Started off a little cloudy today, so we thought we would take a walk up Mount Coolum before it got too hot. We took a shortcut through the rainforest at the bottom of the garden as suggested by our hosts. Cut off quite a chunk, so all good there. At first, and for probably most of the way, the track was well laid out with a rock and stone path and steps. This made the climb easier, but not easy by any means. It was steep and it was hot. Sweat was dripping into my eyes, down my chin…..cloudy or not, it made no difference to the temperature. The humidity saw to that.
About halfway up, at its most steepest point, the humidity reached 100%, with precipitation……Lots of it! Yes, it rained. If we weren’t wet enough before, we certainly were now. My sunscreen dripped into my eyes….ouch, very sore. And no, it didn’t cool things down, in fact we felt hotter still. It was bizarre, being in the rain, soaking wet, yet still sweating!
Towards the top the well laid path fizzled out and we were clamoring over very smooth rocks and dirt tracks but the rain had almost stopped so at the top we sat, drank some water and hoped to dry out a bit. Unfortunately we couldn’t see much of the promised views as the rain was still falling in the distance and a misty haze prevailed. Richard went for a wander around to the other side to see what the view was like from there. No better, as I discovered when I joined him.
The Mount is made up of hexagonal blocks of solidified magma which have been exposed by many years of erosion.
They look a bit like the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland only these are laying on their side and in some places form the steps up to the top.
After a short while…….(we’d liked to have stayed longer but couldn’t stand getting bitten any more by the insects trying to devour every drop of moisture they could get their little noses into! It has not rained for a long time here so they are out in force )…..We headed down and to the pharmacy to get some cream. 😟😞
We started to dry out nicely, making things a little more comfortable . ….but not for long. Again we were soaked….see left!…….didn’t seem so bad the second time, and it was still no cooler being wet to the skin. By the time we reached the shops and had bought creams and anti-bite stuff, and our bbq meat for tea, we were almost dry. Yay!!
But not for long……….is it me or have we been here before? Back through the shortcut and up to our abode in a rainforest full of rain. 😁 Seemed quite poignant really. Looks like their raining season may have arrived a little early.
And so, washing off my filthy feet in the shower, donning my cozzie and leaping into the pool was! after all, the only thing to do really. Cooled us off nicely and set us up for lunch.
Sitting here now………listening to the rain……..real rainforest, torrential rain, with thunder thrown in for good measure. It’s fantastic ! Even though our plans for a walk on the beach have been scuppered . Good job the barbie is under cover…..and it’s still 26 C!
Wonder what we’ll get up to tomorrow ?
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