Crikey mate!

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On the 17/1 we took the Greyhound bus service to a small town called Caloundra, which is where Steve Irwin grew up. A fairly nice town with little for tourists apart from the activities out of town. On arrival we booked a car for the following day to allow us to explore the Glasshouse Mountain and the Hinterland region. On the 18/1 we were up and on the road by 7am heading towards the Glasshouse Mountains, named by captain Cook as they (apparently) look like the glass furnaces from his native Yorkshire. First stop was the Glasshouse mountains lookout so we could have a look at the range and the 4 major peaks. All around is flat land with mountains rising from nowhere. After a short walk through the Eucalyptus forest we headed out to Mt Ngungun (253m) for a 2.2km return walk to the summit. It was a steep climb but worth the oxygen as the views were breath taking (that may have been the lack of fitness)?! Following a rest we left the Glasshouse region and headed to the Blackall Range in the Hinterland region stopping off at Mary Cairncross Park. Here we did a rainforest walk looking out (unsuccessfully) for the exotic animals within, we were lucky enough to see the lesser-spotted moaning child! On our loop back towards Caloundra we stopped off in the town of Maleny which was really olde worlde. It had all kinds of shops, even a traditional English sweetshop. We also stopped off at a cheese factory for a cuppa and a taste of some cheese, hmmmmm cheese. It wouldn't be right having cheese without some wine so we also popped into the local winery for a tasting session, unfortunately Helen was driving - bad luck it was good tasting stuff! We did take a sweet red with us to enjoy in the evening (chilled to just the right temperature). On route back we stopped off at Mapleton Falls. It had a nice waterfall - no Niagara falls but pleasant on the eye.

19/1 we went to Australia Zoo for the day, after hearing mixed reviews we thought we'd check it out for ourselves. Made famous by the "crocodile hunter' Steve Irvin the place was packed! We found it a little strange that they still play off Steve’s image and use video footage of him as if he is still about. Apart from that the zoo works towards a good cause, the shows are a little cheese but clever and well worked. The croc show is as mad as on TV. The animals are well looked after, mostly with plenty of space and they are all rescued animals. We really enjoyed our day and would recommend anyone to visit and make up your own mind.

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