Riding Shotgun

Molly woke up at 5:30 again this morning. Do we detect a routine?

Today was our free day so we booked a tour on the Hinterlands Tours O'Reilly's and Tamborine Mountain Rainforest Safari. After breakfast we were picked up in a touring coach that held about 16 ecotourist. Tim, our nature tour guide, had the look of a Harley rider (beer belly, bald head, big bushy goatee, and earrings) with the cheery sarcastic wit all Australians seem to have. The initial challenge was finding a seat with a seatbelt for Molly (child seat? Ha!). but she got to sit in the front row behind the driver and had a great view out the windshield (I know, I know, but we survived and she had a great time).

After filling up the coach we drove out of Surfers Paradise into the suburbs and than into real Australian farm land. The land started out as rolling hills and turned into a valley as we approached the McPherson Range and started climbing towards Lamington National Park. As we climbed higher there were spectacular views into the valley dotted with vineyards. And than as if on cue, as we lost the view we came across a pack? herd? gaggle? of Pretty Faced Wallabies. They looked like small kangaroos, but had a white streak on each cheek.

Mid-way up the mountain we stopped at an alpaca farm for some alpaca knowledge a

nd morning tea. Alpacas and Llamas are different and a Lamington is Australian national treasure. A Lamington is a sponge cake coated in coconut and cocoa. Very tasty.

The next stop was the Lamington National Park and O'Reilly's. In 1911 several O'Reilly brothers and cousins each bought a 100 acres on this mountain range from the Australian government. They paid five shilling an acre and were able to finance the acquisition over 35 years at 5% interest. The land is mostly mountain side and was densely packed rainforest. They cleared large portions of it by hand and for some reason decided to raise dairy cattle. For a decade they had to carry everything in and out on their back or by pack horse. It appears that in 1926 they figured out there was a better way to make a living on the side of a rainforest mountain and they opened a guest house and cut in the road. Until the 1960's the road could not accommodate a car or horse carriage for the last 16 kilometers. Guests had to offload they luggage onto pack horses. The road was 'sealed' (paved) until the 1990's. Paved may be generous. In many places it is a single lane just wide enough for the bus we were on and in many other places, it should have been.

The O'Reilly Family seems to have done well. Their property is now a national park and they have a lodge, gift shop, cafe, and just opened 48 cottages that can be purchased as a vacation home (the owner cannot live there year around, but does have the option of leasing it back to the O'Reilly's when they are not using it). 41 of them have sold at $750,000 each.

At O'Reilly's we had the opportunity to feed birds and take Tree Top Canopy Walk. Molly wanted to feed the birds first, so we spend $4 to buy a bag of specially mixed bird seed. It took a bit of coaxing, but we were eventually able to coax a King Parrot and a half dozen Crimson Rosellas down from the trees. At one point Molly was holding a dish of bird seed feeding two Rosellas. She was so happy.

After feeding the birds we made a made dash around the Canopy Walk. Molly was initially afraid because she thought we were going to be swinging between the trees. Once she realized we were on wooden suspension bridges, she had a great time. The Canopy Walk was thrilling and it was really neat to be up that high in the trees.

Once back on the bus we made our way back down the mountain, back into the valley, and than up again to Mount Tamborine. After several kilometers of 12% grade, we reached the top which consists of

eight flat kilometers of land. From various points on Mount Tamborine you can see the entire Gold Coast from end to end and the very faint outline of the high rises of Brisbane.

Once on top we had lunch at a nice little cafe and learned another little Australian food lesson, much to Molly's delight. The drink menu listed 'iced chocolate'. What we thought was chocolate mike tur

ned out be be a sundae glass full coated with chocolate syrup, cold milk, and topped with whipped cream and cocoa powder.

After lunch we did a little wine tasting and window shopping and than joined Tim for a walk to Curtis Falls. This involved a 600 meter walk down into a lush rainforest to a waterfall. The micro-ecology is fascinating. At one moment we on a mountain top with hard cedar trees and a few minutes later were at a freshwater spring with eels, surrounded by palms, ferns, and giant Strangler Figs.

However, the highlight of the short drive to Curtis Falls was that Molly got to sit in the front seat of the bus (I know, I know, but we survived and she had a great time). When the elderly Australian who had been sitting up front chose not to take the hike, Tim offered the front seat to

Molly. She felt so big.

Once back at the hotel we had dinner and started preparing for tomorrow. Cheryl had her last Cycling Team Meeting and they are now ready to take the world by storm. Oh, and Molly and I went swimming again.