Day 28 saw us leave the Gold Coast. We were scheduled for another day of catchups with Seena and family, but Mazzy was sick. So we had to cancel the catchup and continue moving on up. In case I haven’t mentioned it, eight weeks is not a lot of time to do what we are doing so we need to keep moving. Thanks to Seena for the intended hospitality and sorry we never got to see your new house (and pool!).

So we adjusted the destination from Brisbane, and moved it to somewhere we could access the Glass House Mountains from. After a quick bit of research we headed into Beerwah for lunch and had a quick look round. For those not in the know, the Glass House Mountains are a cluster of thirteen mountains which rise out of the Sunshine coast horizon in pretty spectular fashion. We had loosely pencilled this in as a bit of a hiking option at some point, but had not added much detail.

Driving through the Glass House Mountain region was as picturesque as most things we had seen, and there was no shortage of greenery. But we needed a feed, so we stopped at Beerwah, which in theory provided us with access to the largest peak.

Beerwah itself was pretty quaint. Another immaculate little town, probably a few too many eatieries which hinted at the underlying tourism. We actually didn’t see too many other tourists funnily enough, but travelling in Autumn and outside of school holidays has given us great access to these places without the usual hussle and bustle that you could expect.

In the end, and in and effort to save a few dollars (something we have not been too good at), we nipped into the local Woollies and had a lunch in the van, with another local carpark being the lucky recipient of our four-bay hogger.

After our morning tea in the van, we spent a while drifting round the area trying to work out the best Caravan Park, with reasonable access to both the Glass House Mountains and also Australia Zoo, which was literally nestled into the same landscape. Landsborough Igenia won that one and we duly checked in. It was an interesting place, set right in the middle of rainforest, with no shortage of swamp-like conditions. But it was a great little site.

The only downside to making things up on the run, was that it had been time consuming, and had probably cost us a chance to walk up up one of the mountains. Which meant there was only one thing left to do – have a cake and a brew! We had found, according to the internet, the Mary Cairncross scenic lookout which was supposed to give great views, as well as cake and coffee, so we stopped there. The minor niggle, was that it was up some mad slopey road which was a bit of a challenge in the van, and the gps was wrong again. We have learnt the hard way, but the van gps is years out of date. Anyway, we eventually found it, and grabbed a feed. After all, It had been at least two whole hours since the last one.

The cafe was part of a complex which provided access to walking trails, directly connected to the back of the centre, as well as a dedicated viewing gallery overlooking all thirten peaks.

Unfortunately, there was a mixup in the information provided to us, and we were wrongly advised it was open to 5:30pm. It turns out, the cafe was open until 5:30, but for reasons unknow, the viewing gallery shut at 3:30. End result – I managed a few snaps only from the viewing gallery before grabbing a brew and cake meant we missed further photo opportunities. But it was pretty good cake.

And that was pretty much that for the Glass House Mountains.

All that was left, was navigating the downhill section, then we would be back at camp. Fortunately, I had developed a great technique for dealing with these ticky sections, and I had no fear of these b-roads whatsoever.

Camp was interesting and another opportunity to meet some new best mates.

New best mate one had moved down from Penrith, fully sold his house but had been unable to buy one in Landsborough. Apparently there are no houses for sale in Landsborugh. I didn’t question his planning, but he seemed like a good bloke.

New best mate number two, had moved from elsewhere, and him and his missus were looking for full-time work. Interesting that so many people seem to be taking such a big gamble to try and live a quiter life, but understandable when you see these great little towns.

So after I’d cleaned the bbq, that was the end of our day in Landsborough. This was basically an extra day for us, as were expecting to be in Brisbane, but we did ok. Tomorrow will either be Australia Zoo, or walking round the Glass House Mountains (If I can persuade the kids).

We will see how that goes tomorrow!