Glistening gold in the Aussie countryside

'A tale begun in other days,

When summer suns were glowing.'

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

This one is special because it is not actually a destination that can be travelled to unless you are part of the Australian downhill riding competitions, or the owners of this particular piece of land. Located in the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, near the famous Killarney Glen heart-shaped waterfall, this property houses one of the most fun, well structured downhill mountain biking runs.

For those that do not know, downhill is essentially mountain biking . However, instead of going up and down the landscape, you kick off at the peak of a mountain, and you ride down. The goal, as with most sports like this one, is to get to the finish line the fastest. This requires riders to speed down tricky trails using little or no brakes . It is a calculated sport, one that requires active and consistent attention to detail to every part of the trail. Sometimes, this causes injury or, in serious crashes, fatality. The sport is thrilling to participate in, and even just to watch. Both my father and my brother have been downhill riders for years now, and going to races with my family and my partner is one of my favourite things to do. The atmosphere is electric. And here, everyone in this epic community is really lovely, always supportive and super excited for one another as well as obviously for themselves.

Going to the races often requires hiking up and down to get to the best vantage points to watch them race down. So, like any other race, this is exactly what we did. This particular spot was amazing because we found it entirely by accident. After watching riders do their practice runs all day from the finish line, my partner and I decided to go to the top of the mountain and watch from a higher vantage point. On the way up, we found my brother who was checking out the trails before deciding which he was going to take on his runs that day, and then almost immediately after, we found this field of little yellow flowers. It was beautiful. We stopped, sat down, and enjoyed the view for a little while. This was the first time that my partner had come to a race with my family and I, so it was especially wonderful. And the landscape made it so much better. For people that do not live in Australia, this is essentially what you get in Southeast Queensland when you drive away from the city, as opposed to towards it. It is a pretty stark contrast, and something that myself and my family tend to gravitate towards.