Family & Friends, Rainforest & Really, Really Steep Roads!

 I've just completed a rather lovely loop ... from Brisbane around the part of the Country way, through delightful little towns like Toogoolawah (an amazing art gallery and skydivers) and Blackbutt (great pies), ending up, up, up in the hill towns of Kenilworth (famous for donuts of all things) and Maleny (where Dave and Jenny Dunlop now live).  It's been very low key and relaxing and I've enjoyed some lovely walks, especially along the bike trails.

The Glasshouse Mountains - quite eye-catching

I enjoyed a delightful three days with Simon and family, relaxing in the relative warmth of Brisbane and just catching up a bit.  My plans (being rather non-existent) might end up changing because Peter has a show on at the end of July ... it is very tempting to go and see it.  One lunchtime, Simon took us out to a BBQ place nearby where we ate much too much of the delicious hamburgers, onion rings, poppers and loaded fries.  No-one seemed to want any dinner that night!

But I felt the urge to move on and left on a rather circuitous route, traveling up through The Gap to the D'Aguilar National Park & State Forest.  The scenic road climbed and twisted and turned, delivering majestic views and dark, eerie forests and a rather naughty brush-turkey who was very keen to get into Van Morrison.  Finally, I emerged from all that verdant growth down onto the plains where I stopped at the Toogoolawah Showgrounds.  I've discovered that there really aren't that many bush free camps available to me.  But every small town or community has camping at the showgrounds, usually with power and showers available.  So I don't really feel like I'm roughing it much at all.

Maggie chilling at the showgrounds at Toogoolawah - all that space to chase balls!

After watching people jump from planes most of the afternoon (I could often hear "woohoo" softly coming from the skydivers as they spun and did loops before landing behind the trees), I was ready for something a little more relaxing and the next day I discovered some beautiful waterfalls as well as a glorious bunya pine forest.  The verge of the road and the trees and bushes that grew there, were covered in a creeper so that they formed amorphous shapes, reminiscent of the rather scary topiary from The Shining.

Coomba Waterhole and Falls

Heading towards Maleny, to catch up with Dave and Jenny, I traveled along a tourist route ... oh, this will be pretty, I thought.  And it was but ... and I really thought they should have said something at the start ... it was a very scary steep road ... up and down!  Magnificent views, not that I could stop and look.  Kenilworth was a bit of a disappointment because they were hosting the Kokoda Challenge so there were hundreds of people in lycra running everywhere and eating all the donuts.  Not relaxing at all!  

Yep! That's the sea in the background.  I was very, very high!

Beautiful fig trees in a little patch of rainforest near Kenilworth

So on to Maleny where I have spent a lovely evening and morning catching up on all the Dunlop news and sharing my own.  Wonderful to see them!  Jenny and I walked around Maleny this morning (a bit like Mansfield on steroids), looking at all the galleries and gift shops, shopping at the Sunday market and then having coffee back at home.  But it's back on the road again ... the Country Way, here I come!