Day 1- 4th Sep 2007 (Tuesday)
This is a transcription from a Courtyard's notepad... I wrote this on the nite itself.. wanted to capture the moments of emotions that I felt that nite. I snuggled in bed .. with a pen and just kept scribbling...
I felt disorientated once the airplane landed in Brisbane airport at Aust 7AM (Sg- 5AM).. I slept very little on the plane, distracted by 2 episodes of engaging House and whilst watching Cold Case and Law and Order.. I dozed off.
I wanted to skip supper altogether.. opting for sleep.. but glad that I didn't. I ate- Nice smelling yummy salami & roast tomato spagetti. Breakfast was chocolate crossiant with fruits, coffee and almond cookies.
On and off, I managed a total of approx 3 hrs of sleep. I reached Brisbane in a daze.
it was crowded. we took an hr to get out of the airport checks. Got a littel impatient with a group of chinese tourists who has filed to complete the declaration formand had to be led aaway by the immigration officers. They, I later realised are not stupid .. they.. belonged to NTU business faculty- FYP 2007 trip. But they looked like in the late 30s to 50s. Strange. Post grad?
Another hr of bus ride, we finally reached Gold Coast- Courtyard by Marriot.
We got upgraded to a nice Ocean view hotel room. up on the 29th floor.
The room was so- so in deco.
The room looks a little old.. bathtub very shallow.. with a note by Courtyard that if the water flows and damage the carpet, we have to pay. So no bathtub soaks for the trip.. =( The rest of the amenities were sufficient and reasonable. Coffee and Tea were such a blessing! I was cold and had to keep myself warm by drinking hot tea.
The ocean view was however, a privilege! As the weather was a little dreary and rainy..and the stormy clouds looms above..the sea looks unfriendly.
We explored part of Surfers paradise. Good that the hotel was right smack in the middle of it!
Had yummy lunch at Seafood Mania The fish and chips was real fresh! taste of the ocean! Love the fries! it's huge and soft! the soggy kind i liked!
Hubby had chicket cutlet. He says it wasn't as nice as the fish.
Had caffe latte from Starbucks. walked somemore to shops, DFS and drank cappacino from Zaraffa's Coffee.
The cream, the milk and froth, the presentation was perfect!
Australia's milk are full cream and taste very different from home. Need to get use to it. (Now I love it! I miss the coffee, the aroma and the feeling of coffee drinking in the nice environment)
I needed my Caffeine- FAST! Need time to get used to this relaxed pace. Just have to be patiernt and not rush. Need to get into the holiday mode. To switch off.. to enjoy the time spent with my dearie.
Night falls.
It rained and rained.
And it rained even heavier when we went for the glow worm tour at Hinterland.
Australia's largest area of sub tropical rainforest and 300km of valley trails.
Springbrook- Natural Bridge.
Together with 18 Japanese tourist, we trekked in the rainforest dark, cold and in our ponchos in the wet wet weather.
We were the only 2 "Singa" ( as what they called us) and being English speaking, we had the luxury of having our own personal tour guide. Tah dah- Shane! A fifty plus humorous man who doubles as both our driver and our eco friendly guide.
It was a very unbelievable night. To be guided by faith, dearie and this man with his flashlight and our little glow in the dark bangles and a small torch light into literally the dark.
No kiddling. It was dark adn wet. sloushy shoes and i got a little freaked when Shane told us that there may be leeches sticking around on our wet shoes and skin... he reassured that in his years of exprerience, he never spooted a leech... with my luck, i wasn't so sure. Eww. Ha ha anyway, as i was saying, the feelin was remarkable. to be this close to nature and not knowing what goes on beyond the next step, what we would see or feel, or would i slip and fall down to dunno where or into some river.... ok.
Shane gave insightful info on the rainforest, the plants and the trees and all the work of mother's nature.
He showed us Buttress roots, ferns, water vines (smooth , containes water . good to know if you are stuck for any reason in the rainforest and needs water while awaiting resuce) and most amazingly... THE STRANGLER FIG. (picture will appear later in other post) this tree strangles! The fig seed falls onto the crown of any tree by a flying bird. it grows downwards, the roots engulfing the primary tree. strangling it to nothingness and reducing it to a hollow trunk in a thousand years. I felt and told Shane that i felt like i was walking into the unknown... into a set of Harry Potters and that a dragon may just be in there..
it was an amazing feeling.. to walk further into the cave by the waterfall and switching off all the torch light, to be greeted by thousands of bright green lights. This, ladies and gentlemen are the glow worm. it's like stars in the dark. it's amazing, beautiful and breath taking! you can see the light but you can't see the worm. they are up in nooks and cracks of the cave wall. they are spectacular. so beautiful.
read more about the pretty worms.
http://maguires.com/glow_worms/about_worms.htm
Shane is an amzing man. He who has a passion for what he does, this job. He took classes to learn, to train to be a guide. He took exams and became qualified. He want to do more than being a driver. His other colleagues are not keen. He is the only one.
check out the tour when you are in Queensland.
http://www.glowwormtours.com/
We had fun. we were drenched. Shoes were soaked, jean soaked. We joined the "no dinner" tour, and had supper - lamington (sticky, black "kueh" with coating of coconut (i think) and hot tea and coffee. we reached the hotel and i was hungry. No food. nothing is open at 10PM unless we really searched. I drank more tea and resolved to stock up on snacks. we (mainly hubby) ironed the jeans and blow dry our shoes.
He's tired, so am i. i want to write. i like this reflection of this day's end. of it being fresh in my dreamy mind.
i'm running out of paper, may have to get a decent notebook.
It's a rainy day. I love the rain.how small the droplets are.. it's like mist. how they gently fall. Love the coffee, Love watching jap girls (they are EVERyWHERE! and always fashionable). Love the beauty of the colony of glow worms taht shinesa grennish light in the cavern's roof at Nature Bridge. Love the feel of the rain on my face when I looked up to admire the crowns of tree but hate the wet shoes and feet. And i'm cold. He's tired. i should sleep. Nitez.
And thanks for reading this long post.
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