No Kangaroos But...
Trip Start
May 28, 2010
1
20
32
Trip End
Ongoing
Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia
Monday, November 22, 2010
Finally, after I’d tried for about an hour to fight my way out without ever getting there or catching anything, I gave up and tried to head in. Unfortunately, I had managed to find the rip, the place where all the water that is crashing into the beach gets funneled back out again, and I was stuck in it for a long time, trying to walk, trying to swim, and getting nowhere. I finally struggled out of the side of the rip and made it to the beach, utterly exhausted. Better luck next time.
The drive into Kangaroo Valley was absolutely incredible. We climbed and climbed into beautiful green hills, then skirted the top of a ridge. The narrow road was bound in on both sides by forest so thick it shut out the slanting rays of the sinking sun, leaving a dark cavern where only small chunks of light squeezed through to fall upon the pavement. Abruptly, the road plunged over the edge of the steep escarpment, weaving down to deposit us on the grassy valley floor. All around, the sheer walls of the valley rose up, glowing in the dying light.
As soon as we laid eyes on the Bendeela Reserve, we knew we’d be setting up the tent and staying a while. The free campground was vast and grassy, and right along the river. We spent two days reading and sunbathing, then jumping of the tarzan swing into the river when we got too hot. We swam back and forth across the river, and paddled down it on the surfboard and boogie board.
We drove into the town and explored the cute little shops there. There were more candy shops than anything else, as well as a cool nostalgia shop packed to the rafters with old, dusty books and postcards from all over the world. Curtis found one showing Jasper Ave. in Edmonton, way back when it was black and white.
Then, at dusk, the wombats came out. I had been waiting and waiting to see a wombat, and I definitely got my fill in Kangaroo Valley! The first night we walked in the trees on the riverbank, which was full of big wombat burrows. We found one chilling by his hole, and slowly snuck up on him until he finally got so sick of waiting for us to attack him, and just turned and walked away! He was like nothing we’d ever seen, like a cross between a dog and a pig and a hampster, haha! Around dark, they would start making their way out into the field to eat, and the darker it became, the braver they got. And the itchier: they would walk right past us up to our car, wedge their bums under the license plate, and scratch like crazy! Soooo cute.
The last morning we had pancakes and one last swim in the river, and then we set off for the Blue Mountains! Bye bye wombats...
