Australia: Day 99 - Royal National Park

Monday morning Tony dropped me off at the train station early so I could catch a train to Loftus and then walk into Royal National Park. It was about an hour and a half ride and I had to switch trains so I couldn't take any naps this time. Once I got to Loftus it took me a long time to get into the park because my map was a little out of date so the trail I was searching for didn't really exist. Eventually I made it and found the visitor's center. I really wanted to make it to the coast but it was quite a haul walking-wise and the bike rentals were expensive so I chose a hike called the Carrington drive trail - which used to be an old road. It was a neat track and I saw a ton of new birds - and wild Lyre Birds!!! I even saw a big male and he sang a little tune - nothing like the breeding one at Healesville but it was still awesome. Since the track was only 10 km I had some time kill before leaving so I took another side track on the map which ended heading straight up a mountain - it was good exercise and the top was pretty cool. I only passed 3 people all day. I hiked the Couranga track out of the park where I saw my first deer - though it scared me when it took off so I didn't get a picture or an ID - I just know it was a deer. I ended up in Waterfall(town) to catch the train (couple of stations down the line from Loftus). Tony and Bindi picked me up and we went to home to an excellent homemade dinner. Afterwards I loaded some camera pictures and packed up for my early flight.