From Sunshine Beach

Dull and cloudy but warm today

I left from Sunshine Beach village

and walked the high tide mark

until I reached the headland

then climbed up the dunes

and entered the windswept wallum

gnarly and bedraggled

but as I slipped over the high dunes 

I entered a sanctum

the path was wet and soft

from last night's rain

the roar of the ocean subsided

and the forest stood still

waiting

I too stood still and watched

looking above me

in the eucalypts and melaleucas

I see a native orchid flowering

and another

I observe the tangles

of interwoven branches

The hanging nest of leaves

which is a spider's web

It is silent

no birdsong

I wait 

and wait

like the web

stillness hangs in the air

so I move along

deeper into the bush

where the wallum is more protected

from the coastal winds

a tree of blossoming tiny white bellflowers

drops a carpet over the sandy track

and I take a path 

winding further into the forest 

still listening for birdsong

I hear wrens and sweet singing

and above the canopy

I hear the wail of the black cockatoo

crossing the little bridge 

I climb higher into banksia country

and stop to note the colours 

on the forest floor

the rust of old banksia flowers

and the greens of mossy growths

the texture of the knobbly banksia trunks

and begin to make my way into low wallum

where the banksias are more stunted varieties

mindful of anything buzzing

I know the march flies are out today

and they nip

I catch the silhouette 

of a tiny splendid blue wren

with a bug in his mouth

and listen to his family calling him

in such a gentle sweet song

near my exit I stop to look 

at the bent flower stem of the grass tree

as it begins to flower

attracting little native bees

to do their work

in this beautiful and tranquil environment 

Oh Peaceful Day...