Springbrook National Park

Today was another amazing adventure in the land down under! Quest put on a day trip to the Springbrook National Park on the Gold Coast that was so booked they had to request a second charter bus to transport everyone. The day began with a successful trip to campus and a two hour bus ride out to the coast and up into the surrounding rain forest. Though long, the drive was absolutely beautiful and just like last weekend, it was wonderful to get out into the wilderness. :)

Our first stop was at the Forest of Dreams and Glow Worm Caves. We were shown a brief introductory video about the glow worms before being led into the dark caves. As can be guessed by the name, glow worms release a small, blue light from one end of their bodies to attract small flies and other insects to eat. They release a silk thread and drops of sticky saliva from their mouths which create what is called a fishing line and looks like a miniature string of pearls. Once attracted by the light, the insects get stuck in this line and are pulled up by the glow worm, thus the name of fishing line. The glow worms we saw were only about 2-3 cm in length, and in all actuality we didn't see the worms themselves, merely their lights. The effect of hundreds of glow worms upon a dark wall was spectacular. It looked exactly like the night sky, lit up with hundreds of tiny pinpricks of light, but close enough that you could reach out and touch it.

After the glow worm tour was a short walk through the Forest of Dreams. This tour was very brief, but we were introduced to some interesting flora, including a fig tree that climbs along a host tree, leaving it alive just long enough so that it can grow strong enough to stand on its own and then it kills its host. We also saw the walking stick palm which, when found with straight trunk, is made into walking sticks. (Australians are very creative with their names, no?)

After this tour was the bird feeding, which consisted of holding sunflower seeds open in your palm and hoping that a bird would be hungry enough to brave coming down to your hand. The birds were spectacularly beautiful, with bright red, blue and green colors. I am not sure of the exact kind, but I would guess that they were some kind of small parrot of large parakeet. Fortunately, the birds must have been accustomed to the feeding, because I think everyone got a chance to feed at least one bird.

After another short bus ride we arrived at Purlingbrook Falls. The trail leading to the falls was relatively short (2 km) but quite steep, with many switchbacks and sets of moss-covered steps. Fortunately, there were also many lookouts along the way, giving brief glimpses across the vast expanse of mountainous rain forest stretching to a horizon speckled with tall city buildings and occasionally glimpses of the falls themselves. The falls were incredible, especially from the base. The main pathway even led behind the falls which gave another remarkable view of them. As my friend Chelsea told me later, running water by itself isn't incredible impressive, a cliff by itself no one stops to look at, but put to two together and... tourist trap! But the majesty and power of falls is breathtaking up close.

Unfortunately, what goes down must come up...or is the other way around? Point being, we had to climb back up from the falls to return to the parking lot but fortunately, being from good ol' 7200 ft Laramie, Wyoming I didn't find the climb too bad. And the sights were just as beautiful on the way back up.

Our last stop of the day was Natural Bridge, a wonderful example of the power of water combined with millions of years of erosion. The water had created a semi-open cave that formed a natural archway on one side. We were able to look down into the cave, go into the cave, and look up the river to the falls. The effect from all angles was awesome!