It was a long weekend, and my birthday.  My mother suggested a trip to O'Reilly's.  We hadn't been since I was a kid and I remembered loving the tranquility up there.  So, we packed up, put the dog in the kennel for three days and headed into nature with our hiking boots, and me with my trusty camera (and tripod, and spare batteries, and memory cards...).

The image that typifies the O'Reilly's Guesthouse is the Regent Bowerbird, unqiuely identifiable by their black and yellow colouring.  They are not often seen, and I was lucky enough to see (and photograph) one from the balcony of my room.  I'm an early'bird' myself, so was up around 5 am each morning, which seems to be the ideal time to spot these elusive little feathered creatures.

On our only full day there, we decided to head off on our own along the Toolona Circuit.  Yes, we knew before starting that it was 18km, and the map said it would take 6 hours.  What we hadn't factored in was lots and lots of mud, due to recent rain, and a rather remote track, that isn't as 'wide' and evened out as some other tracks.  So, the trip actually took us 7 hours. Having seen so many waterfalls, we were content to not need the sight of them for a while.  The day was still a lot of fun and the views were lovely, plus at the end we jumped into the spa, then the pool and didn't feel one bit guilty about eating the sumptuously large meal that was provided in the Guesthouse.