Southward, past the airport and its planes overhead, past the deserted beach at Brighton-le-Sands, the blooms of the Illawarra flame trees sparks of red along the road, we drove under greying skies to Fitzroy Falls, where the rainforest valley stretched out below and in front of us all lush and green. In the park, the platypuses were asleep or hiding. (Fact: They are shy.) (Fact: Wombats poo square poos.) (Fact: The Morton National Park is full of facts.) Around us, invisible lyrebirds clicked like Japanese wood spirits.

When you go for a drive on a cool winter day, a good thing to do is to stop for a minted lamb burger with fruit chutney and a package of thick, hot chips, so that is what we did, while the bell birds sang in the trees.

On the way home, low and heavy with water, the clouds seemed to weigh down on my eyelids. I fell asleep to the raindrops on fogged-up windows and the rolling wheels. When I woke, home was just minutes away.