I met this crazy but loveable character, Ryan, in April 2011, in Cairns, on my way to Madang, PNG (see Blog April 2011: Walking in the rainforest near Kuranda). He and I hit it off pretty well straight away - Ryzie has a BIG passion for plants and nature and environment (though not so geeky about animals as I am) and we spent much of the night we met sitting on various seats on Cairns Esplanade talking and looking out across the inlet. He took me for a walk up into a couple of national parks on the tablelands the next day. We've kept in touch via various social media since then and in that time, Ryan has been back to Canada (yes he's a Canuck) and he has now received permanent residency, which he is ecstatic about. So, on his way back to resuming his life in Cairns, he flew in via Brisbane and spent a few days with us. He hadn't met Steve previously, but the two of them also got on really well.
One of the great things about having friends visit is that this provides an excuse for us to go exploring the region. I have to be honest and say we really haven't done all that much exploring at all since we've been here, and there are just so many fantastic places within a couple of hours of our place. So, while Saturday was a pretty regular Larnook day beginning with our trip down to Kyogle (which Ryan really enjoyed), doing some stuff around the property and then having Glen over for dinner and a movie, Sunday was quite different. We decided to go and explore Bald Rock National Park, about 25 kms north of Tenterfield. The day was perfect - cool but still and sunny and discovering this batholith (that's its technical form) was amazing. It's granite country and Steve and Ryan give some indication of the scale of the boulders that lie strewn around the base of Bald Rock.
It's a very easy hour or so walk through some lovely open forest until you actually start walking on the exposed surface of the rock. White markers guide you safely up on to the summit itself and the view is well rather spectacular. It is just such an incredible landform and you get an incredible view up into Queensland and the craggy volcanic peaks of Mt Lindsay.
We had our lunch at the summit and then walked back down the face of the rock.
Up near the summit are these massive boulders called The Brothers.
Once we left the national park we continued driving north towards Woodenbong, a small town with an unlikely name about 80 kms west of Kyogle. On the way there we stopped at a Lavender Farm and as we walked into the gift shop the lady who owned it uttered 'oh boys, you won't like this, this is all too girly'...but I did buy some lavender essential oil which I will use in my massage practice. We had a nice talk with her and she told us all about the secrets of growing and distilling lavender. Soon after leaving the farm we found a sign to Fagg's Road...so what's a couple of fags to do? (OK so it's a bit naughty).
Once at home we relaxed in the Larnookian way - a pleasing combination of alcohol and the hot tub, before having a nice night sharing photos and eating massaman curry. I took Ryan back to Coolangatta airport on Monday morning for his 8am flight - necessitating a 5am start. But even that was brilliant because as we approached the Wollumbin caldera the sky was just starting to glow yellow and crimson with the coming dawn. We look forward to Ryzie's next trip down to Larnook.
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