Canondale National Park, the Glass House Mountains, Brisbane and Referendum Result

Well it was a long time coming, over two years, and now it's over – the Referendum on Scottish Independence. As the date for voting approached the Yes campaign seemed to be gathering momentum and a vote to break away from the rest of the UK somehow seemed to be within the realms of possibility – this led to unexpected behaviour from Sandra. As we passed through each small country town in rural Australia she visited the local estate agents to look at the price of houses muttering threats of emigration should a Yes vote be declared and asking “Do you think Australia would have us”. Now, with common-sense winning the day by what was a pretty comfortable margin, Australia can breath easy – we will be returning home.

One advantage we had being in Australia was being able to watch live BBC coverage of the results coming in at a civilised time of day rather than having to stay up all night.

Before arriving to stay with Willie and Helen just outside Brisbane we spent a few days meandering south from our last campsite in Wongi National Park. Heading first to the coast we passed the military training area at the curiously named Tin Can Bay and ended up at glorious Rainbow Beach where my attention was split between watching hang gliders and suntanned girls in bikinis.

Sandra on Rainbow Beach

After a picnic lunch we drove on through Gympie and Kenilworth and eventually rolled into Conondale National Park where we set up camp on the banks of Booloumba Creek. As was so often the case we were not alone with maurauding Brush Turkeys, Goannas and predatory Kookaburras being much in evidence.



Campsite at Booloumba Creek

One of our camp neighbours

We walked to a waterhole which looked an attractive proposition for a quick skinny dip (we hadn't brought our costumes with us) However the sudden arrival of a big crocodile soon put paid to that idea. Some people would point out that this was not crocodile country and we must have been imagining things – however it was real and large.

Swimming hole - before crocodile appeared

Okay, it maybe wasn't a Saltwater Crocodile or even a Freshie – but when a long crocodile of kids, with a teacher at either end, troops over the horizon on a Duke of Edinburgh Award outing and makes straight for your waterhole for a swim – all thoughts of dipping, skinny or otherwise, go out of the window!

Back at camp Sandra was patiently waiting for birds to photograph when a Kookaburra swooped down, snatched up a lizard and perched on a nearby tree with the wriggling reptile in its beak.

Kookaburra with dinner in beak

A second Kookaburra then arrived spoiling for a fight, or at least a share of the still wriggling dinner. Whilst K1 hung on grimly, K2 grabbed the lizard by the head and let go of the branch with its feet and hung suspended - with K1 having to cope with the combined deadweight of both the lizard and K2 and all the time posing for a photograph.

 

Kookaburra 1 holding on as K2 grips lizard's head and hangs down

The David Attenburgh moments continued when we noticed a large tail sticking out of a termite mound at the top of a dead tree stump. It was a goanna going head first into the mound. We weren't sure if it was feasting on the inhabitants or was digging out a nest for its own use.

Eating termites or making a nest?

Anyway, enough of nature.

After three nights by the creek we packed up and made for Brisbane via the Glass House Mountains.

Glass House Mountains

A Glass House Mountain

These strange volcanic plugs emerge from flat coastal plains and were named by Captain Cook who thought they looked like the glass furnaces back in his native Yorkshire. We weren't in a particular hurry which was just as well as Sandra had a bit of an off day with her navigation. A 125k circumnavigation of the mountains was quite acceptable, however a second almost complete circumnavigation via Lakes Somerset and Wivenhoe, was probably unnecessary - the Satnav was switched back on but we didn’t arrive in Ormiston outside Brisbane until after dark

Lake Somerset - during second circumnavigation of the Glass House Mountains

.