Martin's wanted to go here since we got to Australia. We sure picked an interesting time of year to go. This being the dead of winter, quite a ways inland it was, quite literally, freezing.
The only heat source in the house we rented was this fireplace. Before it really got going you could literally see your breath! It was hovering around the freezing point whenever the sun was down.
But damn was it worth it just to watch the sun set.
Note I watched this sunset from the comfort of the car with the heat cranked up, because I was dying and stupidly forgot to pack my gloves that I wore in Sydney 3 months prior.
Those round top trees in the first picture are bunya pines, where this area gets its name. These are "evergreen coniferous" trees that produce gigantic pine cones that contain edible nuts. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of these big ass pine cones in real life (which was Martin's #1 priority), but this is a museum representation of one:
He claims they can kill you if one falls on your head, but I have yet to see that quoted anywhere else. They are massive, though. I'd say 10 times the size of a regular pine cone.
We did get to eat bunya nuts, though. Priorities, people!
All three of these have bunya nuts somewhere in them. Though I must admit I couldn't tell the difference between bunya nut pesto and regular 'ol pesto I would eat it all again. Especially the cake!
During the day the temperature was liveable, so we spent our days hiking through the national park, looking at the super big trees.
We didn't see any animals out in the forest, but there were plenty in the little town.
There were tons and tons and tons of wallabies. I've never seen so many at once! Look how hilariously this one is sitting:
As always, (ahem) "we" found the birds.
Some more domesticated than others. That's a wedge tail eagle, the largest bird of prey in Australia. It goes without saying Martin is a huge fan. If you want 60 more pictures of it, I can make that happen. I know a guy.
On the drive home we stopped in Blackbutt, Queensland because no way was I missing out on that. The power in the whole town was down (because of course it was) but we were not disappointed. Not one little bit.
It's been a long time since we went on a weekend getaway just the two of us. I forgot how nice it was to have a romantic getaway, just me and Merv.
Hopefully our weekend trip to the tundra has satiated his travel bug for a while...because there's nothing on the horizon for a long, long while!
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