The Hike of a Lifetime

Brisbane, QLD – Monday, 20 Dec at 9:15am
Kansas City, USA – Sunday, Dec 19 at 5:15pm

The Hike of a Lifetime

Let me start off by saying thank you to everyone who posted a comment on the blog, wrote me an email or sent me a message on Facebook with positive and encouraging feedback about the blog and photo sites. I must admit it is a little intimidating to put all of your thoughts, feelings and experiences out there for everyone to read and judge.

Yesterday, I honestly had one of the best experiences of my life. I’m currently in Brisbane visiting Elizabeth again. She invited me back for another visit and to go with her on a bushwalk near Brisbane.

On Saturday I took the train from Ipswich to Brisbane where Elizabeth picked me up and we went to a Catholic Mass with her bushwalking club. Elizabeth is a member of the Brisbane Catholic Bushwalking Club (BCBC - http://www.bcbc.bwq.org.au/). After Mass we went out to dinner with everyone for the BCBC annual Christmas Party. They did the typical things you would do at a Christmas Party…exchanged gifts, told jokes, shared stories…it was wonderful getting to know the people in the club. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this organization or its members. After dinner Elizabeth and I went back to her house to prepare for the next day’s bushwalk. I had no idea what was in store for us so thankfully Elizabeth helped me prepare the gear….including putting everything into trash bags so it wouldn’t get wet…hmmmm…I had read in the walk description that there was swimming involved so I just went along with it. We laid out our clothes for the hike and packed another bag with “dry clothes” for when we were finished. Again, it has rained “buckets” (as they say) since I’ve been here and the forecast for Sunday was rain…which has honestly been good since it has kept the temperature a little cooler than normal. So, we were packed and ready to go for the next morning. Off to sleep I went. I woke up the next morning at 5am (which I do without an alarm clock…which is very strange for me) and we needed to leave the house 6:15am to meet the group at 7am.

We arrived at the church parking lot where everyone was ready to go. We loaded up the cars and off we went up the mountain side to the Northbrook Gorge hiking trail at Mt. Glorious, and was it ever. We arrived at the trail and dropped off all of our gear and a few of us stayed at the trail while the others took the cars to the location where we would finish and then brought one of the cars back to the beginning point of the trail.

We started to walk.

 

In the beginning, the trail was a wide path for vehicles…I was having fun enjoying the landscape and the wildlife. We walked about a half mile and then took a quick rest to get a drink of water. And then we took a turn…a turn that led off the beaten path. I seriously had no idea what I was about to encounter but it was amazing. These six people are serious adventurers. Justin was the leader of this particular “walk” which is really a hike, his daughter Mary who is 12 (she is an amazing kid…she has a goal to see all of Australia before she is 15…and then travel to America and Europe), Elizabeth, Paul, Terri and Michael, who I think felt it was his Australian duty to be my personal tour guide, pointing out all the trees and wildlife and telling me a little history about each of them…I learned so much from him, I'm telling you, I couldn’t have paid for this type of information. Except for his concept of time and distance (which became a running joke…i.e. its only about 5 more minutes or its just around the bend when in all actuality it was 40 minutes and about 3 more bends), he seemed to be a real bushman.

So, we started the hike up to Eagles Nest (approx 748 feet) for an amazing view of the mountains and valley. We stopped for morning tea (a peanut butter sandwich and some water) and to catch our breath. The hike up was beautiful but wet…it was thick forest, more like a rain forest at this point but it was still fun. We climbed over logs and under tree branches…it was "glorious." During most of the hike it was raining and we were soaking wet but the temperature was fairly warm and hiking was keeping the adrenaline pumping so I didn’t really notice it. After morning tea we started back on the hike…down the mountain. It had rained so much that the track was very slippery and since all I have with me are tennis shoes (no hiking boots) it was even more slippery… I had a few near misses but luckily caught myself every time...nowar wounds to be found. We only had one close call and that was when a falling rock almost took out little Mary who is no bigger than a walking stick…luckily she jumped out of the way.

