Of Thrombolites and Giants

Our most wonderful friend G, who happily had his holidays the same time we had ours, came to stay for a few days.  After lots of loafing around and general relaxing, we decided to get out of the house and take a day trip to Lake Clifton to see the thrombolites.  We had heard about the thrombolites but didn't really know what to expect.  It is a bit of hike from our little patch of paradise but well worth the travel.  We were lucky to have a lovely, warm, sunny day for the visit to Lake Clifton which is such a pretty spot. They've built a wee jetty so you can walk out and get a really close look a the thrombolites without stepping on them and breaking them.

The thrombolites look like very large, oddly shaped rocks in the water.  

They are actually made up of lots and lots of living micro-organisms.  The ones at Lake Clifton are about 2000 years old.  But scientists believe thrombolites resemble the earliest forms of life on earth and date back 350 to 570 million years (depending which website you look at).  Thrombolites produce oxygen and scientists believe they made all subsequent life possible.  That includes us.  There aren't many examples so it's nice to have these ones nearby and so easily accessible. 

Even without the thrombolites, the walk around Lake Clifton is well worth doing if you're looking for something to fill in a few hours. And you can also squeeze in a visit to the wooden giant. He is a three kilometer return journey from the thrombolites. 

He is one of several giants created by Danish artist, Thomas Dambo.  He is called Jyttes.

Sadly I didn't get to see Jyttes.  We knew the walk was a 3 k round trip. An easy walk and we were enjoying the bush and chatting with each other on the way.  But we missed the path to the giant because a couple tending to their crying baby were blocking the sign.  And because we were chatting so much we'd walked almost 3 ks before we realised we were on the wrong path.  By the time we got back to the fork in the path we'd missed, I had huge blisters on both feet which felt a wee bit like they were on fire.  And we didn't know how far in the Jyttes was so I opted to hobble back to the car while R and G went on to see the giant.  Turns out my Skechers are rubbish for doing long walks in.  Note to self, get new joggers and carry band aids.  Never mind, I will go and see Jyttes another time. 

We had a great day out. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to do one weekend.