After a lazy start to a day we decided that we would avoid the Australia Day crowds by going on a hike. We found a little trail called the Hominey Creek Walking Track that we decided to take, so we packed the kids in the car and headed out. I was excited to try this trail because it is a part of the Great North Walk- an extensive hiking trail that stretches between Sydney and Newcastle. I wanted to make sure that I hiked parts of it while I was here and was thrilled that I would be able to today on my last day of summer. (I start work tomorrow.)
So we followed the track and it descended into a lush rainforest environment. It was beautiful. At one point we noticed some strange creatures that looked long and caterpillar/worm-like. At the trail head we had read on a sign that "if we were lucky we could see leeches." Well, turns out these were the leeches! They don't live in the water like leeches in Alaska. They were right there on the trail amongst the leaves! We continued on and then stopped to take a picture of some artsy bark and vines on a tree. Suddenly Olin started screaming and smacking his legs. He'd been bitten by 3 bull ants. Their bites hurt like bee stings. He was pretty upset and wanted to head back to the car but got tough and decided to keep on. As we neared the bottom of the ravine where we could see the creek, Olin suddenly started freaking out again and grabbing at his hand. He was hysterically crying and telling us there was a leech on his finger. We all looked down at our legs and shoes and realized we had them all over. I picked off about 7, Tom picked off over a dozen, and Alta even had one starting to snack on her blood through her sock. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. It was all uphill, but we didn't stop until we reached some big rocks in the dry area of the forest. There we examined our bodies and picked off the remainder of the blood suckers. We all decided that the sign saying we would be "lucky if we saw leeches" was some sort of crazy Aussie humor. How could you NOT see them?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
December 2017
Categories |