After walking for 12km for the first day, I thought we would be hiking along shorter routes on our second day. I heard Weiling mentioned about 3-km and 5-km trails, then I asked casually,  "what's the total distance?" And then she realised we will be walking about the same distance if not more! We had a good laugh at this realisation but we decided to still proceed with the 3 trails we selected earlier, namely Rainforest Circuit (1.2km return), Tullawallal Circuit (5km return) and Gwongoorool Track (6km return). 

The Rainforest Circuit  was meant to be a short walk in the morning before we checked out at 10am, and then went back to do the Tullawallal Circuit. In retrospect, we could have checked out earlier and just do the Tullawallal Circuit. This is because to get to the start of this circuit, you have to first walk 400m along Rainforest circuit. When you return, you can then choose to walk on the rest of the Rainforest Circuit to get back to the starting point.

If I should bring my parents there one day, I will bring them along the Tullawallal Circuit. It is an easy walk with not many ups and downs. We met a group of people in their 50s or 60s doing the walk too. 

The Tullawallal Circuit is worth visiting for an experience of a cool temperate rainforest (the most accessible one in the park) and you will also see a pocket of Antartic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) on the summit. According to the QPWS brochure, this pocket is the northernmost location of this species in Australia.  

Nothofagus is an ancient genus because fossil pollens were found in sediments as old as the Late Creatceous (about 75-80 million years ago) (Macquaire University's site). It was thought that the genus was widespread in Australia when the continent was wetter and cooler- about 50 million years ago! At that time, Australia was still part of the Great Southern Land more commonly known as Gondwana. 

There are about 40 species (Mount Toma BG's site) of Nothofagus which only occurs in the Southern Hemisphere. Their distribution: in New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia and Chile, adds to the other evidence that these continents or islands were all part of a supercontinent.  

Woah, isn't that cool? In fact, it is literally cool at the so called summit (because it doesn't look like one) which is a rocky area surrounded by Antartic Beech. I had to fish out my windbreaker seconds after reaching the area.  

According to an interpretive sign (which I think is due for replacement), the trees encircling the rocky site are actually from a single seed. This is possible because the species is known to grow asexually through coppicing. The amazing thing is that the seed began its life 2000 years ago!!!  


These photos do not do justice to the beautiful Antartic Beech. You have to be with them to appreciate their beauty. Meditate here and you might be offered a trip down their memory lane to the ancient past! 

I felt so good to be in the tropical forest again, eventhough it was cooler than usual. The forests of Lamington National Park do remind me of our forests in Singapore and the neighbouring countries.

Look at these pictures; don't you agree they can easily be passed off as BTNR or CCNR? Other than the familiar layered struture of a rainforest, there are also the familiar lianas and epiphytes like Bird's nest fern and Stag horn ferns. Where there are gaps, there are also plants like gingers.  

             

 
But before long, I knew I was not at the equator after all, especially when I saw the Hoop Pine among other more tropical-like trees. "What's a X'mas tree doing in a tropical rainforest?" Well, it's a sub-tropical forest afterall.




Anyway, I was only "homesick" for a short while because Lamington National Park, which may have comparatively less species per ha than the rainforests of our region, has quite an interesting variety of forest ecosystems. These include the "typical" warm subtropical rainforest, the dry rainforest (which is regarded as an example of the rise of the "dry adapted" flora now widespread in Australia, according to the QPWS brochure), the cool temperate forest with a pocket of Antartic Beech that are one of our remaining links with the ancient forests of Gondwana and sclerophyll forests. That's a lot to offer for an area of about 200 square kilometres. 

I almost forget it was part of a World Heritage site. The city people here is very lucky, for this site is relatively accessible and is surprisingly very near to Gold Coast. At cetain sites, you can see the looming skyscrapers near the coast at the horizon.  

We started our hike after a lunch of breads and cakes. At first, we wanted to do the 2km Bellbird Lookout, but perhaps we had thought it was too short, or maybe because the entrance we were at is also the one for the 12km Lower Bellbird Circuit; somehow, we decided to do the latter instead. If we can do the 10-km TreeTop Walk back home, this one shouldn't be a problem, so we thought. 

The route really seemed to stretch on and on but there isn't a lot of drastic ups and downs except a slightly uphill climb towards the end. Thus we felt the tireness in our calf muscles more than in the thighs during and after the walk. Towards the end, my lower back felt slightly strained too and that's when I become aware, yet again, that strong back muscles are essential for hiking too, especially when I was carrying a not too light backpack.     

3.5 to 4 hours into the hike, I had to agree with this sign- this is one of the GREAT WALKS indeed!

                                                                     


But the tiredness is still manageable, and we were rewarded with views of different kinds of plants and birds as we tracked along. It was really cool to be able to recognise that we had entered another area with a different type of plant communities. The hike reminds me of the one we had at Mt. Kinabalu, where you can see a change in plant communities as you reached a certain altitude, except that in Lamington, it's probably the soil factor that causes the change rather than the difference in altitude.   

Here's a "Palm Valley": An area dominated by elegant stands of Bangalow/ Piccabeen Palm (Archontophoneix cunninghamiana): 

                           


A group of refreshing Cordyline petiolaris:  

                                      
                                       


A wilful arrangement of grass and matching trunks:

                                      


Delightful little plants grace this part of the way: 

                                    


A natural scuplture clothed in bryophytes:

                                    


A recently fallen giant (note the way it hasbeen left to balance on the trail): 

                                   


HUGE TREE! Do you see a face jutting from the trunk??!!!




At the Yagahla Lookout, an ideal spot for a picnic.




Wonderful rock-dwelling orchids!

                                       


The Lower Bellbird Circuit (this link gives a good descrption of the route but the distance should be 12km, and if you are like me who stop to look at plants and birds, you probably need at least 5 hours) ends at the road, which was not very ideal, but we got little surprises along the way. 


A top-down view from the road of the area we had just walked, which used to be a dairy farm area. Lots of weedy plant species but the open area attracts a variety of birds as well.
 
                                       


Other than the sighting my first macropod (a pandemelon) since I came to Australia, we saw this fat lizard with a snake-like head lying on the tarmac. I have to overcome my initial fear to get closer to it as it really look like a short snake with legs!

                                      

 
This was how close we could get near to it, which prompted us to think that it was injured. But as Robin nudged at it with a stick to get out of the road for its own good, it started to move towards the bush and also showed us its tongue- which was not blue as we thought but pink. So, it's not one of the blue-tongued lizards afterall.  

(Anyone can tell me what species is this lizard?)


 

Conclusion: I don't mind doing this route again, but will have a fuller lunch and bring along better stuff for the picnic point.