Saturday was a damn good day to celebrate a birthday. Helen loves the great outdoors and invited us to share her special day. The weather was warm and the sky sunny, se we did a bit of roaming and began with coffee and cake by Advancetown Lake, also known as Hinze Dam. The Hinze Dam is the main drinking water supply for the Gold Coast and is situated on the Nerang River. It was constructed in 1976 and then raised in 1989, which doubled its capacity. After our peaceful picnic we took a walk across the dam wall and looked at its state-of-the-art Interpretive Centre which gave some interesting insight into the area and dam construction. Next stop was at Natural Bridge in the Numinbah Valley where we walked a circuit through the rainforest to view the waterfall which plunges through the roof of a cave into a sparkling pool below. The sun was positioned perfectly to light up the waterfall that was cascading behind the natural rock arch. A fallen log was caught in the opening and provided a chute for some of the falling water to rush down. Inside the cave is the largest colony of glow worms in Australia, but one must come at night to appreciate the light they spread. Today we had to be satisfied with the sparkle of sunlight on water instead. We did, however, see plenty of bats in the cave and a fat python snaking its way through the bush outside. Having walked up an appetite, we now looked forward to sitting down for lunch at Flutterbies, a quaint, quirky cafe in Tyalgum, nestled below the majestic Mt Warning. Flutterbies is full of lace and fresh flowers, and bathed in whites and pastel colours that give it an old world feel. With Easter not far off, bunnies and eggs formed part of the decor. The prawn gnocchi washed down well with a glass of rose, and what better for dessert than the signature dish of Flutterbies - butterfly cakes. We broke the drive home with a stop at Point Danger. I could never tire of this view of the crashing surf, the white sandy beaches and the wide blue ocean. As we sat sipping our coffee overlooking this magnificent sight, we counted ourselves blessed with a fortunate life.
1 Comment
Helen
16/3/2014 08:54:49 pm
Blessed with a 'fortunate life' and wonderful friends. Thank you for belonging in my special day!
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