December 7th - 10th
Maleny to Brisbane Central

The four days since my last post have been spent in Maleny and back at Scarborough. While in Maleny, Eleanor and Angie drove over and met my host Mary and had a lovely chat about travelling New Zealand. I'm contacting Qantas soon about extending my return date to give me a chance to cycle both islands. The last full day in Maleny was spent with Mary's friend Gary. We rode out to the nature reserve at Cairncross park. I saw my first up close Pademelon. This is a marsupial similar to a Kangaroo or a Wallabie. We then went for a ride to the Montville lookout and viewed the Glass house mountains and the coast from Brisbane to Noosa. Gary told me a story about the mountains that the indigenous people past down. There are 3 main mountains. One looks like a Gorilla's head looking out to sea. There is a small spiked mountain behind it and a large double peaked one. The double peaked one was a pregnant lady and the spike was her first child. The Gorilla one was the husband who sent them both inland while he looked out to sea to guard them against a wave that would be coming at some point.
On the last night Gary and Susan took me for a meal at a live music restaurant. It was an open mic night and as much as I fancy myself as a bit of a crooner there has to be a point when I admit that subjectively I sound amazing but objectively I sound awful. I decided to best leave it and enjoy the meal.
I rode back to Scarborough the next day and met up with Angie at the hosts flat who we stayed with previously. Andrew and Paul were really kind to let us stop for another two nights. Steak and chips were the order of the day. There is a brand over here called Red Rooster and they serve the best chips I have ever tasted. Put them with a juicy steak and some salad and you can't go wrong.
The final night was spent in the pub in Redcliffe which is the town that the Bee Gees hailed from. The Bee Gees way exhibition is a major attraction with nightly showings of a film detailing the history of the band. It's impossible to sit through a showing without tapping your feet or singing along.....(In your head not out loud in my case).
On the 10th we made it back to Brisbane central and are staying with a host called Peter and his girlfriend Nicole. I'm back on the cat trail. They have two but one is really shy and was only briefly spotted upon our arrival. The plan is to cycle south from Brisbane to Coolangata then get to Newcastle and cycle into Sydney just prior to Christmas.

Jingle bells across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.