November 18 - Brisbane, Bates Motel, and arrival at O'Reilly's
Hi all - We have been on the move since leaving Heron Island yesterday. We drove south from Gladstone, spent the night in someplace that could pass for the Bates Motel (think "Psycho"), traversed Brisbane today, and then snaked up into the mountains on a road that had me holding my breath. Phil did a great job driving especially considering that the steering is on the wrong side of the car. Anyway we made it today to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. It is really beautiful up here and we have already had four wild parrots sitting on our balcony requesting entry. The only snafu is that we have run into some rain. The weather has been beautiful up until now so it comes as a bit of a surprise, but undaunted we shall carry on. Tonight we have scheduled a glow worm tour. What better way to celebrate Phil's 63rd birthday. Supposedly the glow worms like cool, moist weather so I thought we should charge out and see the little guys.

November 19 - Moran's Waterfall
We had a 6:15 reservation for dinner yesterday but it took more than two hours so we missed the Glowworm tour. We're booked for tonight's trip, but like Sheri said it rained really hard last night and it's wet and rainy now. We were fortunate the morning was better and were able to do some walking before it picked up where it left off.

It rained really hard until about 2 am here, but I was pleased that it has remained dry all morning. Phil and I took a 5.5 km walk (round trip) that ended at a beautiful waterfall and a fabulous view down the mountain valley. It was really great to move again after spending the better part of the last two days in the car. We then took a second shorter walk on a span of suspension bridges that ran up into the top of the rainforest canopy. It was really cool! Now we are regrouping for an afternoon jaunt. The rains are supposed to move back in this afternoon so hopefully we will get it in before dinner.

November 19 - Glowworms
We just got back from our excursion to see the glowworms at O'Reilly's. It was everything our friends Mike and Usha told us it would be.
Our guide, Duncan, who had told us about the blue Crayfish yesterday at the information center was pleased that he was able to follow through by showing us the real thing
. Sheri & Duncan wore Gore-Tex. Phil didn't but would not have missed the sight for even all the sloshing and drenching.
Everything we've tried on the menus and buffets have been great eating. Why can't we get good bacon in the U.S. stores? We did not try spooning any Vegemite for toast. One of the men making toast is a 4th generation O'Reilly, who also is a guide.

November 20 - Last full day at O'Reilly's
(this is Sheri's recap of O'Reilly's through Thursday morning)

Hi All - We arrived at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat on Tuesday and have spent the last few days hiking and seeing the area. It has been a bit more challenging due to rain and an unfavorable weather forecast, but fortunately for us most of the rain (and I do mean beaucoup rain) has come in the late afternoon and nighttime hours. We did venture out last night in the rain on a guided tour of a glowworm grotto. It seems

these little larvae really like the moist weather and our guide was in awe at how many were lit up last night. It may not a great weather for

humans, but the glowworms are eating it up and it was quite a unique show. I felt good that we had braved the elements to see this spectacle.
The resort's custom is to sit guests together who are not in the same party. As a result we have had some interesting dinner companions who have helped educate us about Australia and its customs. The food here is great! We are managing to maintain something close to a waistline by doing a lot of hiking (Phil describes a couple of our hikes below) and skipping lunch. They actually have some pretty good wines that are local
as well so we've been enjoying the resort's happy hour.
This is our last full day at O'Reilly's. We leave for Brisbane tomorrow for a flight to Auckland.
Sheri
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Elbana Falls



This is about a 2.50 hour hike to see a water fall that's not like most that get pictured. We got lots of rain (Ipswich just northwest of here got

250 Millimeters) so there was plenty of water to go through the falls. A ranger/guide said that crossing the falls would have been a lot easier
yesterday as the bigger rocks were dry.
Both of us got leech bites - you can see the blood dripping on my shin. When we got back to the room we found that I had another bite not too
far from that one. For shaving I carry a styptic pencil, which we used to stop the bleeding.
The Brush Turkey is one of only two we've seen in the wild.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Moran's Falls



Moran's Falls (the taller of the two) was a hike yesterday of about the same time length. It's more spectacular, of course, because of its

height but I imagine that it would have been better today with last night's rainfall.
The picture of the parrot on my arm is actually away from the resort about.5 kilometers, as is the bunch of them on the ground.
Mick's Tower is another (shorter) hike from yesterday. It's a steel tower that is good for examining plants, but not for taking pictures. Its height
over five platforms is probably 40 - 50 feet.

There are pictures of the same span from yesterday. On the way back from Elabana falls today we had the option of touring it again which we
did in hopes of seeing birds. None there worth photographing.