Showery Day

Today was a wet and windy day. Cath and I started our run under a triple rainbow! We made our way south along the single trail dodging puddles in an attempt to keep our shoes dry. At our turn around point, Big Rocky, we took several minutes to admire the rough surf. On a sparkling summers day, this place would be a great area to spend a few hours exploring.

Rather than return on the single trail, we opted for the large fire trail. Turned out to be a bad choice as there were several sections of literally rivers of water streaming across the road and no chance of keeping our shoes dry!

Back home no-one was inspired to do much in the showery conditions. Eventually after a few hours though we came up with a plan which everyone was happy with - visiting a nearby Koala sanctuary followed by beach combing at Big Rocky.

The Koala Sanctuary at Port Stephens boasts a Koala Hospital, Story walk and a Skywalk. The Story walk meanders between the rows of glamping tents with info board every so often and large koala sculptures leading to the hospital and Skywalk.

Unfortunately the state of the art koala hospital was not running a clinic when we were there so we entered the compound to the Skywalk an elevated tree top viewing platform 225m long offering unique perspective into koala life. Essentially either side of the loop walkway were pens containing a koala (or two) each with their own story. Most were permanent residents - either they were too old to be released or too injured to survive in the wild.  Several of the koalas were actually awake and enjoying a gum leaf snack. The whole experience took us less than an hour.

From the Koala Sanctuary it was a short and slow drive (avoiding large deep puddles) to Big Rocky. The walk from the car was a little longer than normal given the closure of the carpark due to repair / improvement work being undertaken. On arrival to Big Rocky, Cath and I were stunned at the level of the water - much higher than when we were there earlier. The rocky outcrop we easily walked to was underwater! The waves were ferocious and not much beach combing was to be done!

 

  

Morning on the left and afternoon on the right

After admiring nature at work, Andy suggested walking back to the house and unexpectedly all of the girls agreed to join him! Eoin went along too meaning Cath and I drove the cars back home. They covered the 3.5km trail taking as long as it did for us to drive back! Unfortunately for them though, the drizzle during the day meant big puddles had formed and they all got wet feet!