Glass House gladiators

 

Well, not really. We conquered some of those peaks, and did a creditable job on some of the others. The full details will remain forever somewhat shrouded. But our officially agreed statement includes:

* "The views from the top of Mt Beerwah are terrific"

* "We cheated death on the slopes of  Mt Tibrogargan"

* "We got to the top of Mts Ngungun and Tibberowuccum"

 All totally true!

 

The day was made possible by the visits to Southeast Queensland by some of my best bushwalking friends from Sydney yesterday. What better to show off to them but the Glass House Mountains?

The temptation to include Mts Beerwah and Tibrogargan in the tour was overwhelming. They're the two biggest and scariest of the peaks, apart that is from the almost unclimbable (and in fact banned) Mt Coonowrin. 

Beerwah and Tibro are said to be responsible for more deaths and helicopter rescues than any other mountains in the country.

 

This is the 'Wall' at the start of Beerwah. It's smooth and slippery. There are some foot and hand holds, but once you're on it, it seems far far steeper than it looks from below.

On Tibrogargan, at least on its lower parts, the climb seemed a little easier. Much more vertical, but with lots to hold onto. The real challenge was dodging the lethal falling rocks whizzing past your head. They were being dislodged by climbers above.

The many scary warning signs had been totally justified.

'Mt Archer Adventure 2': up the creek and loving it!

 

I'm back in business with real bushwalks again. As in actual bashing through the bush, rather than strolling along fire trails and things.

Yesterday I was privileged to be able to join a great little group of fellow bushwalking club members, on what leader John billed as his 'Mt Archer Adventure 2'.

 

The Mt Archer in question is the one within a western outpost of the d'Aguilar National Park, about 20km west of Woodford. There's another Mt Archer near Rockhampton, but I hadn't gone up there.

 

It took about three hours to make our way up the creek bed, scaling cliffs and waterfalls (thankfully fairly dry now), and about one hour to make our way down the rough track from the top.

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to the car park at Lake Somerset.

Three more beaches

 

 

The weather's come good this week, and I've explored three more beaches.

 

 

This is Bokarina, or 'Bok' Beach.

A bit further south is Dicky Beach

 

 

 

And way up north, there's Sunshine Beach, with views across four or five other beaches, to Mt Coolum.

Sitting pretty

 

On the other hand, the golden orb weaver spider that we share our balcony with was looking hale and hearty.

Fell off his perch

 

 

This rainbow lorikeet was looking very much the worse for wear the other morning in Maroochydore.

Too vertical, too risky, too expensive - house hunting continues!

 

 

 

This one's too vertical for us

The next we declared to be a risky proposition, with issues identified in the building & pest report. Didn't stop a brisk auction happening though.

 

We had a go at the auction below. This one was just far too expensive! The hunt continues.

The fungi of Coolum North

 

 

Spotted on Mt Coolum's northern access track the other day. (The one without the hundreds of other walkers and joggers on it.)

La Balsa - a park with a story

On the Buddina side of the Mooloolah River is a lovely little park whose name commemorates a great adventure.

In 1970 a crew of Ecuadorian expeditioners landed near here, after completing the then world's longest raft journey. They had sailed 13,700km on their balsa wood vessel, La Balsa, to highlight the likelihood of such journeys across the Pacific taking place also many centuries ago. They arrived here after 161 days, and thereby doubled the distance covered by Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki in 1947.

More here, courtesy the Sunshine Coast Council: La Balsa arrival story

She 'popped a wheelie' (and nearly popped her head open)

A strange scraping noise as I was setting off on my morning walk today. It turned out to be a motorcyclist who'd just come off her brand spanking new powerful motorbike. I got to be one of those calling the ambulance for her.

I've called emergency services on previous occasions, and it's a strange experience. They're polite and grateful once they decide you're for real. But before that they're either robots, or people that sound like robots, while they work out where you are and whether you're a hoax.

