For a challenge I thought I would climb (and walk up) the four main legal peaks of the Glass House Mountains in a day. Mt Coonowrin is currently closed for climbing due to lose rocks. According to the aboriginal dream time story each of the peaks represents a member of a family. Mt Beerwah was the pregnant mother, Mt Tibrogargan the father, Mt Coonowrin the eldest son and the rest of the hills the other children. The eldest son would not help his mother escape from the rising sea instead running away with fear, the father struck Coonowrin, resulting in the [View Full Entry]

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Comet McNaught has turned out to be the brightest comet in the past 40 years, at its peak it was just bright enough to see during the day. The comet was discovered by Robert McNaught at Siding Springs Observatory in Australia during a regular survey of the sky for asteroids and comets. The comet made its closest approach to the sun on the 12th of January and is now speeding away from the Sun and Earth. Sighting 1 (17th Jan 2007) - from the loo After hearing about the comet I made my first attempt at viewing the comet from the [View Full Entry]

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After returning from Peru about a month ago I was itching to head outdoors again. So I decided to climb Mt Barney which is located slightly over 100km from Brisbane. And at 1351m it is one of the highest mounains in the South-East of Queensland. Day 1 - A rush to the top After doing some last minute packing I left the house and drove to the base of Mt Barney arriving at Yellow Pinch car park. I set off up the mountain at 11:40am. The first part of the trail was fairly easy going along a mostly flat 4-wheel drive [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Lima, Peru was spent shopping for souvenirs and then having lunch with a friend. After arriving back at the hotel it was a rush for the airport as there wasn’t much time left before the flight to Santaigo. After I told the taxi driver what time my plane flies out he started driving on the wrong side of the road and we even ran some red lights to get me to the airport on time! Fortunately I made it on time. Santiago de Chile I arrived in Santiago late at night and not having a guide book [View Full Entry]

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I left Nazca in the afternoon once again opting for comfort on a first class bus. The trip was interesting as it was still daylight outside. We drove through Ica and the streets where full of school kids. I arrived in Pisco fairly late in the evening. At the bus stop I was approached by a friendly lady who offered to arrange the hotel for me, since the bus stop was ten blocks from the town centre I felt lazy and accepted the offer plus I was warned that Pisco was a dodgy place (I didn’t find it that way btw). [View Full Entry]

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“Lines, lines, lines” is how my friend described Nazca while trying to convince me to stay in Arequipa. I decided to treat myself and catch a first class bus from Arequipa to Nazca. It was a lot more expensive, and a bit boring (I missed the old ladies from the mountains) but finally I had a lot of leg room, and there was a meal served on the bus! Leaving Arequipa in the evening I arrived in Nazca at around 2am. I was hoping to stay in the bus station waiting room until the morning, but unfortunately it was closed and [View Full Entry]

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Mount Ampato is a 6288m peak on which the Inca mummy dubbed Juanita was found in 1995. I wanted to climb a peak over 6000m and having read about the mummy back in Australia this was the perfect peak to choose. My guide was Miguel Zarate who had co-found and recovered the mummy a decade earlier! Day 1 I was collected from the hotel at around 9am in Arequipa. We got of to a bad start as they wanted more money for the trip. A couple of days earlier we agreed on $US380 but now they wanted an extra $US90 for [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 - Going down (into the pit) My guide, Edger, meet me at the hotel at about 1am. We caught a taxi to the bus station. From there we caught a bus to Cabanaconde at the foot of the Canyon. The trip lasted about 6 hours and got fairly rough the closer we got to Cabanaconde. Once in Cabanaconde we did some quick shopping to buy food for the next two days. The guys here wear western style cowboy hats, which I hadn’t seen much in the other parts of Peru. Once this was all done we set off for [View Full Entry]

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I caught a cheap bus from Puno which turned out to be a lot of fun, apart from the lack of leg room (being 6 feet tall didn’t help). Each time the bus was late to leave a stop the old ladies, dressed in traditional clothing, would bang on the windows and yell out vamos (lets go)! At most stops people selling food would get on and push through the bus. At one stop a young boy got on the bus and sang quite loudly until the next stop collecting money on his way out. The following morning I headed out [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Puno by bus from Cuzco at around 6.30am. The plan was to walk to the dock and then find a boat. Since the guide book I had said that boats leave at around 7.30am I did not have much time, when I was approached by a person offering a guided tour to the Islands I accepted, and soon the trip was all sorted. Our first stop was the Uros Islands. These are man made islands made out of reeds, with each Island having a few families living on it. The reeds feel quite bouncy under foot, so it [View Full Entry]

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