Thursday, February 24, 2005

the bridge

I could say that you can just about see the bridge from Terry's creek water-hole, but I lie. You really can't. First there's too many long limbed trees blocking the view and besides, the creek takes all sorts of turns. But if you have seen the bridge before, no matter where you stand, you'll know that the bridge exists. But it's a hidden bridge. So hidden that you can stumble upon the small path that leads to it only by chance. And once you get to it, you won't even notice the signs warning you to stay away from the bridge because the graffiti has obliterated them aeons ago. The best place to see the bridge, however, is from the Wolf-rock. It's not shaped like a wolf, it just looks like one of the archetypal rocks that wolves would stand on on moonless lights and howl. I could say I've heard them, but I'd be lying, there aren't any here. The bridge itself is not for humans, it's for a huge rust encrusted pipe carrying some mysterious liquid. The pipe starts from the ground, plunges into space meters above the river before plunging right back into the ground, hidden by the undergrowth. You can walk on either sides of the bridge and look down on the creek, and the crowns of the adjoining trees gives you a whiff of what it means to be on a rainforest canopy.