The Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook because they reminded him of the glass furnaces in his home county of Yorkshire, are about 75km south from Tewantin. We have been trying our best to judge by the weather when the best day might be to visit this spectacular region. We decided to try Wednesday, as rain was only forecast for later in the afternoon - turns out it was a pretty good guess!
The mountains, while not particularly impressive in height, are, in fact, quite striking in their presentation (geographically speaking). They are remnants of the cores of extinct volcanoes formed between 27-26 million years ago. We decided to hike up Mt. Ngungun and made it to the summit just as the first rain front of the day began rolling in from the south.
The first shot is from halfway up Mt. Ngungun. It is of Mt. Tibrogargan, the "father" in Aboriginal Dreamlike Mythology. Look closely at the "profile" of this mountain - do you see a face? Photos 2-5 were taken at the summit of Mt. Ngungun. In the second photo, you can see to the east Mt. Coonowrin, in the foreground, and Mt. Beerwah in the distance. According to local Gubbi Gubbi legend, Mt. Beerwah is the "mother," and Coonowrin the eldest son. You may notice that Coonowrin seems to be bent over near the summit; there is a wonderful Gubbi Gubbi legend to explain this phenomenon that we loved reading about. Please take time to check out the hyperlink; we all found it fascinating.
The third photo perhaps reveals more of why aboriginals saw Tibrogargan as "the father;" we saw elements of "The Sleeping Giant" that we enjoyed near Thunder Bay, Ontario. The shot of the girls is gorgeous, and the best possible under the conditions of the rain and preceding mist rolling through.
We would loved to have had sunnier conditions to visit this remarkable region of southern Queensland (for the photograph clarity), but still immensely enjoyed our visit. We must say that we have enjoyed equally the beach and the hinterland on this stop!
The mountains, while not particularly impressive in height, are, in fact, quite striking in their presentation (geographically speaking). They are remnants of the cores of extinct volcanoes formed between 27-26 million years ago. We decided to hike up Mt. Ngungun and made it to the summit just as the first rain front of the day began rolling in from the south.
The first shot is from halfway up Mt. Ngungun. It is of Mt. Tibrogargan, the "father" in Aboriginal Dreamlike Mythology. Look closely at the "profile" of this mountain - do you see a face? Photos 2-5 were taken at the summit of Mt. Ngungun. In the second photo, you can see to the east Mt. Coonowrin, in the foreground, and Mt. Beerwah in the distance. According to local Gubbi Gubbi legend, Mt. Beerwah is the "mother," and Coonowrin the eldest son. You may notice that Coonowrin seems to be bent over near the summit; there is a wonderful Gubbi Gubbi legend to explain this phenomenon that we loved reading about. Please take time to check out the hyperlink; we all found it fascinating.
The third photo perhaps reveals more of why aboriginals saw Tibrogargan as "the father;" we saw elements of "The Sleeping Giant" that we enjoyed near Thunder Bay, Ontario. The shot of the girls is gorgeous, and the best possible under the conditions of the rain and preceding mist rolling through.
We would loved to have had sunnier conditions to visit this remarkable region of southern Queensland (for the photograph clarity), but still immensely enjoyed our visit. We must say that we have enjoyed equally the beach and the hinterland on this stop!