

"Dragon" - 4 feet long!

mini-dragon

So many rocks demanding a photo be taken!

Superb fairy wren - maybe our favourite Aus. bird!

Wattlebird

Could be Muskoka (if you don't look too hard at the vegetation...)

 

 

All bright blue flowers remind me of Mom.

 

 

 

Jewel beatle

Roos in the campground behind Jock. It's raining so we're taking time to read the paper. No news from home, of course.

Castle Rock, Girraween, in the rain and mist.

 

And Bald Rock beside the Castle.

Peas in the forest

White bottlebrush

 

Here, the stream disappears under the remarkable boulders of Girraween.

the only orchid we've found