#speewah

Hey fellow experiencers!

It’s September 1st and that means it’s officially spring in Australia. This should be a sign to me that it’s getting warmer further south and I should be starting to think about heading down the coast, but I love it here too much to plan that yet.

I’ve just had another spectacular couple of days with Jim and Signe. On Thursday we went and did a few-kilometer walk at Speewah to Glacier Rock. It was a different kind of walk from the ones we normally do – the rainforest looked and felt different, and the view from the top was so much better than we expected. We believe that the beauty of a [view] is directly proportional to how hard you had to work to get there, but Speewah broke that rule – it was challenging at times but we certainly didn’t pay our dues to deserve such a treat. We always seem to underestimate how fast we move, so on the way around the loop, we decided to take a detour and spend some time swimming and sunbathing in Stoney Creek.

5.5 hours after we set out, we emerged from the Djina-wu (or as we called it, “Ginga-wooo!”)  track and raced the sunlight to Davies Creek to collect firewood before dark. We happily snagged the campsite we stayed at last time and had another lovely night in front of the fire, sharing our highlights of the day, drinking instant coffee, having all sorts of philosophical discussions, and in this case, watching the reflected full moon shimmering on Davies Creek. I fell asleep on my fold-out chair in front of the fire.

I was the first to wake up yesterday, so I snuck out of the tent, brushed my teeth in the river, meditated on the rocks, started coffee for the group, and read the book that I rarely get around to reading anymore. After a brie-and-raspberry-jam toast breakfast and learning to boil water in a paper cup, we packed up camp in record time, made it to our favourite coffee place in Mareeba, and began the drive to Chillagoe.

Chillagoe is considered the “beginning of the true Australian outback”, but we certainly weren’t driving through metropolitan areas to get there. We passed through a nameless small town where cows walked across the street and locals stood out front of the classic Aussie outback pubs. It felt great to be in the outback again, and this time it so truly and purely matched how you might picture Australia – dusty dirt roads, kangaroos lying in the grass under the shade of the thin-trunked eucalypts, bright red ochre-stained sand, thousands of cone-shaped, foot-high termite mounds connected by a maze of underground tunnels, and an untainted, silky blue sky.

The limestone karsts began just outside of Chillagoe – they’re these huge dark, spiky cliffs stretching up to the sky, giving away the hundreds of caves beneath the baking surface of the earth. We spent nearly two hours in Royal Arch cave with a soft-spoken guide, some smart-mouthed Americans and a few Huntsman spiders

It was bloody hot – we think it must have reached about 37 degrees yesterday. Remember – that was WINTER.

We chugged water and went to see the Balancing Rock, which is a few tons of magnificence. Once again we were blown away by an unexpected amazing view, this time of the plains around Chillagoe, littered with the bizarre sharp limestone formations.

We led ourselves down and into Bauhinia Cave, where I accidentally killed a Huntsman and we flicked off our torches to imagine how it would feel to get stuck in here. Let’s just say I hope it never happens.

The drive home gave us a fresh, cooler breeze and moments of quiet inspiration looking out over the sugar cane fields at the pink sunset out one side and the lavender-hugged full moon on the opposite.

An exciting piece of news to share as well – Signe has decided to come to New Zealand with me! It’s going to be such an amazing trip, I can’t wait for it. The two of us have so much fun. We haven’t made any plans about how it’s going to happen, but now we know it will! Go Team Ginger :)

I like the quote ‘take a bite out of life while you still have teeth’. It’s about living with a certain kind of urgency, or rather eagerness, to feel, experience, and absorb as much as possible. It’s about never missing an opportunity to learn something new, and always being grateful and for this beautiful moment that belongs to you.