December 5th -6th
Crystal Waters to Maleny Warmshower host.
Total miles 746

I hit the road early to cover the short but hilly distance to Maleny where I was going to be staying with a host called Mary. She is a fellow cyclist and has toured New Zealand, Europe and Cuba amongst other places.
A few miles in I noticed I had made the mistake of not filling my water bottles so rather than turn back I pulled into the next farm I went past. The farmer was out on his porch with his family and filled the bottles for me and asked which way I was heading. Maleny, I replied. It's hard to put into words a description of his facial reaction but it was clear to me it meant a mixture of.......you fecking idiot and may the cycling gods have mercy on your soul. He cracked a joke when he told me he was going to Maleny in about 18 hours and if I was still on the hill he would give me a lift in the horse box.
In fairness to the farmer the hill was a bit of a brute. It was only around 3km long but with a steep gradient. I have rode harder ones even while being in Australia but I don't think I have gone up a steeper one.
My host had explained that she and her friend were going to be out all day but she gave me her friends address and to go to there if I arrived early and her friends husband would be in and knew I may be coming.
I stopped in Maleny town first to get some breakfast and had a walk along the river hoping to see the platypus that are natives of the hinterlands. I followed the river path quite far and when I checked my map I had unwittingly arrived just outside Mary's friends house. I met with Gary and once I had chilled he took me to a vista point lookout where I could look back to the coast where I had rode from and also see the view back along the Glass House Mountains. When Mary arrived back with Gary's wife Susan we all went to the Lake Baroon Dam for a picnic. We were joined by a Magpie, a Crow and a Cookabura all on the beg for whatever we left behind. There is something unerringly strange about looking into the eyes of a Cookabura up close. Beautiful bird but not a welcome dinner guest. Our evening meal was Mexican food followed by Rhubarb pie and cream. I'm thinking more and more of New Zealand after hearing Mary and Susan's stories and seeing their photo album. Today I met their cycling club for breakfast, The Lycra Lizards. Just to put the mind at rest, I didn't put on any Lycra. It was their end of year Christmas breakfast with some awards being presented. My host Mary came away with the award for most inspirational rider of the year. This was due to her taking on Cuba and Spain on her own. Fair play.