Kondalilla Falls

If you had asked me to go hiking on the weekend three years ago, I would have pulled a disgusted face that translated into "Eww, lame". Wow, how times have changed.

Perhaps I've become more outdoorsy because of my travels, or maybe I'm just panicking that my metabolism is slowing down now that I'm much closer to 30 than I am to 21. Whatever it is, these days, I find myself spending the weekend hiking in national parks and meeting up with friends for yoga or boxing classes. I'm pretty sure my twenty-five year old self would despise the person I am today!

A few weekends ago, Jade and I drove from Brisbane up to Maleny (inland from Queensland's Sunshine Coast) and took a detour to Kondalilla National Park. In Queensland, winter is such a lovely time of year to go wandering through rainforests. The sun is always out and the air is refreshingly cool (by 'cool', I mean just a tad under 20 degrees celsius). It's the perfect mild climate to work up a sweat as you bounce through a thick forest of rock pools and waterfalls.

^ Me, proud to be wearing hiking shoes and Adidas workout clothes. Who am I?!

It barely rains here during winter, but of course, it had to rain today of all days! And I'm not just talking about a light pitter patter. Clear blue skies quickly turned into a heavy downpour and within a minute, we were completely drenched from head to ankle. That's tropical weather for you. Our feet were spared from sogginess thanks to Gore-Tex hiking shoes - clothing items I never thought I would be pleased that I bought!

As the rain calmed down, puffs of mist emerged from the rainforest bed and floated up into the white sky. It made for a dramatic and spectacular scene to finish our hike. I'd like to say that we were looking spectacularly chic too, but this is the best we could manage after shaking ourselves like two shaggy dogs after an unwanted bath.

Photos by Jade and me.