A real getaway!

It seems like I've had more escapes than Ned Kelly this month (not that I'm complaining!). I found myself house-sitting in Brisbane last weekend (more on that later), which was an opportune time to jump on a train to Caboolture, one of the outer northern suburbs, and continue riding north. The plan had been to ride into the Glasshouse Mountains initially, but I got onto Old Gympie Road a little too soon (I think it was the wrong Old Gympie Road), and ended up taking a series of very pleasant, but utterly pointless detours.
Eventually I found my way again, and the views started opening up. This is an amazing part of Australia, with mountains all around, but none that apparently need to be ridden up.


Of course, this will never do for me -- I have to ride up mountains! So it was after I got to Beerwah that I decided to ride west, against another blistering headwind (although not as strong as yesterday's), before a long, gradual climb through the village of Peachester and beyond. I was going to come out here a month ago, except that I was struck down by illness at the time.

10km or so out of Peachester, the long gradual climb suddenly kicks up very steeply. The steep section is only 900 metres long, but it puts on around 130 metres in height during that time. Once this section is reached, however, the views begin to unfold all over the place.

Shortly after this I reached the town of Maleny. After hours of near isolation, it didn't take long for all those people to start getting to me. I made a decision to swing across to the other ridge and ride across through Montville and Mapleton, before the screaming descent into Nambour for the train home. I was also somewhat against the clock here, but now that the wind was a tailwind, I figured I could make it. The views on this ridge are even better, and the stretch out for miles on both sides.

There were also some sharp ups and downs, in this shot, the road climbing the next spur is visible in the distance. This ride-hugging road really is an inspiring experience.


There were umpteen other photo opportunities up here, but eventually it had to come to an end, although I would have preferred a more gradual descent into Nambour, at least a little longer to enjoy the views. The road screams down out of Mapleton very steeply. Of course, Nambour suffers from the same lack of signage that most Queensland towns seem to, but I was able to find my way around it instinctively (at least, find my way to the train station). Beyond that, there is little to tell, apart from the fact that the train back to the Gold Coast takes a long time (well, it does cover 200km or so). This is something I'll need to plan for in the future.
Right now, I'm wondering about taking a bike onto the Tilt Train, the high speed rail link to Rockhampton or other points north. I'll do some research when I get around to it. It could be an interesting long weekend option next year.

Geckers

Geckie loves her (very fancy) humid-hide. It's filled with moist sphagnum moss and helps her shed her skin.





Plus I think she just likes the getaway. She's still not eating much though.
Click the pictures for larger leopard gecko-ness.
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Did you see the Friday Ark?

Currumbin Valley turns it on

I've been so busy over the last few days that I almost completely forgot to mention something special that happened on Sunday. I set off for what should have been a regulation 60km "recovery ride" after Saturday's spectacular 142km. What I was left with were the remains of the previous night's rain throwing all sorts of spectacular shapes around in the form of clouds hanging around the surrounding mountains.

At the end of the valley is, of course, the short, pleasant walk through the rainforest to Cougal's Cascades. What occurred to me at this point was that I had not ventured out here in several months, despite the relative proximity of this place to many of the others I regularly visit. I really should rectify that in the future.

This weekend I'm lining up a weekend tour to Mt Barney, including a hike to the mysterious Mt Barney Falls. I know nothing about them, save that they are located somewhere near the Lower Portals in Mt Barney National Park. I also know from prior experience that the Mt Barney Lodge has one of the most scenic campgrounds in South East Queensland. That alone will justify the effort I'll go to for this tour. Anything else will be a bonus.

Red Rock Cliff Ice

With the bitter cold temperatures of recent days comes the increased production of ice along the shores of Lake Superior! Here's a recent shot of icicles hanging from the cliffs on Red Rock Beach in Grand Portage.

Mysteries

If I keep finding things like this in the yard, I may have to take up writing murder mysteries.

So far no human bones have shown up, so I might be off the hook for now. I would guess that these are from a deer, or possibly a calf.
It's really not much of a mystery who found the bones and relocated them...

(Who, me?)

Loch Muick

While on Deeside we walked part of the circuit round Loch Muick. I have an annoying Achilles tendon injury this summer, so we were limited to walking on the flat. The name of the loch, before I go any further, is pronounced 'mick' rather than the 'muck' you might think! In my experience one of the main purposes of Gaelic is to set pronunciation traps.

