Eaglereach Wilderness Resort

After Christmas on the boat, Dwayne and I drove up to a place near the Hunter Valley called Eaglereach Wilderness Resort. It is a complex of holiday cabins situated on the top of a mountain, surrounded by bush. There are miles of walking tracks to explore, and lovely views across the valley all the way to the ocean near Newcastle. We spent most of the day hiking through the bush, with a lunch break consisting of a pick-nick basket that the restaurant prepared for us.

Noteworthy things:

- They served up a great fillet steak in the restaurant, even though the menu in general was rather sparse.
- Kangaroos are probably the result of evolution getting bored and trying something new.
- Forest smells like forest, even in Australia. It just looks different.

Scary things:

- Bloody spider webs. Between Dwayne and I, I am the one less bothered by bugs. Hence I had to trail blaze through the bush and ended up covered in layers of spider web. Yuck!
- Cicadas are freaky creatures. Hearing their cricket-like song in the distance is all well, it adds a quaint exotic feel to the ambiance. But walking into a cloud of them in the bush is incredibly unpleasant. They are HUGE. They are just too big for an insect, too meaty. And they fly. And they make bizarre squawky noises as they do so. In their defence they do try to fly away from you as you approach, but they are clumsy flyers and not unlikely to end up ON you. 

The kangaroos were wild, but used to being fed...

Trail blazing through the native grass trees

Roos

Cicada

Nice views