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16 bushwalkers met again at the Gailes service station at 7.00 am. Not an easy task for some of us to get up by 5 a.m. It was a very humid and cloudy Sunday morning in December. Will it rain? Will it not be too hot? It was to be one more of the Dog’s walks. We were not going to enter a National Park, instead we would be walking on private properties, so dogs, horses and cows were allowed. Just a short drive from Ipswich, being a very welcome initiative, to spend more time on walking instead of a long distance driving. We were going to celebrate our “annual achievements”, a fast approaching Christmas season as well as our friends’ Birthdays.
An ambitious program, so our leader’s personal assistant – Ewa, has prepared a detailed script combining a photographic exhibition, a Christmas Carol concert by our semi-professionals, a poetry recital, a gift distribution, a bushwalking quiz and a communal song and dance performance. What a talented group of people? All this, combined with generous fare of exotic fruits, cakes, salads and meats, washed down with a compulsory bottle of champagne, would be a recipe for an unqualified success. The drive from Ipswich – Boonah road, to Flinders Peak and Ivory Rock - our destination, took us about 30 minutes. A brand new picnic spot was just awaiting us with a stainless steel electric BBQ, running water, clean toilets and a very spacious shelter. There were no other people in sight, just us. If there is a guidebook to the local bushwalking facilities, this one should be listed as a number one. Brand new, but not easily accessible to the public at large. Where does one find about location of these lovely places?
We felt, we discovered this treasured spot, thanking our leader Janusz for his thirst for adventure. Should we not contact our Premier Peter Beattie and suggest a BUSH PROMOTION AND FITNESS PREMIER’S AWARD, to reward those, who promote these wonders of nature. Or would the local council be more interested in launching such an award? Janusz, could easily qualify for this invented by us award, we felt. Leaving the sealed road behind, we travelled a short distance into a green and forested valley. We crossed a creek in quite a few places, but there was no water. Just a dry creek bed, with a few puddles, a paradise for our “Lady”dog. She did not ask for permission, but just went mad on seeing those muddy, two inch deep, weeds overgrown, frog breeding, water holes. The drink tasted just as good as any liquid would, when you are thirsty, and the coolness of the sticky mud, gave “Lady” a new lease of life. We would have enjoyed a quick dip too, but no one was prepared to share it with a happy family of frogs. Our first part of the walk took us to the Hoop Pine valley (Araucaria), the most spectacular group of a hundred years old “Christmas trees”. Underground water and the “virgin soil” must have nurtured these Australian natives. Their brothers and sisters in the city and on the coast, never look as healthy, as these specimen did. Tall, as skyscrapers, green and silky with wide branches embracing one another. Not resembling a shaggy and a dry broomstick, praying for rain and fighting the effects of civilised pollution. We were privileged to be amongst those ancient trees and sharing time with one another.
Our walk was to last for about two hours, but as some of us got tired, it felt like an eternity. It was just hot and hotter, having to climb up another hill, with not an end in sight. December humidity manifested itself and we were grateful for the overcast sky, keeping the temperatures in the lower thirties. Some of us elected not to walk for the whole two hours, as it obviously was going to be quite hot walk, turning our clothes into wet and soaking rags. Fortunately, the shady forest gave us some protection from the sun. We all agreed that the winter walking is much more appealing in our country Down Under. As the party of our Christmas reindeer attired choristers and participants was drawing to a close, we heard a healthy sound of an oncoming thunder storm. Having completed our goals of the day, we were very happy to meet the rain, promising a cool change. Were we missing our cool Christmases at “home”, in Poland? Maybe yes, with a lot of snow, a poppyseed cake, a dry fruit compote, and a mushroom soup? All this, we swapped for a water melon, mangoes, a plastic Christmas tree, an outdoor BBQ and a multitude of Pre Christmas Parties, starting as early as November.
Our talented Organiser Ewa decorated the bush shelter with Christmas decorations and made the Bush Birds, the Kangaroos and the real Christmas trees’ Valley listen to our Polish Carols. Polish Christmas was celebrated by us, the way “down under”. Did we have any star performers? We thought, we did. One of our stars, a veteran radio broadcaster, could remember lyrics of any song requested, in the last 60 years span. Not an easy task for any one. We arrived home safely, enveloped in a low blanket of heavy clouds above, accompanied by the soothing sound of crystal clear raindrops. A welcome music to our ear. Invigorated, we were planning the next walk closer to the beach, just to escape the extreme summer humidity of Queensland. After all this exercise I felt reasonably well, but my humble body was painted in the shape and the colour of my clothes. Purple dye from my trousers permanently found its way into my skin. I discovered a new technique of body dyeing, simply by wearing colourful clothes and perspiring. Something that can only be experienced on a hot day, after a 10 km walk, down under. If it was not exactly 10 km, it felt very much like it. Still always hoping for the cooler days ahead and wishing everybody a Very Happy New Year, yours truly,
Beata Borowska
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