Queensland -The "Interior" (Or as far interior as I got)

I flew from Sydney to Brisbane and arrived rather late in the airport. After getting picked up by the shuttle bus I was on my way to Caloundra, about an hour north of Brisbane and located along the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. Finally upon arriving at my lovely Aunt's and Uncle's home, my relaxation could begin!

During my time in Queensland I was taken around to many of the small towns nearby! Each small places had its own charm and I had a wonderful time overall. Instead of a day-by-day account I’m just going to focus on the individual places I saw.

Early during the visit, I visited Maleny, a small town located in the Blackall Range near to Caloundra. Maleny has a cute street with shops lined along it. I tasted a couple sweets at the bakeries and received some lovely wood items from a timber gallery.  As there is a lot less logging now of the native timber, a lot of the wood pieces are actually harvested from already fallen logs or recycled from previously cut timber.

A wet Maleny

 On the way to Maleny, there is a very picturesque view of the Glass House Mountains from Mary Cairncross Park. However it was a rather rainy day so views weren’t quite as good but still impressive.

The Glass House Mountains

To Captain Cook, as he voyaged north up Queensland’s coast, the funky looking mountains he spotted reminded him of huge glass furnaces or glass houses from home. I guess the name stuck, and now the mountains (which are the lava cores from inside a mountain and have been exposed as the rest of the mountain eroded away) are a notable landmark.

Wet and cloudy view of the Mountains

And a sunny view

On a much sunnier day closer to the end of my visit, we ventured back up to Mary Cairncross Park, and this time took in the nature walk through one of the few preserved sections of rainforests in Australia. The walk was great and very easy for all. The trees were beautiful, the sounds of nature fabulous and it was definitely well worth a visit and the small gold coin donation to keep up the maintenance and regeneration efforts.

Entry to the Park

Tall trees

Crazy roots

Twisty branches

Leafy Palms

And a fibrous root system?? Weird!

An aerial of the small amount of remaining rain forest and the path through it

Slightly after the turnoff to go to Mary Caircross Park, this is the opportunity to head off to Montville. The road to Montville is quite scenic with amazing views  of the land below and back to the coast. Montville is a perfect tourist town with the main street through town lined with shops on either side of the ascending road. 

Pedestrian pathways run parallel to the road, making easy access for store hopping and the shops, set back a bit, usually have their wares for sale displayed up to the edge of the path. There is just the right number of coffee shops and restaurants mixed in with the leather shop, kitchen wares store, shops with random assortments, metal items, and the traditional Indian clothes and items boutique. A small park, the public washrooms and a great scenic view seem to compile the rest of Montville, although there must be somewhere for the residents to hide, somewhere behind the shops perhaps when all the tourists flock to the streets.

View from Montville

Another angle from Montville

A Montville street and pathway

 If you were to continue driving along that road, you would eventually come to Flaxton and the Flaxton Barn. The Barn is actually an odds and ends type shop, carrying antiques, brand new kitchen supplies, jams, door mats and other household items. I picked up a wavy vegetable knife that gives your veggies that fancy edge you normally only see in frozen vegetables, fancy restaurants or on crinkle cut fries.

And that sort of sums up the places more interior located that I visited during my time in Queensland!