March 31, 2012 Sat Day 52 Sydney

Very relaxed morning before an outing with Chrissy & Ian.  Skyped with 3 of our families. 
 Micah wanted to see "the girl" (Chrissy).  Too cute. 
Chrissy came to say hello to them while holding their dog Bree.  She said it was a kangaroo. 
Finally on the road, we did a quick stop at Budget to sign up Ian as one of the drivers on the rental. 
Then to the famous pie store.  
Along the road were some pylons someone had knocked down, and Chrissy asked "were you here Peter?"  Great laughter from everyone. 

We bought some delicious meat pies for a picnic lunch, and a apple rhubarb pie to take home.

Our awesome van 

"Fly Tree Top Adventure" in Illawarra...our first adventure.
Illawarra Region means:  "High place near the sea".  A gorgeous sunny day. 

A 500 m long elevated steel canopy.  22-30 m above the forest floor. 

Knights Tower is 45 m high and 710 m above sea level.  
Views over the valley to Lake Illawarra and the South Pacific Ocean. 
Marcel, Peter and Chrissy were the brave souls who climbed to the top.
On this picture, Chrissy is on top, and Ian is on his way down.
Ian and I both made it halfway up. We were needed on the bottom for picture taking! Right Ian?

Love the fern trees from above.  They look so small.

Look out points were stunning.   

The tree top walk was built in 6 months by 6 men, with a total cost of 57 million. 

This nice gentleman named Nathan was there to give Immy a lift back up the hill. 

If there's a vine, Chrissy has to swing on it. 

On the end of the tree walk, Chrissy had a leech on her leg.
Her version of the story is:   An 18 inch leech was on my leg, dug it's way in.  Peter had to get it out, then he lifted me up and brought me to the car.   Air lifted by helicopter was also a version.
 It must be true because she never exaggerates.
We all had an ice cream, that made it all better.  

 Next stop Minnamurra Rainforest in Budderoo National Park.
Minnamurra means:  plenty of fish.

Even the fungi is stunning. 

Peter running and jumping on the swinging bridge...just for Immy.

So many Kodak moments everywhere.  Amazing beauty. 

Another vine for Chrissy to play on. 

Ian making sure she doesn't fall on her 18 inch leech bitten leg. 

The biggest and oldest tree in this rainforest.

Called a "Small Leafed Fig".  1500 yrs old.

We had lots of fun finding all the hiding spots 

Just to show how enormous this one is, I hunched down behind one of the roots. 
Elaeocarpus angustifolius is a rainforest tree.  It is commonly known as Blue Marble Tree, and also as Blue Fig or Blue Quandong, although it is not closely related to figs. 

Chrissy, Chrissy.

The Lyrebirds are large perching birds, amongst the largest in the order. They are ground living birds with strong legs and feet and short rounded wings. They are generally poor fliers and rarely take to the air except for periods of downhill gliding. The Superb Lyrebird is the larger of the two species. 
Females are 29-33 inches long, and the males are larger. - making them the third-largest perching  bird after 2 species of ravens. 
We barely saw him, he blended in well with the background.  

We didn't have time for the 1 hr Falls Walk.  
The park was closing, and we only had time for the Rainforest Loop Walk.   We'll have to come back.    

Found these feathers.  But did not see the birds. 

Left the park at 5 and drove to the Blowhole Point  Kiawa, NSW.   The name Kiama itself is derived from a local aboriginal word which means "where the sea makes noise". The aboriginal people call the blowhole Khanterinteree.  

Beautiful rainbow

Chrissy and I were the only ones brave enough to go rock climbing.
The rest of the group thought we would get swooped away by a big wave.

Show me how to dive Chrissy, no one is looking. 

Australian Magpie

Young Owl

A great Italian Restaurant for supper.
By the time we all got home at 9:30, we were pooped.
Did not take long for most of us to hit the bed.
Good night all.