Ngungun on a quieter day

 

Mt Ngungun is the one arrowed in this Glass House panorama I took later from Mt Coochin to the north.

 

I'd attempted to climb it a few weeks ago but had been defeated, not by any arduousness of the climb (there isn't really much), but by the enormous crowds of Sunday walkers there, and the consequent near impossibility of parking close to the start!

First thing this weekday morning was much more conducive. Just a handful of before-work fitness types. And me.

Approaching Ngungun's summit

Mt Beerwah, the biggest of them, and in front of it, Mt Coonowrin. The latter is unclimbable except by rock climbers with all the gear.

Parklands trails: 1 - Rocky Creek circuit

I've discovered the western entrance to the Parklands Conservation Park, on Radar Hill Rd.

 

And there are lots of bushwalking circuits to be done. Mountain bike trails too. 

I've started with the Rocky Creek circuit, a bit under 6km. It's the orange one in the more northerly part of the map.

Birds, bakeries, buns!

 

 

 

 

This juvenile butcherbird was taking an awful lot of interest in the treats on show at Banjo's bakery cafe yesterday morning!

Unconquered still: Mts Cooroora & Cooran

 

I walked with my bushwalking club again today. This time we were to walk from Cooroora to Cooran and back, largely in the Tuchekoi Nationla Park.

I'd wrongly assumed that the plan was to climb the mountains at each end of the course, mountains which go by these names. In fact that wasn't to be.

 

 

Not to worry, I'll save them for another time. The 15km walk, along pleasant tracks and fire trails, was a nice little leg stretch anyway, Punctuated by the refreshment stop in Cooran town.

Mt Cooroora, by the way is near the town of Pomona, while Mt Cooran is near Cooran.

Noosa Botanic Gardens

 

 

It's near Cooroy, a few kilometres west of Noosa. Not at the western end of Hastings St in Noosa itself, as claimed by Google Maps! (See: Not Noosa Botanic Gardens)

Not Noosa Botanic Gardens!

 

Still a very nice place though. For some reason, Google Maps thinks it's Noosa Botanic Gardens. It's actually the Noosa Parks Association Park, or something similar, and it's at the western end of Hastings St in Noosa. Google Maps has done this to me before. Noosa Botanic Gardens is actually a few kilometres to the west, on the banks of Lake MacDonald near Cooroy, and here: 

Loo with a view

 

 

The loo is actually down below the viewing deck.

Here's the view:  Mooloolaba Beach, and perfect weather again at last.

Walking the Yul-yan-man track

 

I walked the Yul-yan-man Track in the Glass House Mountains the other day, with the Sunshine Coast Bushwalking Club. 

Another excellent morning out, and I was pleased to find it was a slightly more challenging walk than the Ewen Maddock Dam circumnavigation of last month: ( February walk )

There was a bit of actual rock-scrambling, which posed a bit of a challenge to one or two participants. And the weather was perfect. Great for admiring the views of those pointy Glass House peaks.

I've yet to attempt either of the two bigger, reportedly challenging but walkable, Glass Houses, Mts Beerwah and Tibrogargan, but I got the usual mixed reports from my fellow walkers about them. There was even said to be a gender-specific divide in their respective difficulties. Local aboriginal teaching, I heard, makes one of them taboo for men, and the other taboo for women. Can't remember which was which, but maybe I'll find out when I try them myself.

Marcoola twilight market

 

 

 

 

Every Friday evening. And yesterday we even had the full moon rising over the ocean!

Kondalilla Falls

 
Near Flaxton, between Montville and Mapleton in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

A Great! Walk postponed

 

There I was at the start of the Great! Walk* at Baroon Pocket Dam, ready to explore at least the first few kilometres. And I was greeted by a rather rude little sign telling me the track was temporarily closed due to flooding!

 

 

* It often does get spelt like this, with the exclamation mark! there.

 

 

 

Well, the sign was lying on the ground, looking very unauthoritative, so I chose to ignore it, and walked straight past.

 

Didn't get very far though. The flood damage is very real!

Teddy Everywhere?

 

Our member for Fairfax. He's everywhere. Delivering, building, protecting. 

What a man!

Why did the cane toad cross the road?

 

 

The answer is that here on the Sunshine Coast, he never quite did. He always ended up like this one. Lots of examples of flat cane toad (Bufo marinus planus) around, but I've yet to meet a live one.