The loch is resoundingly bare in panorama in a way that doesn't do full justice to it. The heather was just starting to come into bloom and doesn't show up in these shots, but the track was lined with vivid purple clumps.





On the single track road in we passed a group of beehives - possibly for the Royal honey? In terms of royal presence here, the house in the first shot is Glas-allt Shiel, built by Queen Victoria as a retreat from the hurly-burly of Balmoral Castle.



Below, a boathouse towards the head of the loch, and a path which we unfortunately couldn't take that day.



Where a burn runs into the loch there's a geography lesson on river deltas in miniature.





Note the rings in this fence outside the bothy below. They're used for tethering the sturdy ponies used to carry carcasses in the deer-stalking season.





An abandoned building, very forlorn with the wind sighing through the pines all around.





And a mountain rescue post, complete with frothy honeysuckle.

Seven things

While I was gone, Twinks asked me to do a meme. I'm supposed to list seven random things, but since I'm contrary, I'm going to list seven things that happened during my lost four months. It's longer than my normal posts, but since I'll be out of town for a few days, feel free to read in shifts!
1. I joined The Gym.
Really, that's what the gym in Oneonta is called: The Gym. I joined with a friend, and wheedled my way into a good deal via a long-term, prepaid, early-hours contract. I can't say I've lost any weight, but I feel in better shape. I'm getting to know my friend a lot better too, since we gab for about four hours a week more than we used to.
2. I thought I'd found a diamond.
People with a five-carat diamonds don't shop at Wal-Mart, I suppose, but I was momentarily dazed by the karmic thrill of it all. My mother lost her engagement ring stone over 40 years ago, and I imagined it had returned, with interest! Turned out to be only a cubic zirconia though, drat. Here is how you tell the difference. I couldn't read a newspaper through the CZ, and was already dreamily wondering how long the police would have to hold it before it was deemed unclaimed. The dot test worked like a charm, though. Like a big, balloon-bursting charm.

3. The garden refused to bend to my will. Again.
I had fun with the Zinnia experiment though. I got a late start, and Powdery Mildew crept in when we left town for a week. The grass got way out of control, as usual. Somehow I still managed to grow a few flowers to donate to Hospice. Maybe next year I will finally have my act together enough to get them there throughout the blooming season.
4. I won a major award.
Because I could remember the Alabama state bird, mammal, fossil, etc., when an emergency preparedness expert spoke to our wildflower group. OK, the award wasn't really all that major, but I basked in the egghead trivia glow anyway. Then a guy even more pointy-headed than me whined that my answer of "some kind of whale" to "What is the state dinosaur?" wasn't up to par. "The Basilosaurus cetoides is the state fossil, not dinosaur!" he moaned. I hugged my MRE and ran out of the meeting room.
5. We let Anatoli go. He'd developed a lump that we decided may have been from improper nutrition or insufficient sunlight. Since he was wild-born, we figured he'd fare better on his own. We saw an unusually high number of anoles this fall, but I was never sure if any of them were Anatoli.
6. I had to wait in line to vote!
There were all of four people in front of us when we arrived at our polling place. An elderly couple let us cut in front of them though, since the man was still searching his wallet for ID. There were a few local issues on the ballot so turnout was very high. The tallies from my precinct, not exactly what you'd call a democratic stronghold, included:
Obama 45, McCain 450
Figures 52, Sessions 442 (US Senate race)
Tag fee increase: Yes 59, No 392
Wet/Dry referendum: Yes (Wet): 226, No: 270
The ratios for the whole county were similar. I still haven't figured out how Vivian Figures, a State Senator from Mobile, received more votes than Obama. Most people in north Alabama weren't even familiar with her. I read that her budget was $22,000; the incumbent Sessions spent multi-millions. (I have loved her ever since I read that she was able to get the outdated, misogynistic Alabama State Senate dress code changed... the one that said women couldn't wear pant suits or slacks on the Senate floor!)
We needed the tag fee increase ($15), which would have gone strictly towards road maintenance. I had a feeling it wouldn't pass, but I was surprised at the resounding defeat.
I'm glad we stayed a dry county. I wouldn't mind alcohol sales in stores or restaurants, but didn't want a bar across the street from us. Rural counties don't have a lot of regulations, so it could have been a real possibility.
7. Alabama football, woohoo!
I had to say that before we play Auburn and Georgia Florida, just in case.