Sister-in-law and boyfriend are here for a few days so have been doing touristy things that one can do around Byron; hubby and I have realised that we should probably leave the house more often - Byron is nice at night! Stuff is actually happening! That is why we moved here! It's been good to revisit the Buddha Bar, Treehouse, Beachy, Poinciana (Mullum) etc.
Yesterday, decided it was time for some hard-core tourism. No more cruising around the Bay: time to explore - Minyon Falls... The falls are out towards Lismore somewhere - drive around on small roads filled with potholes for a while and you shall eventually arrive. Fortunately for me, hubby has a compass built into brain.
Hubby kindly did some research prior to departure - came back with the message that it was likely an easy walk, thongs -
(In Australia these are thongs, in case you thought we went bush-walking in string-undies)
- should be fine.
Said and done, all hopped into Commodore wearing shorts and thongs envisaging a serene stroll through forest and cooling dip at the base of waterfall. Such as in the film the blue lagoon.
Five minutes into walk through bush hubby casually mentions that his research had suggested an abundance of leaches present in these parts. A leach is a disgusting worm-like creature of no use to anyone - its primary purpose in life is to attach itself to an animal or person (preferably me) and latch on - whereupon it starts to drink blood and grow larger. They may attempt to crawl into difficult to reach area and try to hide out there.
Yes. Am not kidding you. It's every bit as frightening as it sounds.
Naturally embarked on mental breakdown almost immediately and contemplated refusing to walk any further making hubby arrange airlift out of leach-infested-hell, strangely though; nobody else seemed worried - and in fact seemed to be of the opinion that I was acting like a princess.
Acting like a princess is Australian for being incredibly unreasonable and generally being a baby. This is very bad. You do not want to be accused of being a princess, in Australia. Particularly in you are a man, but even so - decided to swallow my anxiety and tread on.
The base of the falls was nothing like the blue lagoon - had to death-defyingly climb over rocks to get to a point where we could view it, at which time nobody felt inclined to proceed down to water to swim-with-leaches.
In saying that - was a pretty spectacular sight.
One which I will never see again - except from the viewing platform up the top...
This is from the platform up top - recommended viewpoint!
From the base.
We also saw an awesome python snake, will borrow someone else's photos and upload next time!
7 comments:
Eiww, leaches are gross.... And sometimes it's funny to see how Aussies hike around in their thongs, or even worse, the ones who hike without any shoes at all on brush trails! xx
Åh så vackert!
Jag tror jag dog en smula...
Anyone who goes bush walking anywhere but Australia in particular without decent shoes/boots, a hat, leather gloves, medical kit, first aid kit, extra water, extra food, sunscreen, insect repellent (on feet under socks == no leeches), a compass and without letting anyone know where they are and when they are due back deserves everything that happens to them.
The walk from Minyon Grass to the base pool is 2 hours return - it is not a stroll in the park. Plan ahead. Have fun,and think about the emergency services people who have to give up there time to find you when you go missing.
lol, it's a path! If you got lost there you probably shouldn't be found. Enjoy your medical kit!
Tell that to the guy who got lost in May 2012 and who had to be looked for buy Police rescue in the dark; the teacher who slipped down the Minyon Falls path bunging his knee and was airlifted out by helicopter in July 2012 or the missing man in October 2012- check the Northern Star and other reports. Or the person who drowned last year at Whian Whian Falls plunge pool - see if you can get directions from the Tourist information centre to Whian Whian Falls - NOT. Get a responsible attitude and take precautions to save other people having to find you when the stroll down the path goes wrong.
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2012/10/04/missing-man-minyon-falls/
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2012/05/07/bushwalker-missing-minyon-falls/
http://www.mydailynews.com.au/story/2011/06/28/toowoomba-rock-climber-found-dead/
http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2012/06/17/missing-people-found-eungella/
PS. Great pictures by the way of the Falls and the wildlife. And your blog on Rescue Remedy was a laugh. Have fun.
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