Although it was quite rainy and foggy when we arrived, it was beautiful, as usual. The mountains, although not particularly tall and more rounded and smooth than rigid, were covered in trees often dark and burnt due to the recent fires and some more lush than others. While we drove into the park, we literally watched fog roll in through the mountains and over the sea.
After setting up our campsite, we set off to Squeaky Beach to watch the sunset. Squeaky Beach truly squeaks when you rub your feet in the sand. We spent quite a while there walking on the beach, watching a man fish, and climbing rocks.
The State of Victoria is cold in the wintertime and not quite pleasant for camping; however, we set up our tents and went to bed. It somehow managed to be colder than my room in the international house and sleep was not quite abundant, but sacrificing a bit of sleep was worth it and we learned to bundle up before bed with five to six layers of clothing.
On Saturday morning, we awoke and set out on a 20km (12 mile) hike. We started at the Mt. Oberon carpark and walked from there. Australian bush is quite different from what I have seen of North American forests, most notably because they are quite dark and burnt here. The forest eventually transitioned into one that was much more wet, green, and overgrown. After about 2.9 km we arrived at a grassy, windy patch of land and then continued through more green and damp forest for about 6.6 km until we arrived at Sealers Cove, another beautiful stretch of beach framed by rocks. It rained on and off, but it was fairly pleasant rain. On our return journey we sang and chatted, creating a strange little story and laughing quite a bit. When we returned to the grassy knoll, we ran into a pair of wombats - the cutest of all. I resisted picking up or petting the baby for obvious reasons, mostly due to warnings that wombats are actually quite vicious when provoked and the general knowledge that you do not touch wild animals. It was difficult though, look how cute it is! I love Australian animals. They're all so slow-moving, furry, and generally adorable.
We made it to the carpark quite satisfied with our hike and pleased that we completed it. We headed to Picnic Beach, sat around, and watched the sun disappear from the horizon, swallowed by the sea.
On Sunday, we woke up and returned to Squeaky Beach complete with a rainbow and a bit damp, but inviting. We sat around and I read a bit more of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, which seems appropriate to read in the natural world. It was nice to relax and admire the beauty for a bit and reflect on life, undisturbed by general distractions.
Again, returning to the city was a bit difficult. Returning to university life after escaping for a while is always a bit of a challenge, but I seem to be adapting to the transition from traveling to studying, which is useful since that's essentially what this semester consisted of.
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