Back to the Botanical Gardens with a Camera and Mt. Coot-tha

So, I felt terrible about forgetting my camera yesterday, so I went back to the gardens to take some of the pictures I would have taken the day before. Off to the sides you'll see some floating ferns, a little gecko and the fig tree I told you about. Luckily the gardens are both free and lovely, so it wasn't that big of a pain to go back.

After that, I took the bus further up the hill to the summit of Mt. Coot-tha. I just want to take a moment so say that I've been remarkably lucky catching buses that only come once an hour right on time these past three days. The summit of the mountain is ho-hum. You can see the city, but not other mountains or anything nature-y. In true Australian style, there's a restaurant and gift shop at the top, too. They had cute postcards, though, so that's cool. As I was filling out one for Beth, I heard a woman and children with an American accent. I commented on it and found out that she's from Boston... actually, from Haverhill of all places. So that was neat.


I then walked down the driveway to get onto the summit trail. It was paved, which was odd, but also nice... and steep. Of course, the way down was fine. (The way back was literally breathtaking) There were some pretty dramatic stream beds and waterfalls all along the way, but as it's the dry season, there wasn't a whole lot going on. Fine by me--fewer bugs! I ate as a sad picnic area, near a dry streambed. I clingy couple claimed the sole picnic table, but it was gross looking anyways. I hate sitting on the ground in Australia. It just scares me. So, after a really quick lunch, I headed off for the "Aboriginal Art Track."

After the nice, wide, paved path, this track was a bit unnerving. It was unpaved and narrow... and the vegetation was a little too close for comfort. I'm normally not this wussy about plants, but I still haven't forgotten about the stinging tree. Anyways, the art on the path... I'm sorry... it sucked. I KNOW aboriginal art is more exciting that what they threw on the path. They basically bought two cans of paint (white and yellow) and painted maybe 15 rocks and put them in two circles. Then they painted a simple carving on a fallen tree. Woo. The map said there were cave paintings!!!


Tonight Laura and I are picking up some New Zealand cash and visiting a used book store. We're going to have Indian take out and, of course, watch Master Chef. Do we have Master Chef in the US?