We walked and we walked and we walked…every turn more beautiful than the next…and then we reached it… the Northbrook Creek. So, I like adventure (actually I crave it) but I was not expecting this… We reached the water and everyone just starts walking through it…clothes and all. Elizabeth had told me to wear a swimsuit so I did figuring we would strip down our suits and put our clothes and shoes in our backpacks in the "rubbish" bags...but no, we jumped right in wearing our clothes, hats, shoes, backpack, everything…it was awesome…cold but awesome.

 

We climbed over rocks and slid down rapids…It literally took my breath away…not just because of the freezing water (which really did make me lose my breath and my heart skip a few beats) but the landscape was magnificent. I kept thinking...'wow, these Aussies sure do know how to show a girl a good time." There were huge cliffs on either side of the gorge and 'heaps"of natural swimming pools with waterfalls…absolutely gorgeous.

 

We would climb the small areas of the creek until we came to one of the natural swimming pools and then we would take some time to relax and float in the water and then climb down the creek a little further until we reached another pool...we swam through at least 7 or 8 pools. I was having the time of my life. Not to mention the people in the group were some of the most lovely people I have ever met. We talked about our lives…family, work, travel and our passion for adventure and life…we helped pull each other up if we fell…we swam and laughed…it was a real team spirit atmosphere.

 

 

When we were discussing travel, I invited them to come to America and told them I would be happy to take them and their famlies around the states…that’s when Michael said something that I have heard several times, not only here but in other countries as well…”I will jump off cliffs, climb mountains, swim a river…but coming to the US scares me…everyone has guns!” It makes me sad to think that some people (not Michael – he and his family are actually schedule to go to the US next year) will never see our beautiful states because of this ideology.

I digress.

After we went through the gorge we still had to make the hike up a huge ridge to get the car where we had dry clothes waiting for us. This was probably the toughest part of the hike…it felt like it was straight up…luckily I had been taking a bootcamp class with the girls back home before I left...those squats, lunges and step-ups really paid off.

We made it back to the cars, changed our clothes, yep, right out there with God and all his creatures. And one of his little creatures decided he wanted to be my friend…I was not real happy about this. We loaded up into Michael’s car to go to a local restaurant. I was riding in the back seat and noticed something on my leg…and then I screamed (like a girl). I’m a pretty tough girl when it comes to most things, I can fix things around my house, change a tire, drive a dump truck, operate a forklift, light a pilot light, etc…I’m definitely more of a country girl than a city girl…but when it comes to blood, leeches, snakes and big spiders, I freak out. There he was, a leech had attached to my leg when I was changing clothes. Of course I put on repellent while we were walking to protect my body from these disgusting creatures…and since leeches hate the cold water I knew I would be fine in the gorge…but this little guy had found me… I thought I was in the clear…a few of the other hikers had found a couple on them and pulled them off immediately (which made my skin crawl) but I didn’t see him until I was in the car. I seriously had to roll down the window for air…I was fogging up the windows with my near panic attack… Yes, I realize it is a leech and it shouldn't be a big deal but it was on me and it was sucking my blood which makes two of the four things mentioned above happening to me at the same moment...gross. They were all laughing at me and calling me a “sook” (a whiner) which is completely fine with me…name calling does not affect me but leeches do…

 

Once we arrived at the restaurant, Michael so kindly removed the leech (after I took a photo of course and named him Lee) and we went inside for some hot chocolate, carrot cake and a quick stop in the bathroom to make sure I didn’t find anymore of Lee’s family or friends on me! It was about 3pm so we said our goodbyes and exchanged email addresses with the hopes of keeping in touch. It was yet another wonderful day in this great adventure we call life.

In the end, we walked 6km (3.75miles) and ascended 228m (748feet) and descended 463m (1519feet).

The group has asked me to write the review of the walk for their newsletter and I am very happy to oblige. So I’ll be leaving a little piece of me with their club and if I never see any of these people again I will always cherish the memories I have of the bushwalk at Mt. Glorious. 

Additional Photos: http://randomthoughtstravelphotos.shutterfly.com/pictures/412