Sunshine Coast, QLD - Australia
Yesterday I enjoyed the luxury of a leisurely drive from Toowoomba to the Sunshine Coast along a route I had never taken. Readers of my rambles have heard me talk about the dry & dusty outback & probably know about many of Australia's beautiful beaches, but there are so many different landscapes and personalities to Australia.
Yesterday's trip took me through gently rolling hills, up and down and curving along narrow roads, winding through pastures populated by tranquil cows and a few horses, small towns and along Lake Somerset. The gentle landscape, the occasional views of the water and almost hypnotic (certainly therapeutic) curves in the road brought to life long gone memories of the many hours and many miles I traveled along similarly beautiful back-roads in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine over 10 years ago.
A timeless sort of peace was with me for most of my trip - the sun was bright, the trees - gums, conifers (a few of those wacky looking Fraser Island Firs), the birds and the cows all added to the sense of peace, calm and tranquility, just taking each turn and new vista as it was presented to me.
Around a bend, near the side of the road, was something - ah, a large and freshly killed king brown snake - of course one of the most deadly snakes in the world. It seemed to say rather clearly, attention, beware, even within apparent peace and beauty lies the specter of danger and death. A painting by Poussin, "Et in Arcadia ego", came to mind - but that's another long and winding tale.
I enjoyed a simple lunch of greasy fish and chips at a small-town take-away place. While sitting there eating, a curious and apparently unrelated series of people paraded through, a disproportionate portion displaying a variety of interesting tattoos, including one young lady who proudly lifted her shirt to display a winged dragon she had done the previous day. On the way back to the USA I'll have a layover of about 16 hours in LA. I guess the universe agrees I should go and visit High Voltage Tattoo between flights.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment