Binna Burra Lamington National Park

I read about Lamington National Park years ago and thought it sounded like a pretty cool place to visit so when I found myself less than 2 hours from it, I knew I had to go...Lamington National Park is in southeast Queensland and is known for its section of the ancient Gondwana Rainforests. The park has two areas - Binna Burra and Green Mountains...I stayed in the Binna Burra area...

The campground was nearly empty and had good facilities including laundry so I took the opportunity to clean all of my wet and sandy clothing from my beach activities in Byron Bay...This was also a "powered" site meaning I could run my toaster oven and water kettle as much as I wanted to without worrying about running out of power! Campground and caravan parks usually offer a choice between "powered" and "unpowered" sites with the unpowered sites being cheaper...And sometimes there isn't a choice and they are all either powered or unpowered. I'm kind of starting to dig the powered sites although after the investment of solar panels, inverters, etc. that I made into the van so I could be off-grid, I usually choose the unpowered sites (even though I secretly dig the powered ones - power junkie that I am!!).

Several of the parks walking tracks were closed due to the recent ex-cyclone Alfred but a few were open including a good chunk of the Coomera Track. I was up early and out on the walking track around 8am...I did the easy Rainforest Loop to warm up and then headed off on the Coomera Track...The first 2 km had a nice well-formed track; then it suddenly transformed into a series of mud pits, a lot of twisty roots, and several streams to cross...I'm still very cautious with my walking / hiking following both of my knee replacements so I was going nice and slow and ensuring my feet were steady and still slipped around a number of times but didn't take any falls! I didn't have my hiking poles with me (and absolutely should have!) and won't get caught out without them again as I now automatically carry them in my backpack!

The subtropical rainforest is gorgeous in different ways than what I'm used to in North America...It's almost like it's breathing with you...And the sounds of the birds (whipbird!) and the wind through the trees...I dig it! And I'm used to things being moist in the Pacific Northwest but it's generally cooler there and everything here is warm and moist so you get a very different vibe from the plants...

I made it out to the Coomera Falls where hikers were forced to loop back as the trail was closed due to damage beyond that...I was feeling sore by the time I got back to the campground in the early afternoon and decided to add another day to my stay at Lamington to catch up on trip planning and make sure I had somewhere to stay over Easter which is CHOCKERS here in Australia no matter where you are (chockers means completely packed and busy).

I'm learning to give myself permission to slow down and take days off...I'm not really used to this...I'm a pretty action-oriented person and like feeling productive...But sometimes, the best thing to do is nothing and to rest and recover from all of the activity...Or to simply enjoy the passing of time - making meals, doing laundry, reading a book - and then hitting the trail again the next day...One of the best parts of traveling solo is that I'm 100% in charge of these decisions and don't have to negotiate for it or worry that the other person isn't happy, etc...

Onward!