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| Iluka Nature Reserve |
Yesterday Peter and I walked to Iluka Bluff through the Iluka Nature Reserve, a World Heritage Rainforest of 136 hectares. We had noticed the brown tourist signs when we arrived and decided we'd take a look. What a beautiful little patch of forest. This Littoral rainforest ('by the sea') has elements of both subtropical and dry rainforest. The walk was 2.5kms along a well made walk track to a whale watching platform, which is an easy climb up stairs with a lookout across the Coral Sea. In 1964 the NSW Government announced that the Iluka Rainforest and the adjoining beaches be protected from sandmining. This information came from the signs along the track that were in good condition and free from vandal damage.
The walk is a wonderful treat for the ears. The whole way we were serenaded by birdsong, tweets, chirps, warbles and even the sharp call of the whipbird. There are huge trees here and the canopy keeps the track shady and cool and the world seemingly at a distance. On the way we met some pretty little birds which we later discovered were Rufous Fantails. These tiny birds live in the undergrowth and coastal scrub. They flipped down to the track and began a colourful display for us. We could almost touch them. Their tails were fanned out (hence the name), their grey tail feathers tipped with white and their pale burnt orange backs were quite striking. They dropped their wings and hopped along in front chirping as they went. We stopped and watched enthralled. I suppose this was an attempt to scare us away from their territory and eventually we got the message and left the scene. I hope his female was impressed that he'd scared off the two big two legged creatures.
The whole way we could hear the distant background roar of the surf breaking on Iluka Bay Beach and the wind sighing in the canopy overhead. Many of the biggest trees are in various stages of being enveloped by strangler figs and we commented on how many there were. Later we discovered a sign that informed us that one of the characteristics of this forest was the occurrence of strangler figs. There were beautiful ferns, little fishbone ones on the ground and elkhorns and birdnest ferns growing up in the trees.
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| Dripping ferns |
There is a well maintained picnic area at the Bluff which has mown grass, shelters and BBQs. This is probably not a place that you will see advertised in the tourist brochures, but what a delight it is to visit.
A Visit to The Bar With Friends
This morning we decided that a walk to the rock walls at the entrance to see what the bar was doing and then take a stroll along Iluka Beach. Friends on Saracen were still here, they are going north and planned to leave by now. When we got to the beach we understood why they were still here. However, firstly, as we arrived at the dinghy dock Peter and his wife from one of the other yachts were tying up their dinghy. They asked us if we were going to the markets. We hadn't heard about them but decided to tag along. The oval was depressingly empty and a local told us we were a week too late. Oh well!!! Next best option was ours - a walk to the entrance.
It's amazing how similar some of these people's lives and interests are to ours and as we walked we talked about some of the things we had done over the years. On arrival the surf was huge. We thought it was impressive the other day at Yamba - uh! uh! The bar was breaking right across the front and the surf pounding Iluka Beach. Quite a few people were scattered along the rock walls watching the sea and the surfers (apart from two suicidal ones) were watching from the beach. We stood talking for a while and then Max and Sharon (Saracen)turned up for a look. They were meant to have left yesterday, but are waiting for a better behaving bar. Very sensible!
While we were standing there chatting a huge sett of waves came through and overtopped the wall, (luckily we didn't walk out there - we were going to) and one of those waves crashed onto the beach nearby and rolled right up into the grassy sand hills. You could hear a collective gasp as the spectators realised just how far this wave went. I must say that today is absolutely no wind and warm and sunny. All this bluster from the ocean is just swell. I was beginning to think that it would be a good idea to retire to the Clarence River for ever.
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| Not Time To Go! |
Looking at the weather forecast tells us that there may be a good opportunity to escape on Tuesday, with a good wind to go south for two days. Peter and his wife have the same idea, so we will probably see them again further down the coast.
After realising that a walk along the beach was out of the question we decided to retire to the nearest café for coffee and cake. We spent a couple of hours there solving the problems of the world - we are all of an age and our ideas very similar. Eventually the lunchtime mob started to turn up and we thought we'd better move on and free up the tables. It sounds like we might meet for dinner at the pub tomorrow night before we all move on to 'bluer' pastures.
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