Today we took a trip with Lynn and Leslie to the Sunshiny Coast Hinterland to the Glass House Mountains - so called because James Cook wrote "they are remarkable for the singular form of their elevation, which very much resembles a glass house, and for this reason I called them Glass Houses." Personally we don't see the resemblance but each to their own.

We set off nice and early to make the most of the day and when we arrived we were pleased to see that although there was still a light mist around, the sun was shining and most of the cloud was disappearing. Our first stop was at McCarthy's Lookout from where we could see out across the valley below us to the mountains rising in the distance. It's not exactly the Alps around here and each mountain is less a pyramid and more a lump of deformed rock that sticks out of the ground at varying angles and heights. However, it is still quite a sight and we are reliably informed by one of the tourist brochures that they are actually volcanic plugs, so I think our description is pretty accurate really.

From here we drove down to get a closer look as the road snaked around the valley alongside some of the mountains and we could clearly see many of the markings and strange variations in the shape of the rocks. The road then continued on to Obi Obi Creek, where we had read that Gardener Falls cascade over the rocks below, so we took a slight detour, parked the car and headed out along the walking trail to find the water. The walk was easy enough, but when we got to the creek we discovered that the words 'cascade' and 'falls' were a bit of a stretch and although the peaceful creek that greeted us was nice enough, we still felt a little bit aggrieved.

The next detour was a little more challenging, although not so much for us but for Brucey. We decided to go and see one of the lakes in the area and once there we walked along one of the tracks around the water for a little while until Lynn got by an ant (you'd have thought she had been shot!). On returning to the car we saw a huge Goanna climbing up one of the trees, much to Leslie's delight. However, the real fun was only just beginning as we got back in the car and attempted to drive back up to the top of the road to continue our loop around the area. To say the road was steep would not really do it justice and with a fully loaded car Bruce took about five minutes to climb the couple of hundred metres in first gear. At one point it even looked like we were going to have to stop and everyone else get out so that we could make it up, but we prevailed eventually.

After all that excitement we were in need of some replenishment so we headed to the local pub for something to eat and drink. However, it's wasn't exactly your average pub, with its cartoonish design complete with wooden dog that barks as you walk passed and the bright red roof. The food was great though and by the time we left for the drive home we were suitably satisfied and ready for whatever we decide to do tomorrow.