Monday, April 13, 2009

Digging out the rain gear (Apr. 7/09 - Maleny, Australia, mileage 110km)

There's a small volcanic dome that forms a small mountain half an hour south of Noosa, which we decided to climb for a view out over the coast. The sign at the bottom said it would take two hours return, but after only 25 minutes of hiking, we were out on the exposed top of the dome and within minutes of the summit. The views from the windswept peak were impressive - south to the next town, southwest to the highlands we were bound for next, and north up the coast to Noosa. You could even hear the waves crashing way down below. Peregrin falcons floated and dived off the sides of the dome, and strange vegetation like rare she-oak trees and what we affectionately call "toilet brush flowers" or "corn on the cob flowers" grew all over the hill. On the top, we met a local guy whose brother is one of the many Aussie lifties working at Whistler/Blackcomb - small world! After soaking in all the views, we picked our way back down and continued south on the highway.


After a while, we turned west and climbed steeply up to the town of Mapleton, perched on the edge of the plateau that juts up over 500m above sea level, with fantastic views down to the green hills below. We followed the crest south, through the cute little town of Montville, which was once named Razorback for the startlingly narrow ridge the town is perched on, dropping off steeply on both sides. Heritage buildings, antique shops, and fudge emporiums had the streets busy with tourists getting a head start on their Easter vacations. As we passed through, the rain clouds began to dump on us, and the air became cold enough to need our fleeces and pants from the bottom of our bags! A few minutes later was the town of Maleny, where we dropped in to visit a long time friend of my Mom's. They treated us to an amazing home cooked dinner (our first one in six months!) and even let us crash inside to avoid the mosquitos and the incessant rain that has been coming down all day. Our fingers are crossed that the clouds will lift tomorrow, as the scenery just south of here is supposed to be stunningly beautiful - especially the area within Glass House Mountains National Park - where we hope to do some hiking tomorrow.

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