The rain sticks with us for the majority of our two and half hour drive. It's a good thing that our route consists of only two roads. Road signs are tiny and usually hidden. If we had to rely on them, we'd be totally lost; as is, we miss our first turn. The rain only beats down harder as we begin to ascend the steep, narrow mountain road to our hotel. I clutch my armrest and plaster myself as far back into my seat as possible. (Yeah, Papi, I thought of you.) But soon enough, it's over and we've reached our hotel, the Broken River Mountain Retreat at Eungella National Park.
Here is a tip: When traveling to rainforests, expect rain. I know it seems obvious, but I always seem to be taken by surprise.
Eungella was the short first leg of our trip up to Queensland – our first exploration of Australia outside of Sydney. Perhaps it got off to a slightly rocky start, but luckily it only got better from there. The Broken River Retreat was a complete haven after the drive. Rooms aren't fancy, but they're clean and comfortable little cabins.
The rain died down enough for us to go on a quick, poncho-protected walk around the immediate area. We'd been hoping to catch a glimpse of a platypus, but it's already too dark. However, we get our wildlife fix with dinner. The restaurant in the main house puts out food for a family of possums every night, and they pranced down the branch just outside the window half way through the meal.
The dining room was lovely and the food was surprisingly good given the remote area. (My only gripe is that my poached egg with breakfast came hard-cooked.)
The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn to make sure we'd got to see a platypus. Many live in the area, but they're pretty hard to spot. They blend into the water and they dive out of sight the moment you make a noise. They're easiest to spot at dawn and dusk, so this was pretty much our last chance. Our efforts were rewarded and we saw couple. We catch one little guy giving himself a good, long tummy scratch.
Unfortunately, they're quick and blend into their surroundings, so I don't have a picture, so I've borrowed one. Original at http://www.veeriku.tartu.ee/~ppensa/platypus.jpg.
Despite some light rain, we were able to get in some bushwalking through the rainforest. The area is supposed to have a lot of wildlife – including somethings that aren't found anywhere else in the world – but I think everything was hiding from the rain. We didn't see much else except for a few wild turkeys and a herd of cattle that was randomly grazing in the rainforest. Oh, and a leech got a short ride on G's leg. The scenery was beautiful though, with some gorgeous vistas of Broken River.
Next, we piled back into the car and made our way to Finch Hatton Gorge with the intent to get in another hike. One of the trails leads to a waterfall with a natural swimming pool. Lucky for us, we didn't have to bother with hiking all the way there, seeing as how the entire sky became one big waterfall about twenty minutes into our bushwalk. We had to pray that the car would not hydroplane at several spots on the way in, this we thought it wise to head back lest we got completely flooded in.
It seemed like a good time to stop for lunch, so we turned off into Finch Hatton Gorge Cabins. Their restaurant is set right in the woods, overlooking a stream. Once again, the food was much better than you'd expect to find in a such an out of the way little place. The skies teased us a glimpse of blue . . . but just a hint.
And with that, we made our way up to Airlie Beach for the next leg of our trip. Despite the rain, the rainforest leg was actually a lot fun. Actually, the rain spiked our little road trip with a little sense of adventure.
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