After travelling down to Mooloolaba to visit Underwater World earlier in the week, we stayed close to home for a day or two. On Friday, we decided to check out an area suggested to us by our hosts and drove about 20 minutes down the Bruce Highway to Nambour, where we began a gorgeous drive over the spine of the Blackall Range through the very pretty towns of Mapleton, Montville, and Maleny.
The road reminded us of driving in New Zealand (finally!), with plenty of twists and turns and ups and downs; however, by now, the nerves are well under control. The route, while short (approx. 30km), provided spectacular views of the coast to the east and the hill country to the west. Our main stop was at Kondalilla National Park, between Mapleton & Montville, for a quick picnic lunch and then a hike down to the falls. The walking track was only about 3-4 km return, but was quite demanding as we descended well over 150 metres to the bottom of the falls and then, of course, had to retrace our steps back up! Along the way, we paused to drink in the views of the hill country to the west, as we've tried to capture in the first three photos. You can see the mist in the background (it rained quite heavily later in the afternoon), which has the effect of "washing out" the crispness of the ridges in the distance. Still, the panorama was fabulous.
Further down the track, we caught our first glimpse of the falls from across the gorge. Even though the volume of water is quite small, the vertical drop of over 80 metres makes it an impressive sight.
The sixth photo is a puzzle: what do you see? Can you see the face of an animal (click on the photo to enlarge, if necessary)? If so, which? Send in your guesses by commenting on this post!!!!!! We noticed this by chance on our way down the track and each took turns "seeing" various creatures - Mother Nature never ceases to amaze.
In the last row, you can see Teaghan, Rowan and me standing on a (very slippery!) rock at the base of the falls. We managed to clamber over several slimy rocks to get to that spot and back without anyone getting wet - not as easy as it sounds, trust me! The last shot was taken on the way back up, and Judy and the girls again did a great job making their way out in front of a smaller fall.
Judy and I were both impressed that the girls are getting much better at hiking - no complaints this day! - and as mentioned earlier, this was a demanding track. What a great afternoon we spent travelling this beautiful route, and we hope to return to explore more of this region.
The road reminded us of driving in New Zealand (finally!), with plenty of twists and turns and ups and downs; however, by now, the nerves are well under control. The route, while short (approx. 30km), provided spectacular views of the coast to the east and the hill country to the west. Our main stop was at Kondalilla National Park, between Mapleton & Montville, for a quick picnic lunch and then a hike down to the falls. The walking track was only about 3-4 km return, but was quite demanding as we descended well over 150 metres to the bottom of the falls and then, of course, had to retrace our steps back up! Along the way, we paused to drink in the views of the hill country to the west, as we've tried to capture in the first three photos. You can see the mist in the background (it rained quite heavily later in the afternoon), which has the effect of "washing out" the crispness of the ridges in the distance. Still, the panorama was fabulous.
Further down the track, we caught our first glimpse of the falls from across the gorge. Even though the volume of water is quite small, the vertical drop of over 80 metres makes it an impressive sight.
The sixth photo is a puzzle: what do you see? Can you see the face of an animal (click on the photo to enlarge, if necessary)? If so, which? Send in your guesses by commenting on this post!!!!!! We noticed this by chance on our way down the track and each took turns "seeing" various creatures - Mother Nature never ceases to amaze.
In the last row, you can see Teaghan, Rowan and me standing on a (very slippery!) rock at the base of the falls. We managed to clamber over several slimy rocks to get to that spot and back without anyone getting wet - not as easy as it sounds, trust me! The last shot was taken on the way back up, and Judy and the girls again did a great job making their way out in front of a smaller fall.
Judy and I were both impressed that the girls are getting much better at hiking - no complaints this day! - and as mentioned earlier, this was a demanding track. What a great afternoon we spent travelling this beautiful route, and we hope to return to explore more of this region.