 

Anyway, the ambulance station is only 2 minutes away, and the ambos were soon able to establish that she was probably going to be OK. "I popped a wheelie, and I lost it" was her probably very honest explanation. She'd landed on her brand new helmet's face shield, and it was very scratched. "First wheelie I've ever done!" So unfair.

Maroochydore might want to be a proud metropolitan future Olympic host city, but it's still full of country hoons.

Herding ducks

The sheep dog trials at the Maleny Show involved ducks rather than sheep, I noticed. All much the same, I guess. It was a very pleasant little outing to 'the Sunshine Coast hinterland's premier agricultural show' the other day. There were other fairground attractions too, including an excellent dodgem car experience!

Buderim's other population

 

 

 

 

The scene the other day in suburban Buderim's Janderra St.

Jungle Juice

 

 

Otherwise known as coffee art. I came across my first world class coffee art contenders this week, courtesy of the barista at Raw Energy, in Maroochydore's Wises Road shopping centre.

It's quite a thing, apparently. Take a look here too: Coffee Art search

U3A going strong

 

There are lots of us retireds up here on the Sunshine Coast, and lots of us are keen to keep learning. Hence a strong and thriving local U3A (University of the Third Age).

Here are some scenes from a 'History of the World's Religions' lecture the other day, at Mudjimba Community Centre. This course is delivered by the energetic and  personable historian Darrel Roche. 

 

There are well over 100 such courses on offer, and once you've paid a nominal joining fee, it's all effectively free.

Maroochydore's soggy yellow wall demolished!

It was a very wet election day on the Sunshine Coast. Old hands told me it hadn't been like this since the 'Kevin 07' election. This was taken as a good omen for the progressive forces.

At the Maroochydore State High school polling place, like elsewhere in the once Clive Palmer-held seat of Fairfax, there were swarms of UAP yellow people. They offered us unlimited freedom, and maybe graphene oxide detectors and microwave head shields to protect us from all those conspiracies. Lovely people all of them, but I suspect they've been well and truly seduced by good Trumpian Clive's wealth and seeming generosity.

There were red Labor people, and their local candidate and her daughters for a while. There were a couple of green Greens. Lots of blue LNP types including my new old friends, local member Ted and his wife. I think there was an 'Informed Medical Options' anti-vaxxer for a while, and mystery independent 'rebel' Sinim Australie was seen briefly. No Paul Hanson One Nation helpers though. They've all vanished this time, but several of her distraught supporters turned up, pleading for a how-to-vote-card. It was quite a show.

The omens proved correct (and the polls this time). Conservative forces were crushed, nationally anyway. Ted's back here in Fairfax, though his majority was halved. And the yellows achieved far less than had looked likely. Nationally, as we've been told a thousand times, it won't be easy under Albanese. But it probably won't be sleazy either. Progressive 'teal' independents and Greens look likely to share power with  Labor and Albo, its 'anyone-but-Scotty' Prime Minister. And the country will be a better place.

The culture lark

 

 

 

 

 

 

A magpie lark actually (Grallina cyanoleuca). He hangs out at Maroochydore's Culture cafe, just like we often do!

The foam that ate Alex!

The usually scenic Alexandra Headland beach has taken on a new look. I think it's to do with the yet-again enormous rainfalls in the hinterland bringing down organic matter, and the wild weather patterns causing it all to get churned up.

Something's up when there's three one-in-a-hundred year weather events in about that many months!

Who's this?

 

 

 

 

 

An alien visitor peers in on us!

 

 

I think it's an Asian House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus). If so it truly is an alien invader. They're an introduced species. There are various native geckos too, which I'll be keeping an eye out for now.

Droplets

 

 

 

Observed on the footpath yesterday morning.

Protecting us?

 

 

ie: protecting us from what, and delivering us what?

Federal election latest: Ted bites the dust

 

 

Only his poster so far though. I love the symbolism, but symbolism only takes you so far, I'm afraid. Funny, in NSW the local councils crack down hard on election signage on public land. Queensland's a different country though, as I've observed many times.

 

It's half way into the election campaign, and it's all hotting up nicely.