Blogs from Glasshouse Mountains NP, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

Our second weekend away from the city was to be an epic one. I knew that the east coast of Australia was great for spotting Humpback Whales from May to November and was thrilled to find a company that allowed you in the water to swim with them as well. Sunreef, as it turns out, are the only company Australia currently to have the licence to offer this although it looks like a couple more will get the opportunity next year. Saturday morning we picked up our car hire and drove an hour or so north to the Glasshouse Mountains National Park. The mountains are a group of eleven hills that rise from the flat plain. They are volcanic plugs left behind when the volcanoes around them made of softer rock where eroded away, which in ... read more

Nisem ljubiteljica polezavanja na plazi in rutine, ki pomeni kopanje, brisanje, tusiranje, jedaca, kava in pijaca. Zato sem se veselila, da se bomo premaknile malo v notranjost te dezele, da bomo morda se kaj videle. Na poti iz plaze nas je eno jutro presenetil prav lep kuscar, ker je imel tako dolg rep, bi bil lahko dolg 70 cm ali vec. Razen kengurujev, sem v Avstraliji videla najvec kuscarjev, ki so bili lepo pisani in za nase razmere velikanski. Z Bogom Sunshine coast, poglejmo kaj se skriva globje v notranjosti. Zapeljale smo mimo Eumundija in se zacele dvigati v hriboviti predel: gozdovi, polja, pasniki, vse lepo zeleno in razkosno. Postanek v Montoville, ki je turisticni kraj: trgovine, kavarne, gostisca. Razgled po pokrajini do morja. Zapeljale smo do jezera Baroon Pocket Dam, ki ga obdaja cudovit subtropski ... read more

Today was a productive day. I arose after the hum of the Hockey household dissipated and the working day approached. Four slices of wholemeal toast and a fresh brew of Australian coffee set me up for the afternoon ahead. With passport and printed visa in hand I meandered the soggy grounds of the large queenslander, the comfortable home of my Australian friend Roxanne. After a quick oil check with troubled Matilda and Tom Pettys 'Full Moon Fever' queued on the ipod I hastened out the driveway and negotiated the winding roads that descend from the glorious Glass House Mountains. Concious of the breathtaking scenery dissolving in my rear view mirror I came to find my next stop Caboolture was all to drab to say the least, but necessary nonetheless. A quick stop at a major discount ... read more

We travelled north through Brisbane and stopped for lunch at Caboolture. We thought we might stay somewhere up around Maleny, but in the end we found a relatively cheap caravan park near the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook in 1770 because of their resemblance to glass manufacturing houses back in England. It was called the Glass House Mountains Tourist Village and located on the now named Steve Irwin Highway about 10km south of Australia Zoo. On the way to the caravan park, we stopped off at the Glass House Mountains Lookout which gave great views of these interesting 25 million year old volcanic peaks. On Sunday we drove up to Maleny, stopping briefly at Mary Cairncross Park which had great views of the Glass House Mountains from the north. In Maleny we wandered ... read more

A visit to the Glass Mountains was awesome, also the Baroon Pocket Dam which supplies water to Maroochy and Caloundra regions.... Also the Views from the Town of Montville in the Mountains was quite stunning.... read more