06 Jul TREASURE FROM THE WILD …
I spy with my little eye something beginning with T … it’s Treasure from nature, perfect for building our unique Queensland Accommodation.
Yes, with each significant creek flood at Nightfall wilderness camp comes a trove of flotsam and jetsam – jewels in all shapes and form, washed down from the nooks and crannies of the Scenic Rim‘s Lamington National Park, where Christmas Creek begins.
Like beech-combers on an outgoing tide, we delight in waiting for the flood-waters to drop so we can explore Nightfall’s private creek banks for unusual gems: driftwood with delicious twists and elegant form, moulded by the water’s force; coloured rocks and stones which glitter or seed pods straight from nature. Occasionally we also find signs of human-life — chairs, parts of bridges and even small pieces of a car washed down the creek in 2008.
Many of our found treasures are being incorporated into the design our guest luxury tent accommodation, as well as Nightfall’s creek-side guest lounge and gardens- components of furniture, lighting or decoration, both inside and out.
(images L to R: blue waters, three days after this week’s flood; casuarina seed in the debris; a blue rock, part of this week’s first discoveries)
It’s been another of those weeks I write about so often – yes, more rain! We recorded over 100mm from Monday to Wednesday, dumped by an East-Coast low pressure system, the likes of which have not been seen in winter in these parts for decades. On Tuesday morning Christmas Creek was in full flood. Our carefully dug electrical-wiring trench’s lower section was filled to be brim with silt, and, in many parts, the sides had also caved-in. The electrician now joins the list of construction trades to be re-scheduled. Such is life building Nightfall‘s luxury camping experience. I cannot wait for the day our new unique Queensland accommodation is ready and we can move on to a new part of our lives!
It’s far from doom and gloom though. Our British Wwoofer volunteer worker, Rhys, has found great satisfaction liberating the trees beside the creek from an ever-encroaching canopy of glycine creeper (Neonotonia wightii). It’s a pest originally introduced to feed cattle. Uncontrolled, the glycine threatens to overcome much of the native habitat, swallowing young trees and eventually killing all in its path, increasing the risk of erosion of creek banks.
(images L to R – playing with rocks, a sapling scarred by a glycine creeper, the rear-view of the echidna we spotted by the creek)
Rhys’ wife Christine is a theatre set designer – what better person to come to Nightfall to help create our guest experience? Her artistic touches are beginning to appear in Nightfall’s organic kitchen food gardens and we’re loving her input into the finer styling details, including light fittings, hand-crafted from Christmas Creek’s driftwood.
Today we were all lucky enough to spend time watching an echidna on the banks of the creek beside Nightfall’s lounge. Rhys and Christine have also been looking out for Nightfall’s shy platypus, as well as taking time to explore Nightfall’s 257 acres and the rugged wilderness of Lamington National Park.
(Image – on route to Westray’s Grave, Lamington National Park historic site)
If this is the first time you’ve read our building Nightfall blog diary, you might be interested in looking at other entries and the rest of our website. As with on-the-ground construction, our website is also a veritable work in progress. New images and information are added as we progress.