Minnamurra Rain Forest

Today, we went to Minnamurra Rain Forest with the Sheridan's. We left our apartment building in two cars. Of course, boys (Sam and Alex) in one and girls (Kait and Emma) in the other. We had a picnic lunch shortly after arriving and then headed out on our walk through the tropical rainforest. The foliage is beautiful. I took this picture of a large fern growing over the path filtering the sunlight.
The trees were very tall, they need to be to get through the dense foliage to the sunlight that they need.
John and Shaun pausing on the walk. The boys and Helen took off in a dead sprint through the forest. We refused to go so quickly and miss the sights. However we came to a "y" in the trail. We did not know which way they went. One choice took us back to the beginning, and the other promised a very difficult steep walk with waterfalls the reward at the end. John and I were sure the boys would have allowed Helen no choice but the tough route. So we headed up. I will admit it was very steep. Kait and Emma refused to go further at not quite half way. John and Shaun went a bit further, while we rested on a bench. They soon returned convinced that Helen and the boys would not have continued up this path as it only got steeper. So we headed down. On the way, we saw a Superb Lyrebird. A large black bird that mimics almost any sound, forages on the ground for insects, and displays a lyre-shaped tail. Anyway, we got to the bottom finished the walked expecting to find the boys and Helen waiting for us. No, they did the whole hike--sounds like it was quite difficult but they succeeded. They were very thirsty but filled with adrenaline.

A look up through the canopy. The "floor" is filled with streams and boulders, ferns and many other plants